February 16, 2022

NOW is a good time to schedule an annual physical check up with your health care provider. There are several ways to accomplish scheduling your physical:

  • Employee Medical Clinic. The clinic offers a comprehensive Well-Being Physical that incorporates a mental health assessment, body composition and health coaching.
  • Primary Care Provider. Schedule an appointment with your PCP or if you are covered by Cigna, utilize MyCigna to help find one.
  • Telehealth/Virtual Provider. Not enough time to see your physician in person? You may schedule a virtual physical exam by connecting with an MDLIVE virtual provider on MycCigna.com or the MyCigna app.
    • If using MyCigna.com: Click on “Find Care & Costs” > “Doctor by Type” > “Primary Care Physician (PCP)”, then click on the option to Go Virtual.
    • If using the MyCigna App: Click on “Find Care” then look for the “Talk to a doctor or nurse 24/7” option to be connected with a virtual care provider.
  • Community Well-Being Physical. This is a complimentary add onto your basic annual physical exam for employees who work at Texas Children’s Community Locations. Click here for more information.

The Active and Fit Direct program offers free digital classes. Register to access:

  • 200 on-demand workouts across several fitness categories including cardio, strength, cycling, martial arts, and more.
  • Customized options based on your current level: beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Active and Fit Direct also offers fee-based and on-site options:

  • Standard Network – Fitness Center Access & Digital Classes – $25 per month plus $25 enrollment fee (waived when choosing a gym in the standard network).
  • Premium Network – Boutique Studios & Digital Classes – New memberships start at $30 per month.

To start working out, visit the Health & Well-Being page on Connect and go to “Learn More” under Active and Fit Direct.

Engage with one of Texas Children’s Health Coaches to help you build healthy habits

The best way to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle is by incorporating healthy habits each day. Small changes add up to you feeling better and more energetic throughout your day, ultimately helping you live a healthier life. Our health coaches encourage you to try making small changes each month, such as eating more fruits and veggies or getting up 10 minutes earlier to do some easy walking around the house.

Some other simple ways to incorporate small healthy changes into your everyday schedule include: drinking water instead of soda, moving during TV commercial breaks instead of sitting still, taking walks throughout the day, cooking healthy meals together as a family and going to bed just 30 minutes earlier.

Contact one of our health coaches to start creating healthy habits today!

Our health coaches can keep you accountable for any well-being goal as well as provide nutritional advice and guidance to keep you Healthy + Strong in 2022!

January 25, 2022

The beginning of this new year is an ideal opportunity to refresh and refocus on achieving our professional and personal goals. If January came and went and you haven’t set your intentions (or maybe you prefer “resolutions” – your choice) for 2022, it’s not too late! Don’t let the beginning of the new year fade without taking a moment to refresh your goals and set your intentions for the rest of 2022. The Employee Well-Being team encourages you to consider using one word that will help motivate and inspire you as you set your goals and work toward staying Healthy + Strong in 2022.

The power of just One Word

In his video “One Word that will Change Your Life,” best-selling author and speaker Jon Gordon encourages you to choose one word that resonates with you that you can focus on every day, all year long. Your one word should sum up who you want to be and/or how you want to live. If you let your word guide you, it will not only shape your year but become the compass that directs your decisions and leads your steps throughout the year.

Resources to keep you focused

Texas Children’s has a variety of resources to keep you focused on your one word and four key dimensions of Well-Being to support keeping you Healthy + Strong: physical, mental, financial and social. Our EAP, Well-Being and Benefits teams encourage you to leverage these resources throughout the year to ensure you take care of your well-being every day.

For a start:

  • Print out your My One Word card and join the Employee Well-Being team to set your intentions for the year to stay Healthy + Strong in 2022!
  • Kickstart your year with webinars from the Employee Well-Being team. All sessions are from Noon – 12:30 p.m. Click here to register.
    • Healthy and Strong in 2022: One Word – Wednesday, January 26, and Friday, January 28
    • Go Red for Women: Heart Health – Friday, February 4
More to come

To help keep you focused and motivated, look for more Connect articles exploring our other Well-Being dimensions in the coming weeks.

October 29, 2021

As part of Texas Children’s commitment to supporting our team members in being Healthy + Strong, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Well-Being are ramping up the focus on mindfulness this month and providing new resources to help you manage stress and anxiety.

Get your self-care badge card

The EAP and Well-Being teams greeted employees arriving to work with new self-care badge cards on October 12. The cards feature, a self-care exercise and encouraging words on one side, and a listing of Texas Children’s Mental Health resources on the other.

Missed the distribution day? You can still get your self-care badge card! Contact the well-being team at wellbeing@texaschildrens.org for assistance. Click here to download the self-care practice cards and other mindfulness resources.

