Tag Archives: help

The Best Ways To Support Small Businesses

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Small businesses are making a resurgence in many different markets. Corporate businesses with nationwide or regional reach are sometimes hard to compete with, so when you find a small business that you love, be sure to show your support.

You may be a small business owner yourself or you may be thinking about becoming a small business owner, and surely one must practice what they preach and support businesses similar to their own.

We’ve put together a quick list of the best ways to support small businesses in order to directly provide financial support to businesses and their employees that you love:

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Buy Local

A great way to support local business people in your community is to be sure to buy local and to select local businesses for your services.

If you have repairs to be conducted on your car or home, why not look to a local company that is employee owned? There are usually many choices to make when you are seeking service-oriented companies to work with. Be sure to call around and compare the prices, business approach, and service details before you decide which company you will use.

Asking for referrals from your network is a great way to also find out about new companies that could be able to provide the services you need.

Shop With Discretion

When you are looking for a new item, don’t just buy the first thing you see. Think about what you need. There may be items that are available produced by many different labels, some of which are local or handmade.

Do your research by checking online for the products you want and see if there are brands you love that support small business. Amazon, Etsy, and product websites are also great places to look when you are comparing products.

Some of our favorite brands include clothing from independent retailers and customized equipment from retailers, like Extreme Sports WannaBes, who remind us that “If you’re a WannaBe like us, then you know that the most important part of any adventure is the story that comes after.”

Traveling to other cities for shopping events is a great way to travel and see new places as well.

When you would like to support small businesses, you can also try to visit local markets to shop. These may include retail establishments, restaurants, craft markets, antique markets, art fairs, and more!

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Go Organic or Farm-to-Table 

When it comes to food, what better way to support local farmers than to choose to purchase locally.

There are usually options in areas where local farms are in operation that can be utilized by small-scale and large-scale farmers. Whether it’s buying from a farmers’ market or signing up for a weekly or monthly delivery plan, you can receive locally grown products in many locales.

For meats or seafood, shop local markets as well. Be sure to ask if products are shipped or local, fresh or frozen. Expand your stock of local food products and include vegetables, fruits, meats, seafood, condiments, breads, and more!

If you do some shopping planning along with your meal planning in advance, you may be able to plan your local purchases to become a substantial part of your diet. 

Customize Your Purchase 

When you shop for specialized purchases, small businesses can provide amazing gifts for you or your loved ones.

Custom products that can be produced especially for you are perks when shopping with small businesses. 

Create some of the most memorable gifts for business or personal giving when you shop small business. Some of our favorite products are custom drams, personalized products, made-to-suit accessories, and more!

When you buy custom made products you are usually supporting small businesses.  Sometimes you may be supporting both small and larger businesses by taking prepared products and then customizing them. Some businesses do the hard work for you and offer a range of customized products to fulfill the wants of their audience.

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Reduce Your Carbon Footprint 

One of the greatest contributions to supporting small business and buying local is reducing your carbon footprint.

If you are not utilizing long-distance shipping then you are saving on fossil fuel emissions.  You can further your carbon reduction savings by electing to eat poultry, pork, and fish and cutting out beef or lessening the amount of beef you consume.

Utilize a carbon-fighting vehicle, public transportation, bicycling, or walking to further reduce your carbon emissions. Fighting climate change is an important consideration for everyone as we enter the next decade.

Buying local and supporting small businesses is a great way to support local workers, artists, farmers and more. Reduce your carbon footprint while you enjoy wonderfully made and crafted items by shopping small businesses.

10 Things You Didn’t Know That Can Drastically Improve Your Mental Health

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Mental health is not a given in the hectic world we live in – especially these days, with COVID-19 in the mix. Job uncertainty, lack of human interaction, and pervading fear of the pandemic’s recurrence are only some of the many factors that can chip off chunks of our mental wellbeing. Still, there are quite a few things we can do to keep our psychological equilibrium in check and stay on the safe side of the mental health agenda. So, what are the things we can do to nurture our mind and drastically improve our mental health in times of global upheaval?

1. Focus on the Positives

When times are hard, it can be really difficult to find a silver lining in every single cloud – but it’s far from impossible. Invest active effort and try to take notice of the little things in your immediate environment during the day that you can be grateful for. Focusing on the good things that happen around you every day can help you restore faith in positives and preserve your mental equilibrium in the long run. So, what are the things that you can be grateful for today? Write them down and see just how lucky you actually are.

