General Health Survey Resources

So, what are the risks of drinking too much?

Drinking more than the recommended amount of alcohol increases your risk for many health problems, including serious conditions that can lead to death. Some examples of alcohol-related health problems include:

• Liver disease
• Heart disease
• Depression
• Stroke
• Stomach bleeding
• Some types of cancer

Ready to Take Action? Here are some helpful tips to get started:

• Keep track of your drinking
  - These drinking tracker cards may help‍
• Set goals
  - Decide how many days you'll drink and how much you’ll drink on those days. For men, that's 2 drinks or less per day and for women, that's 1 drink or less per day.
• Plan ahead - think about how to say “no” if someone offers you a drink
  - Learn how to resist social pressure to drink ‍
  - Practice these strategies to handle an urge to drink‍
• Find healthy ways to manage stress‍
  - Tips to help you manage stress‍
• Avoid places where people drink a lot
• Limit the amount of alcohol you keep at home
• Make a list of reasons not to drink - keep it with you or in a visible place‍.
  - Here is a helpful place to start

Get Help

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans must cover alcohol misuse screening and counseling. Depending on your insurance plan, you may be able to get these services, at no cost to you. Check with your insurance company to find out more. 

Find a doctor or treatment program near you

Or call 1-800-662-HELP (1-800-662-4357) for information about treatment.

Medicare may also cover alcohol-related services at no cost. If you have Medicare, learn more about Medicare coverage for alcohol use screening and counseling

If you don’t have insurance, you may still be able to get free or low-cost help for alcohol misuse. Find a health center near you and ask about alcohol misuses screening and counseling

Did you know?

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. For example, smoking can cause:

• Lung cancer & many other types of cancer
• Heart disease and stroke
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and other lung diseases
• Gum disease
• Vision loss
• Type 2 diabetes
• Rheumatoid arthritis

Learn more about how smoking affects different body parts

Ready to take action? 

Quitting smoking is hard, but millions of people have done it successfully. In fact, more than half of Americans who ever smoked, have quit. You can be one of them!

Here are some tips to help you quit:

• Make a list of reasons you want to quit
• Set a quit date and make a plan to deal with cravings
• Ask your family, friends and coworkers for support
• Talk to your doctor about counseling & medicines that can help you quit
• Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit smokefree.gov for free help
• Download these free apps for 24/7 support & encouragement
• Text QUIT to 47848 or visit SmokeFreeTXT to get daily texts to support you in quitting smoking

What happens when I quit?

• You’ll breathe more easily
• You’ll cough and wheeze less
• Your senses of taste and smell will improve
• You’ll have more energy
• Your risk of heart attack and stroke will go down
• Your risk of getting cancer will go down
• The levels of oxygen and carbon monoxide in your blood return to normal

What about the cost?

Insurance plans must cover lung cancer screening for adults ages 50-80 who are at high risk for lung cancer. That means you may be able to get screened at no cost to you. Talk with your insurance company to find out more.

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans must also cover services to help people quit smoking. Depending on your insurance, you may be able to get these services at no cost to you. Check with your insurance company to find out more.

Medicare may also cover services to help people quit smoking at no cost. If you have Medicare, learn about Medicare coverage for services to quit smoking.

If you don’t have insurance, you may still be able to get free or low-cost services to quit smoking. Find a health center near you and ask about help to quit smoking.

What are the risks of drug misuse?

One of the most serious risks is an overdose, which can lead to death. You don’t have to be addicted to drugs to have an overdose. It can happen from just 1 use with certain drugs like heroin or meth. 

Drug misuse can also increase your risk for heart disease, hepatitis, HIV and other STDs.

Learn more about different drugs and their health risks.

Ready to take action?

You are not alone. Most scientists and medical researchers now consider dependence on alcohol or drugs to be a long-term illness, like asthma, hypertension, or diabetes. Substance use can affect anyone: rich or poor, male or female, employed or unemployed, young or old, and any race or ethnicity. Many of the programs available today are led by counselors who themselves have gone through or are currently going through recovery. 

Here are some resources to help you quit:

• Call 1-800-662-HELP (1-800-662-4357) for free, confidential help from SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
• Find an online treatment center or send your zip code via text to 435748 (HELP4U)

What does recovery look like?

• You’ll experience feelings of joy, hope and possibility again
• Difficult feelings often come up too, but recovery communities and other supports will help you work through them
• You’ll have more energy
• You’re physical and emotional health will improve
• You’ll build stronger relationships with your family and friends
• You’ll make new friends who can support your continued recovery

What about the cost?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes substance use disorders as one of the ten elements of essential health benefits. This means all health insurance on the exchange must provide service coverage for substance use disorders

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offers their referral services, completely free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, they will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. If you are insured, it’s always a good idea to check with your insurance company for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.

Health Benefits of Regular Exercise

• Control your blood pressure, blood sugar, and weight
• Lower your “bad” cholesterol and raise your “good” cholesterol
• Prevent heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer
• Boost your mood
• Help you sleep better
• Make your bones, muscles, and joints healthier
• Lower your chances of becoming depressed
• Lower your risk of falls and reduce arthritis pain
• Help you have fun and feel better about yourself

We can all make small changes to get started, are you ready?