Take a seat in an on-site massage chair

Melt your stress way with a one of the new massage chairs now located across the Medical Center, Health Plan, The Woodlands and West Campus. To find the massage chair closest to you, click here for a complete list of locations.

For those working remotely and in the Urgent Care centers, email wellbeing@texaschildrens.org for a chance to win a massage gift card. More massage opportunities will be coming throughout the year so stay tuned for some more resources in self-care.

October 13, 2021

Providing the best care to our Texas Children’s patients and their families starts with looking after and taking care of ourselves. For the month of October, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Well-being are sharing how the simple act of mindfulness can reduce the negative impact of stress and anxiety.

Practicing mindfulness throughout your work day

Mindfulness is not just about meditation or carving out long periods of relaxation – it’s about enhancing focus and awareness while you are in the midst of your workday and your daily life. As you practice removing distractions, your attention comes back to the present moment. This improves your concentration, your mood and your ability to cope with daily stressors.

Try taking control of your own mindfulness by trying these three easy, in-the-moment mindfulness activities and see what they do for you. You can also download the Three Ways to Be Mindful Throughout the Day flyer here.

  • Washing your hands

Check in with your thoughts every time you wash or sanitize your hands. As you wash your hands, feel the water or sanitizer on your hands. Think about your thoughts – are you in the present moment, or is your mind on the past or the future? Check out this video for more on hand-washing as a mindfulness practice.

  • Opening a door

Before you enter a room, touch the door knob and focus on taking a deep breath and focusing your mind on a positive thought, such as “I enter this room fully present.” Walk into the room with a calm perspective and leave your old thoughts outside the door.

  • Taking a break

Taking breaks throughout the day can help you avoid burnout, renew your perspective and refresh your creativity. This can be a long break, like lunch, or a short 5-minute walk away from your work area. Change up your scenery, take some deep breaths and refocus your intentions.

Additional mindfulness tools and resources
  • Watch on-demand mindfulness videos, such as mindfulness guided meditation and unwinding before bed on Texas Children’s Well-Being website.
  • Log into Netflix and watch the interactive “Unwind Your Mind” video series from Headspace.
  • Download the Insight Timer app that helps you to practice mindfulness at any time.
  • Tune into the Mindfulness and Meditation Podcasts | Cigna CLIMB Program from Cigna, or access the Cigna Stress Management Toolkit.
  • Review the Mindfulness and Relaxation toolkit from EAP Plus.
  • Take a look at the Managing Stress Toolkit from Cigna. There are also guided mindfulness and meditations.
  • Register to take a Healthstream course (hosted by EAP):
    • Authentic Happiness – First Friday of every month
    • Building Resilient Staff – Second Friday of every month
    • Mental Health First Aid – Third Friday of every month
    • Stress Management – Last Friday of every month
August 24, 2021

Have you ever tried to incorporate meal planning into your weekly routine? Not only can it be very cost effective, but it can prove timesaving in the long run to have meals already prepared for the week.

Here are some top recommendations from our Texas Children’s Health Coaches on how to incorporate meal planning into your weekly routine:

  • Look at your schedule ahead of time. Find out how many meals your family may need for the week based on your work and personal schedule.
  • Get creative with recipes. Try looking for recipes with overlapping ingredients or meals that you can cook in bulk. Use a Crockpot or pressure cooker to make dishes like chili, meat, soups or stews. You can also make one sheet pan meals that include a protein, carbohydrate and vegetable that can be cooked all at once. If you struggle with incorporating vegetables in your meals, you can bulk up dishes like spaghetti sauce or tacos with vegetables like mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, squash and zucchini. You can also add vegetables to omelets, casseroles, burgers, soups and stews. Our team likes to roast a tray of vegetables on Sunday night to have vegetables already cooked for the week that we can throw into different meals.

Here is one of our favorite one sheet pan meal recipes – maple-glazed salmon with sweet potatoes.

  • Make a grocery list based on what meals and snacks you plan to make for the week. It will be more cost effective if you have a list and only purchase what you need for the week. Make sure to read nutrition labels and fill your basket with nutrient-dense options.
  • Cook once or a few times throughout the week. You can make a few dishes at once for the week, or you can cook in bulk a few times. Cooking in bulk involves doubling or even tripling the recipe to make multiple servings you can put in the refrigerator or freezer. You can repurpose dishes like shredded chicken in different recipes as well.
  • Make snacks for the week. You can portion out nuts in containers or baggies as a snack option for the week. It is great to have non-perishable snack options in your purse, car or at your desk in case hunger strikes. Another popular idea is portioning out containers of hummus to eat with bags of vegetables like carrots, cucumber, celery and broccoli. It is a very satisfying and filling afternoon snack and an easy way to increase your vegetable intake.

Once you have your meals prepared, you can enjoy your week!