 

2. Break Some Sweat

Medical studies have shown that physical exercise can boost mood and help keep depression, anxiety and various psychological hitches at bay. Release of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin which occurs during training has an invigorating effect on our overall mental wellbeing. For a neat side-effect, regular exercise is also good for your physique and long-term health. The takeaway? Sign up for the gym today and do yourself a triple favor by a single routine tweak.

3. Pedal through Nature

Did you know that cycling through nature can elevate your mood and help you regain – or retain – mental fortitude? Gliding through trees and across rough terrain on sturdy mountain bikes is a great exercise for both the body and the mind. Spending time in nature allows your brain to de-stress and reboot, while hard pedaling labor and conquest of challenging trails trigger release of happiness hormones in the brain. For added fun, a biking session will also physically remove you from the gloom of your everyday setting.

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4. Omm Your Way to Bliss

Meditation and other New Age techniques have been around for a while, and for a good reason, too. According to some studies, not only does meditation alleviate anxiety and depression, but it also enhances processing of emotions which is essential to long-term mental wellbeing. If you’re a newbie, it may take you a while to get into the nirvana state of mind, but don’t give up. The outstanding effects which meditation has on your overall psychology are definitely worth the extra effort!

5. Open up to a Loved One

Sometimes, talking about everything we keep inside isn’t easy, but a heart-to-heart talk can go a long way in times of trouble and distress. Humans are social beings by nature and even though you may be a loner, you will still need some contact with others now and then – and especially at a time when everything you believed to be safe and stable starts to shake and collapse. A chat with a trustworthy person can ease mental load and restore a smile to your face and make you feel you are not completely alone.

6. Charity Goes a Long Way

In times when you might feel that you’re the most unfortunate of souls out there, remember that there are others who are in a much graver situation. If you can afford it, it might be helpful to muster the strength to do something for them. Charity and volunteer work are beneficial for both the givers and the ones on the receiving end. By volunteering in an animal shelter or soup kitchen or working with the homeless, you will do a lot of good for others and get a mood boost yourself – and maybe you’ll even find your purpose.

7. Adopt a Furry Friend

Loneliness can be a real bugger – all the more so in times when you feel less than. For a heart-warming and mind-soothing plot twist, why not get a pet? A human and a pet are a match made in heaven, especially in the times when either of them is hurting. These days, science is including pets in the mission to cure mental health – and the endeavor appears to be working like a charm. As a bonus, having a pet will also dial up your sense of purpose, so you may just give it a go – for your heart’s and mind’s sake.

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8. Count Your Zzzs

Proper rest is one of the essential elements in the wellbeing puzzle – but it’s also one of the first to go to shambles when the pillars of our world start to shake. Do your mental health a favor and shape up your bedtime routine by ditching screens from your sleeping area and setting up a bedtime schedule. Aim for 6-8 hours of solid sleep per night and try to stay away from heavy, fat- or sugar-laden foods before bedtime as rich dinners have a detrimental effect on sleep quality.

9. Mind Your Plate

Be honest now: are you eating your way to lasting mental wellbeing? Many people feel down and out without knowing exactly why, and they are all too quick to dismiss the significance of their diet for their psychological state. If you want to stay fit as a fiddle both physically and mentally, watching your diet is a must. To secure lasting mental health, drop fast food from the menu and set aside time each day to prepare your own meals. Bonus point: eating healthy, energy-boosting foods is both delicious and it costs less, too.

10. Take a Break

When everything begins to slide into a rut, a short break from the norm may be everything you need to stay on top of your mental shape. A weekend trip will infuse your life with vigor and excitement, and it will also allow you to take your mind off everyday stress and focus on other, more inspiring things in life. To max out on stimulation, you can choose an adrenaline holiday or day trip with thrill-packed activities such as bungee jumping or rafting. Now, that’s an outing you’ll never forget!

Preserving mental health in times when the world seems to be losing it is not always easy, but it is nonetheless crucial. As the old adage goes, the choices we make define our destiny, and it is up to you to call your shots wisely. Use the tips above to shape your daily routine with your long-term psychological wellbeing in mind. Sleep well, eat clean, exercise regularly, consider getting a pet, do some charity work, allow yourself a break from the norm when you feel like it, and your mind will always be in a good place. You’re welcome!