Start slowly. If you haven’t been active before, start out slowly and add new activities little by little. After a few weeks or months, do them longer and more often. You can use this tool to help build a weekly plan.

• Choose activities that you enjoy!
  - Go for a brisk walk around the neighborhood
  - Ride a bike to work/school - or just for fun
  - Do push-ups during breaks from TV
  - Get outside bring your family to play sports or go for a hike
• If you can’t get outside, watch this 2-minute video for how you and your family can get active indoors.
• Strengthen your muscles 💪 If you can, try to do muscle-strengthening activities at least 2 days per week
  - Gardening, like digging and shoveling
  - Push-ups on the floor or against the wall
  - Lifting small weights - you can even use bottled water or cans of food as weights
• Track your progress
  - There are tons of choices for fitness apps to help you stay on track, use them!
• Challenge yourself
  - Be active longer each time - if you are walking 3 days a week for 30 minutes, try adding an additional 10 minutes each day
  - Be active more often - if you are taking a neighborhood walk 2 days per week, try doing it 4 days per week.

The first and most important step in preventing flu is to get your flu vaccine each year (if not contraindicated). Flu vaccine has been shown to reduce flu related illnesses and the risk of serious flu complications that can result in hospitalization or even death.

Influenza (Flu) shots are appropriate for most people:

• Different flu shots are approved for people of different ages. 
• There are standard-dose inactivated flu vaccines that are approved for people as young as 6 months old.
• Pregnant people and people with chronic health conditions can get a flu shot
• People with an egg allergy can get a flu shot

Some people should not get the flu vaccine, so you should always talk to your healthcare provider about whether or not vaccination is right for you.

The CDC recommends that we all get our flu vaccine each year, between early September until the end of October. However, if you aren’t able to get vaccinated until November or later, vaccination is still recommended because flu most commonly peaks in February and can cause significant spread into May.

Shingles is a painful rash that usually develops on one side of the body, often the face or torso. The rash consists of blisters that typically scab over in 7 to 10 days and clears up within 2 to 4 weeks. Some people describe the pain as an intense burning sensation. For some people, the pain can last for months or even years after the rash goes away. This long-lasting pain is called postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), and it is the most common complication of shingles. Your risk of getting shingles and PHN increases as you get older.

Shingles vaccination is the only way to protect against shingles and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the most common complication from shingles.

Your doctor or pharmacist can give you Shingrix as a shot in your upper arm.

Shingrix provides strong protection against shingles and PHN. In adults 50 years and older who have healthy immune systems, Shingrix is more than 90% effective at preventing shingles and PHN. Immunity stays strong for at least the first 7 years after vaccination. In adults with weakened immune systems, studies show that Shingrix is 68%-91% effective in preventing shingles, depending on the condition that affects the immune system.

How do I pay for this vaccine?

• Medicare Part D plans cover the shingles vaccine, but there may be a cost to you depending on your plan. There may be a copay for the vaccine, or you may need to pay in full then get reimbursed for a certain amount.
• Medicare Part B does not cover the shingles vaccine.
• Medicaid may or may not cover the vaccine. Contact your insurer to find out.
• Many private health insurance plans will cover the vaccine, but there may be a cost to you depending on your plan. Contact your insurer to find out.
• Vaccine assistance programs
  - Some pharmaceutical companies provide vaccines to eligible adults who cannot afford them. You may want to check with the vaccine manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, about Shingrix.

If you do not currently have health insurance, learn more about affordable health coverage options

What does an advance directive contain?

There are two primary documents typically included within an advance directive, which will help you get the best care even when you are unable to make your own decisions.

Living Will - A living will lets your family and any medical professionals treating you know which life-sustaining or lifesaving medical services you want to receive. It only goes into effect if certain criteria are met. The living will may include details on:

• Receiving CPR
• Being helped with breathing through use of a ventilator
• Receiving nutrition through a tube feeding
• Receiving hydration through intravenous (IV) fluids
• Receiving pain relief and other comfort measures

Healthcare Power of Attorney (POA) - A healthcare POA, sometimes referred to as a healthcare proxy, is a family or trusted person you select to make medical dicisions for you and speak on your behalf. The POA document outlines the authority you give this person and allows you to write out directions. 

How do I set up an advance directive?

Each individual state has its own laws about advance directives. Therefore, it is important that you contact one of the following individuals, to help assist you in creating your advance directive:

• Your primary health care provider
• Your attorney
• Your local area Agency on Aging
• Your state health department

What to do after you set up your advance directive

It’s important that each of the following people have an up-to-date copy of your advance directive:

• Your primary care physician
• The person you appoint as your agent
• Any person you cite as an alternate agent
• Your other healthcare providers (specialists, etc)
• The health care institution (nearby hospital) that provides you care
• Family members, such as a spouse, sibling, or children

Be sure to review your advance care planning decisions from time-to-time, as you may want to revise your preferences for care if your situation or your health changes.