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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2019)
Happy New Year! Don’t forget, insurance deductibles have started over. If you have a new insurance or your new Medicare card, please contact Brenda Brown, insurance verification specialist, at 541-444-9674 or 800-648- 0449, ext. 1674. If you would like to get reimbursed for your Medicare premium coming out of your Social Security, please send your award letter to Sara Bell-Tellez as soon as possible. If you have had a change in circum- stances and need assistance finding health coverage, please contact me in Patient Benefits/Business Office at 541- 444-9611 or 800-648-0449, ext. 1611. As always, a new year can bring about a lot of paperwork. If you have received a notice of any kind from the Oregon Health Authority/Oregon Health Plan, please let me help you understand what the letter says. A lot of times people are eligible for auto-renew. This means that instead of you or me having to do all the work to reapply for OHP, they do it for you! The letter you will see if you are auto-renewed states: “Notice about your OHP at renewal” on the first page; second page is usually the definition. You may see “Approved for Renewal” at the top of the second page, if you see names under that paragraph, you are good to go. If ever you see the term “Coverage Ending,” contact me as soon as possible. Any questions or concerns, please reach out to me. I can at the very least point you in the right direction. Starla Brown Patient Benefits Coordinator Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians OHP and Federal Facilitated Marketplace Certified Application Assister 541-444-9611 or 800-648-0449, ext. 1611 Starlab@ctsi.nsn.us Main fax: 541-444-9645 Secondary fax: 541-444-9678 Ask Raven: Ways to help a friend who is self-harming Dear Raven: If I have a friend who is self-harming but asked me not to tell anyone, what should I do? You are already doing a most impor- tant thing by both being a friend and seeking support and guidance for yourself. Self-harming is something to take seriously. Often self-harming is a way a person copes with feelings that are over- whelming that are connected to difficult or painful experiences. It can become a habitual and addictive way of attempting to try to feel better and gain a sense of control of their emotions. Often the person keeps this self- harming a secret and does not try to get attention for what they are doing. They usually have some shame about it. It can File photo Starla Brown become a habit and be difficult for them to stop and it may take some time for them to find other ways to manage their emo- tions and stop. Donate to STAHS through Amazon Smile Some things you can do as a friend is not judge them and listen to them; inquire about how they are feeling. Give them an opportunity to talk about their feelings. Respect them for what they share with you even if it is difficult to understand and accept their self-harming. Here’s how you can donate to the Siletz Tribal Arts and Heritage Society (STAHS) painlessly and effortlessly. It’s as easy as 1,2,3,4. Thank you for suppor ting STAHS! Stay away from telling them what to do. It is best to be accepting and avoid saying things that would make them feel guilty about what they are doing. Understanding family, people in the com- munity, spiritual services and counselors are some resources available to assist your friend and yourself. There are resources for you and them as you find your way. Continue to seek support for yourself and let your friend know there are resources that can help. Thank you for inquiring and bringing up such an important topic in the com- munity. By doing so, you are being a good friend and good community member. 1. Go to Amazon.com. 2. In the Department drop down box, type Amazon Smile. 3. See Amazon Smile – You shop. Amazon Gives. 4. Follow the easy directions. Food additives can affect children’s behavior/health, how to avoid them By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RDN, LD, Head Start Consulting Nutritionist As part of my role as a consultant nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start, I offer information for families. Our diet impacts our health beyond how much we weigh. It also impacts how we feel and what our moods are each day. When we change a child’s diet, his/ her behavior changes. Did you know that more than 10,000 chemicals are allowed in foods, but not all are tested for food safety? These chemicals play a role in health and behavior. I offer guidance about how to avoid some of these chemicals. The American Academy of Pediatrics issued has a new policy statement: Organi- zational Principles to Guide and Define the Child Health Care System and/or Improve the Health of All Children. The article is titled Food Additives and Child Health. One of the co-authors, Sheela Sathy- anarayana, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washing- ton, was interviewed on Food Sleuth Radio. The article and interview discuss information about regulatory loopholes for manufacturers, how additives can be direct or indirect, what some of the chemi- cals are, where they can be found and the selected health and behavior concerns. Some additives, such as colors and flavors, are added directly to food and are 4 • Siletz News • labeled. These also include nitrates or nitrites that are added to processed meats as a preservative and color enhancer. Indirect additives result from manu- facturing and packaging materials that can become a part of the foods (and are not listed on the ingredients). These substances that come into contact with food can include adhesives, dyes, coat- ings, paper, paperboard, plastic and other polymers. Some of the chemicals contained in the materials include bisphenols, phthalates, perfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) and per- chlorate. Some of the health effects include endocrine (hormone) disruption (including thyroid), obesogenic activity (changes in the body that can lead to obesity or weight gain), neurodevelopmental disruption, oxidative stress, cardiotoxicity, immunosup- pression and decreased birth weight. Although the exact cause between additives and behavior is difficult to pin- point, many children are helped by a trial of clean eating (without these additives). Reference and links for article and interview are provided below. Children may be particularly suscep- tible to the effects of these compounds given that they have higher relative expo- sures compared with adults (because of greater dietary intake per pound), their metabolic (i.e. detoxification) systems are still developing and key organ systems are February 2019 undergoing substantial changes and matu- ration that are vulnerable to disruptions. The potential for endocrine system disruption is of great concern, especially in early life, when developmental pro- gramming of organ systems is susceptible to permanent and lifelong disruption. Tips for chemical avoidance 1. Consume fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables when possible. 2. Avoid processed meats, especially mater nal c onsumption dur ing pregnancy. 3. Avoid microwaving food or beverages in plastic (including infant formula and pumped human milk). 4. Avoid washing plastics in the dishwasher. 5. Use alternatives to plastic, such as glass or stainless steel. 6. Look at the recycling code on the bottom of products to avoid plastics with recycling codes 3 (phthalates), 6 (styrene) and 7 (possible bisphe- nols) unless plastics are labeled as “biobased” or “greenware,” indicat- ing that they are made from corn and do not contain bisphenols. This step helps determine the plastic category in order to avoid chemicals that can migrate into your foods (indirectly). 7. Wash hands before handling foods and/or drinks, and wash all fruits and vegetables that cannot be peeled. Processed foods, which contain addi- tives, are often bought because they appear to be cheaper, but that is not really true. Fresh foods do take more time to pre- pare. Minimally processed foods, such as frozen or home-canned fruits, vegetables and beans, can be used effectively for nutritious convenience foods. Consum- ing fresh and minimally processed foods alleviates the financial burden for the cost of health conditions that are associated with consumption of many processed foods with additives. Siletz Tribal Head Start offers nutri- tional support at no cost to Head Start families. This usually occurs over the telephone. If you have questions or nutri- tion concerns about your Head Start child, please contact your teacher or the director and ask to speak to the nutritionist. References Trasande L, Shaffer RM, Sathyana- rayana S; AAP, Council on Envi- ronmental Health. Food Additives and Child Health. Pediatrics. 2018; 142(2):e20181408 Link to policy statement (above refer- ence): pediatrics.aappublications.org/ content/pediatrics/early/2018/07/19/ peds.2018-1408.full.pdf Interview link (Food Sleuth Radio): beta. prx.org/stories/257938?play=true
