Running Head: RISK REDUCTION

Health Assessment and Risk Reduction

Cassie Mulder
Ferris State University

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Health Assessment and Risk Reduction

Talk about health is everywhere. Its heard on the news, from the
doctor, by family and friends, even on billboards. What is health? There
are many things that contribute to good health, but it almost feels like
there are more things that cause people to be unhealthy. In America
there are unhealthy food options everywhere, stress due to finances
and family, stagnant lifestyles at work, the list goes on. Luckily, there
are many options for people to practice good health and get
information on their own lifestyle. One of these options is The Real Age
test. Its a test that determines health age based off of diet, activity
level, feelings, and basic health information. This test allows for an
overview of the perceived health of a person and also gives tips and
advice at the end to help improve overall health. (Roizen and Oz,
2013). Within the next sections an overview of a person who took The
Real Age test will be covered, and new health alternatives will be
discussed in order to promote health for this individual.
Positive Health Practices
BL is a 24-year-old nursing student who took The Real Age test to
get an idea of their overall health. In general this individual did really
well on the test and the results were very positive. For instance, BL has
a great and consistent fitness schedule as well as body mass index of
21.3. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a
normal body weight is 18.5-24.9 (2015). According to The Real Age

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test BL gets an adequate amount of sleep on a regular basis, which

concurs with The Sleep Foundation that says a young adult needs an
average of 7-9 hours of sleep to function optimally (2015). The test
also concluded that BL has other healthy habits such as staying away
from cigarette smoke, eating different varieties of nuts and avoiding
junk food.
Health Issues
In general BLs Real Age Test turned out great and according to
Appendix A she took off 6.4 years off of her real age, but there were
some issues that hindered her from doing even better. One major
health issue for BL is stress, and by looking at the results she needs to
expand her social circle, ease her financial worries, and find positive
coping strategies when shes feeling especially overwhelmed.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are
many ways to cope with stress such as getting plenty of sleep, taking
breaks when needed, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and eating healthy,
well-balanced meals (2014). BL does great when it comes to eating
healthy and getting plenty of sleep, but she doesnt always eat wellbalanced meals.
Another factor that would benefit BL greatly would be
getting her cholesterol checked. Its something she hasnt done before,
and its extremely important to know the LDL and HDL cholesterol
levels for an accurate Real Age Test age. According to the American

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Heart Association knowing your cholesterol level is important because

if its too high it can significantly increase the risk for coronary artery
disease, heart attack, and stroke (2014).

Intervention Increasing Nutrition

According to BLs results, she needs to eat a healthy morning
meal regularly, consume more grains, fruits, and vegetables, and go
easy on red meat. She doesnt cover the five basic food groups on a
regular basis, and that easily can contribute to her high stress levels.
According to Choose My Plate, a healthy diet consists of fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, protein foods, and dairy every day (2015). BL
could really benefit from varying her food groups and trying to fit all of
them on her plate throughout the day.
One way BL could ease into eating a wider variety of foods would
to pair them with foods she already enjoys. Her plate could consist of
half of something she eats on a regular basis, and the other half could
be foods she hasnt tried, or a food that completes her My Plate. If BL
found more foods she enjoyed itd be easier for her to consistently
consume all five food groups for an overall healthier lifestyle.
Wellness Diagnosis
Two wellness diagnoses were chosen for BL specifically according
to the results from The Real Age test. The first was the readiness for
enhanced comfort related to stress and an outcome that BL would

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show if this was achieved would be that the patient will report an
increase in relaxation (2010 Sparks & Taylor, 827).
Another diagnosis for BL is readiness for enhanced knowledge
and an outcome for this diagnosis would be that the patient will begin
practicing new behaviors gleaned from enhanced knowledge (2010
Sparks & Taylor, 858).
Goals
Two SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, and realistic)
goals for BL were created according to her Real Age test results. The
first goal is that the client will use at least 1 positive coping strategies,
such as meditation, for stress and if that doesnt help she will take a 30
minute break to relax. The second goal for BL is to eat at least 2 cups
of vegetables and 1 cup of whole grains every day to expand her food
variety.
Transtheoretical Model
The Transtheoretical Model contains many steps that a person
goes through when making a conscious change. Because BL took The
Real Age test and has intention of following through with her new
SMART goals, she falls into the contemplation stage. BL knew
previously about her stress and unvaried eating, but now she has a
plan to change her lifestyle. She is also aware of the pros and the cons,
making this stage especially hard to follow through with (Velicer et. All,
1998). For BL to accomplish this stage and move on she needs to stick

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closely to her new goals and continue to grow and gain knowledge
about healthy eating and coping with stress.
Evaluation
The SMART goals implemented into BLs life have significantly
helped her make lifestyle changes. She recently has been doing
physical activity when stressed to help release endorphins and cope
with the stress. If the physical activity doesnt help she takes a 30
minute break from the stressor to help herself relax. According to BL
both of these strategies have help her to feel less stressed, although
she states that the underlying stress of school is still present even after
implementing her new approaches.
BL has also been following her SMART goal for her food intake
closely. She has been eating 2 cups of vegetables every day as well as
1 cup of whole grains. She has found that she enjoys more foods than
she thought, and that as she uses this strategy her variety of foods she
likes increases. There have been days where she hasnt hit her goals
perfectly, but she is sticking more closely to them than ever before.
All in all BL is in the process of moving out of the contemplation
stage of the transtheoretical model. Not only did she take The Real Age
test to get a better idea of where her health can improve, but she has
been using the information and knowledge she has to better her
unhealthy habits. The goals implemented for her have been working,
and overall she states that she feels much better.

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Appendix A
Real Age Results

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References
Healthy weight - It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle! (2015, February 23).
Retrieved April 10, 2015, from

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http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/
(2015).
Choose My Plate. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2015, from
http://www.choosemyplate.gov (2014, January).
Coping with stress. (2014, January 9). Retrieved April 9, 2015, from
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/coping_with_stress_ti
ps.html
How much sleep do we really need? (n.d.). Retrieved April 9, 2015,
from http://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-muchsleep-do-we-really-need
Sparks, S. & Taylor, C. (2010.) Nursing diagnosis reference manual.
New York, NY: Lippincott & Williams.
Velicer, W., Prochaska, J., Fava, J., Redding, C., & Norman, G. (1998).
Smoking cessation and stress management: Applications of the
Transtheoretical Model of behavior change. Retrieved April 10,
2015, from http://web.uri.edu/cprc/detailed-overview/
Why cholesterol matters. (2014, April 21). Retrieved April 10, 2015,
from
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/WhyChol
esterolMatters/Why-Cholesterol-Matters_UCM_001212_Article.jsp