Wednesday, March 11, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
OSU leads disaster
resilience center
Reduce the stress of chronic illness
By dr. Kim Hapke, Nd
Correspondent
By Michael Collins
Correspondent
CORVALLIS – A team
of Oregon State University
researchers will help lead
the Community Resilience
Center of Excellence, a
five-year, $20-million ini-
tiative to help communities
improve resilience to natural
disasters.
The center will be based
at Colorado State University,
and is a partnership of 10
institutions, funded by
the National Institute of
Standards and Technology
at the U.S. Department of
Commerce.
It will develop computer
tools to help local govern-
ments create resiliency in
buildings and critical infra-
structure, lessen the impact
of extreme weather and other
hazards, and recover rapidly
in their aftermath.
“Engineering plays a big
role in how resilient the built
environment is in response
to a variety of hazards,” said
Daniel Cox, professor in the
OSU School of Civil and
Construction Engineering
and associate director for the
center. “The research at the
center will help communities
engineer and improve critical
systems by providing them
with the tools to make well-
informed decisions.”
The goal of the center
will be creation of the NIST-
Community Resilience
Modeling Environment.
Encompassing all forms of
natural disasters, this com-
puter model will incorpo-
rate a risk-based approach to
decision-making.
OSU civil and construc-
tion engineering associate
professor Michael Scott and
assistant professor Andre
Barbosa will assist with the
project, providing exper-
tise in structural engineer-
ing and computer model-
ing. Scott has helped create
OpenSees, a software frame-
work for developing models
to simulate the performance
of structural and geotechni-
cal systems in earthquakes;
Barbosa has conducted
extensive research on reli-
ability and risk-based anal-
ysis of civil infrastructure
systems.
19
If you suffer from chronic
illness, you are not alone.
Almost half the U.S. popu-
lation suffers from at least
one chronic condition such
as hypertension or arthritis.
Seventy-five percent of people
over age 65 suffer from two
or more chronic conditions.
As a patient, it’s important to
find a doctor with whom you
communicate well. Together,
you can work to find the
best medication to reduce
symptoms with minimal side
effects. Once this is done there
are still likely to be frustrat-
ing symptoms or recurrences.
Medication is only one piece
of managing chronic con-
ditions. Two other areas to
address are stress management
and emotional well-being.
Being ill is stressful.
Creative symptom manage-
ment reduces stress. Taking
a day off of work early on,
rather than pushing through
and risking incapacitation,
reduces stress in the long
run. Scheduling bodywork or
experimenting with different
forms of exercise can reduce
painful symptoms. Support
groups in-person or online can
offer good ideas for managing
specific conditions.
Many patients will say
their condition is worsened by
stressful events in their lives.
Symptoms force one to look
at stressful situations with the
knowledge that certain situa-
tions actually make one sick.
One starts to make different
choices.
Certain conflicts may not
be worth taking on, certain
projects at work seen as less
rewarding. Adding to every-
day stress, a patient’s favorite
method of dealing with stress
is often taken away. Pain might
make exercise impossible, a
favored diet may create symp-
toms. Illness pushes us out of
our comfort zones into experi-
menting with new behaviors.
Perhaps sleep is more impor-
tant at this point than exercise,
or new foods more beneficial.
Early on, it may not be
clear that stressful events are
negatively affecting health.
Growing self-awareness is
an important step. Get curi-
ous about information com-
ing from your body. Why this
symptom? Why now? What
else is going on around me?
There are many ways to grow
self-awareness, including jour-
naling, meditation and yoga,
but a curious attitude is more
important than the method.
Trust your body to tell you
what helps and hurts it. Over
time patterns will emerge.
Don’t forget good days have
clues to positive influences on
your health as well.
What one does with this
new information becomes
stress management, whether it
is getting out in nature, look-
ing for a new type of work,
or spending time with peo-
ple who truly make us feel
good.
Chronic illness takes an
emotional toll. Patients expe-
rience grief and anger as
they lose the ability to par-
take in favorite activities.
Unpredictability of symptoms
adds stress to the day and
makes patients fearful of cer-
tain activities or situations.
Proper sleep is affected by
painful symptoms. Emotions
easily handled when well-
rested get out of control when
we are tired.
When people first come
in with symptoms, what they
want is their previous life
returned to them, unaltered.
While this is usually impossi-
ble, chronic illness can be one
of life’s many opportunities for
growth.
naturopathic Treatments
& Counseling
The Center
The Center is the premiere location throughout
Central Oregon for diagnosis and treatment of prob-
lems associated with the musculoskeletal system,
which includes bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, mus-
cles and nerves.
Since 2012, Dr. Timothy Bollom, an orthopedic
surgeon specializing in sports medicine, has been see-
ing patients in Sisters at St. Charles Family Care. He
treats patients of all ages and diverse backgrounds,
with a focus on comprehensive diagnosis and treat-
ment of knee and shoulder disorders. From simple
arthroscopy to total joint replacement, he utilizes
minimally invasive techniques and a sports medicine
philosophy of returning patients to normal activity as
quickly as possible.
The Center is home to some of the region’s most
highly skilled orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons,
and specialists. From conservative measures to sophis-
ticated, minimally invasive operative techniques, our
dedicated doctors and staff offer the care you need for
the best possible outcome. To make an appointment,
go to www.thecenteroregon.com.
Anxiety • Depression
Chronic Body Symptoms
Kim Hapke N.D. | 971-409-0908
www.meaningfulmedicine.com
Sisters Art Works Building