Introduction/Identification
The patient has two significant problems with her health. The first problem is that she is allergic to citrus, nuts, eggs, and dust. Her second health problem is related to the digestive system. According to the interview, her mother suffers from the allergy, and her grandparents had problems with the digestive system. Thus, her health problems are basically hereditary. However, considering the patient’s lifestyle and health condition, three modifiable risk factors can be distinguished: alcohol, financial state, and stress.
Findings
Alcohol: The patient claims that she occasionally drinks alcohol during the parties.
Money: The budgeting and finances affect the choices of the patient.
Stress: The patient experiences stress during exams and important presentations.
Reasons:
- The consumption of alcohol has a pernicious effect on the digestive system.
- The allergy problems, as well as the problems with the digestive system, require a special diet to prevent the development of more serious illnesses which, in its turn, can require additional finances.
- Stress also causes disruptions in the digestive system (Cooper & Marshall, 2013).
Short-term goals:
- Reduce the amount of alcohol consumed.
- Buy affordable products that neither harm the digestive system nor provoke allergic reactions.
- Avoid stressful situations. However, if a stressful situation is inevitable, try to use sedative pills but not very often, as it becomes a bad habit (Cooper & Marshall, 2013).
Long-term goals:
- Terminate the consumption of alcohol.
- Earn more money or learn to allocate expenditures reasonably to be able to follow the diet.
- Learn different techniques on how to remain calm in stressful situations (Regehr, Glancy, & Pitts, 2013).
Intervention
Since the patient is not addicted to alcohol, no particular intervention, in this case, is necessary. She only needs to know that she should not consume alcoholic beverages (Shield, Parry, & Rehm, 2014). As for the financial state of the patient, it depends only on her and her family. She only needs to know what products she can eat, and products that will harm her digestive system or provoke allergy. Thus, no particular intervention, in this case, is required. However, there are plenty of methods that help avoid stress.
Means of stress reduction
- Sedative pills: The easiest way to reduce stress is to prescribe sedative medicines. However, the patient should not abuse this method, as it can become a bad habit.
- Meditation: The second advice on how to eliminate stress is the use of special breathing techniques and meditation. The doctor should give the list of breathing exercises to the patient and explain how they must be done in order to achieve the maximum effect. The doctor should also advise the patient to attend some yoga courses (Cooper & Marshall, 2013).
- Concentration on the details: The third way to calm down in a stress situation is to try to concentrate on the details of surrounding objects, imagine that time is slowing down and think of these objects (Regehr et al., 2013).
- Laughing: Another means of relieving the tension is to think of something funny and laugh. It is also important to create a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.
- Massage: One more tip on how to reduce tension is a regular massage. The patient should visit a masseur at least twice a week (Cooper & Marshall, 2013).
- Sport: Another important activity that helps reduce stress is the sport. Swimming and running are the most effective stress removers.
- Relaxing music: Listening to calm and relaxing music, particularly through the headphones and lying on a soft surface can significantly reduce stress accumulated during the day.
Evaluation
In order to understand whether the tips on reducing and avoiding stress have given any positive results or not, it is necessary to run some tests on the digestive system organs’ performance and to interview the patient again. Although the effect of not all of the given tips can be seen in the test results, the indications of the overall improvement in the work of the digestive system can definitely be noticed (Regehr et al., 2013).
- Activity logs: The patient should provide her activity logs. If after the given exercises, the state of the patient’s digestive system improved, then this method was effective and can be recommended in similar cases (Cooper & Marshall, 2013).
- Lab tests: The patient should run some tests. If the results of the tests show the improvement in the patient’s health condition, then the patient should continue the course of doctor’s recommendations (Regehr et al., 2013).
- Actions in case of failure: If the plan has been unsuccessful, the health condition of the patient has not ameliorated, and the results of the tests have shown no changes, then the doctor should implement additional, more effective measures such as different pills that restore the state of gut bacteria (Regehr et al., 2013) They do not cure the chronic gastrointestinal diseases but together with the other methods recommended to the patient, they will have more chances to improve the health condition of the patient.
Summary
The main health issue of the patient is the problem with her digestive system which is hereditary. Three modified risk factors can be distinguished in her case. The first one is the consumption of alcohol, the second one is the financial situation in her family which can prevent her from keeping a special diet, and the third factor which is the most crucial one is the stress which can cause more serious gastrointestinal disorders. Therefore, the given recommendations are predominantly focused on the reduction of stress in the life of the patient. Thus, if the given recommendations prove to be successful, the patient should continue following them. However, if they are not successful, the patient should continue doing them anyway but with the additional instructions and medicine prescriptions from the doctor.
References
Cooper, C. L., & Marshall, J. (2013). Occupational sources of stress: A review of the literature relating to coronary heart disease and mental ill health. From Stress to Wellbeing, 1(1), 3-23.
Regehr, C., Glancy, D., & Pitts, A. (2013). Interventions to reduce stress in university students: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 148(1), 1-11.
Shield, K. D., Parry, C., & Rehm, J. (2014). Chronic diseases and conditions related to alcohol use. Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 35(2), 155-171.