August 17, 2021

Transitioning from the relaxed sleep schedules of summer break to a back-to-school sleep schedule may appear daunting, but it is achievable with some preparation and patience. You would typically want to establish these school year sleep schedules at least a couple of weeks before the first day of school so your kids have time to adjust. However, do not lose heart if you begin the process later after school has begun. It’s never too late to introduce healthy sleep habits, as they are always beneficial to our kids’ physical and mental development.

Start by progressively waking up your kids 15 minutes earlier each morning and putting them to bed 15 minutes earlier than the previous day. This process will help you work towards having them ready and adjusted to sleeping the right amount while still waking up for school at the same time each morning.

Getting back on track is the first step. Now we have to maintain these healthy sleep habits throughout the school year. Here are some tips to help:

  • Be consistent. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule without changes, even on weekends, helps keep kids’ circadian rhythms (the body’s internal clock) regulated.
  • Maintain a soothing bedtime routine to wind down and relax. A consistent and relaxing bedtime routine will help signal to your kids’ bodies that it is time to sleep. Establishing “quiet time,” reading a book, hearing a bedtime story, and performing other relaxing activities such as taking a warm bath or shower can help kids prepare for bed.
  • Limit screen time before bed. Turn off the TV and other electronics an hour before bed and keep their mobile devices outside the bedroom. Studies show that the light of screens (cell phones, tablets, laptops) can confuse our bodies into thinking it is still light outside, making it harder to fall asleep.
  • Create a calm sleep environment. Having an environment conducive to sleep makes a huge difference for kids. That means making sure kids have a dark and quiet room, a comfortable bed, and a comfortable room temperature (68 – 72 degrees). White noise machines or a fan can also be effective in soothing your kids to sleep by creating a consistent and rhythmic sound. Playing soft, calming music (think classical) can also help them to sleep.
  • No caffeine six hours before bedtime. This includes sodas and other caffeinated beverages that can interrupt a child’s natural sleeping patterns.
  • Avoid big meals before bedtime. Meals with oversized portions or spicy foods can cause discomfort from indigestion and make it harder for kids to fall asleep.
  • Exercise after school. Physical activity in the afternoon can help ensure a good night’s sleep by tiring kids out during the day. Some kids find it harder to sleep if they exercise too close to bedtime, so make sure to encourage exercise a few hours before. For example, a neighborhood stroll or bike after dinner can help with digestion as well as expend any leftover energy.
August 13, 2021

As we approach the back-to-school season, many of us are preparing our kids for another reconstructed school year in a continuously evolving pandemic. While more schools reopening the traditional classroom setting, our communities are also navigating through emerging variants and rising infections. It is natural for parents and caregivers to be anxious and concerned about their kids’ safety and well-being, especially with shifting masking guidelines.

Dr. Karin Price, Chief of Psychology for Texas Children’s, shares some helpful tips to help parents and caregivers manage their own anxiety, and more importantly, help their kids feel confident about returning to school.

  • Acknowledge the anxious feelings and worries, while also setting the expectation for bravery. Telling kids (or ourselves) “Don’t worry” or “Everything will be fine” disregards our natural response to a stressful and uncertain situation. Instead, we can help children learn to label their feelings by saying things like, “Sounds like you are feeling worried about going back to school.” We can then acknowledge that the situation is stressful, while also communicating that the child is brave and can handle difficult situations. “Lots of kids and families are feeling nervous about going back to school this year. It may be hard, but I know you can handle it because you’re a brave kid.”
  • Don’t let your (or your child’s) worries feed the anxiety. We know there is a strong connection between thoughts and feelings, and during times of uncertainty the “what if” thoughts can become overwhelming. These worries tend to build on one another and create a cycle of escalating anxiety. Instead of allowing these thoughts to feed the anxiety, try to focus on things that are within your control. For example, if a parent is worried that the other kids or adults in the school setting will not be wearing masks, they can redirect their thoughts to simple problem solving. “I can only control my child, and she will wear a mask to school every day to help keep her safe.” It is important to move on to something more deserving of your attention.
  • Model bravery and healthy coping with uncertainty. Kids often take cues about how to respond to a situation from their caregivers. If they hear parents in emotional discussions about more adult topics (such as whether rules around masking are appropriate, concerns about the efficacy of vaccines against new virus variants, or anxiety about illness or death), it may be very hard for them to feel confident and brave returning to school.

Instead, we can acknowledge their own anxiety while also modeling how to cope. “I am a little worried about everyone going back to school, too. It feels especially hard this year, but I know we will handle it together.” Modeling flexibility and acceptance of things beyond our control is also important during times of uncertainty, especially by avoiding negative talk about other people. A caregiver may say something like, “I also don’t like it that many of the kids in your class don’t wear masks. I wish everyone would, but I can’t control everyone. I can just make sure that the people in our family make the best choices for our own health and safety.”