How to Recover and Bounce Back After a Job Loss

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Unemployment can be a stressful, scary situation for anyone. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many more people have found themselves out of work as a result of economic uncertainty. A Pew Research study found that a quarter of adults under the age of 30 have had to seek unemployment benefits since the pandemic began. That’s a significant number of the population.

The effects of furlough or being fired entirely can be personally devastating. There is of course the strain on your finances, and your ability to keep yourself and your family comfortable. However, it also tends to be a mentally and emotionally challenging situation, too. Between the stress of the job search, the hit to your self-esteem, and the sense of isolation, is it any wonder that you might be struggling to push through this period? 

We’re going to review some of the areas you can focus on to make a difference to your personal and professional outlook after a job loss. What can you focus on? What techniques and tools can help you to adapt to a changing and uncertain climate?

Seek Support

Do not try to go through this period of hardship alone. It is certainly easy to get yourself into the frame of mind where you don’t want to be a burden on anyone else or cause any undue worry. Pride also plays a role. So you might wind up trying to go it alone. Unfortunately, all this does is put additional pressure on you, which you’ll likely internalize, and can wind up feeling isolated. One of the best ways you can help yourself, your loved ones, and your career prospects at this time is to reach out for support. 

This doesn’t just mean financial support, either. Your mental health needs to remain intact, so asking friends to regularly talk to you — particularly about subjects outside of your job search — can be a source of comfort and release. You will also need space to consider your position and undertake focused job searches. Therefore, seeking alternative childcare for just a few hours a week can help to provide you with this room. However, it’s important to bear in mind that COVID-19 still presents a risk to your children and other people, so where possible, your spouse or a close relative to take them to an open area to minimize potential exposure for everyone involved.  

Support can also come from your former colleagues and employers. It will often be the case that your boss had no choice but to let you go, and still understands the full value of your skills. It’s generally not considered relevant to include references on your resume or initial application — they take up real estate you could be using for your skills. Still, it’s important to gather these early so that you are prepared. Contact your former employer or any senior figure that you worked with, and either ask permission to provide their contact details if requested, or obtain letters of recommendation. Taking this time to reach out may also raise opportunities in the industry that former colleagues may be aware of.

Make a Plan

That feeling of powerlessness following being made unemployed can cause you to spiral into inactivity. You weren’t able to prevent yourself from being let go, and the world around you can seem to be crumbling, so it can be a struggle to find the motivation to keep moving. Making a forward plan of action is one of the most effective tools you can produce to prevent becoming stuck in this way.

Firstly, make a list of all the most immediate priorities. Get a good understanding of your financial situation — what are your outgoings, and what can you cut back on. If you’re unemployed for months, will you have to make adjustments to how you contribute to your retirement plan or your 401K? Do you need to start an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) to minimize the potential negative impact on your future finances? What current loans and credit lines are you able to arrange lower repayments on for the time being?

It can also be helpful to formalize your process and schedule for your job search. This can be hard on those days when you feel as though you’re drifting — it’s a framework for you to follow. Make your plan the night before, as people tend to find this leads to them being more productive the next day. Create blocks for activities; list where you’re going to be directing your search, how you intend to network online, what periods are dedicated to reviewing or rewriting your resume if needed. Remember to schedule breaks and time away from the job search, too, as this will help you to avoid burning out. 

Consider Your Skills

If you enjoy the area of work that you’ve previously built skills in, it can be a smart move to look at where the needs in your industry lie. Accountancy, as an example, is not just strictly populated by traditional accountants — there is a demand for accounting adjacent roles that use the same skills. Financial analysts and auditors are all appropriate for those with an accountancy background, with room to grow toward leadership roles with further education. Therefore, it’s worth exploring what demand there is not just for your prior role, but for the skills that you have gained within it.  

Becoming unemployed can also be good motivation to explore other career areas that you may be interested in. If you’re able to undertake new training while protecting your current finances through the hard times, this time in history is a particularly good time to do so. You are not limited to attending traditional universities. Distance learning and remote e-learning courses are both prevalent and increasingly recognized by employers. Not to mention that there are many free tutorials on YouTube that can launch careers in sectors that encourage those who are self-taught — such as coding, web design, and the arts.

Conclusion 

Becoming unemployed can be a major setback; financially, professionally, and emotionally. However, you should be reassured that the situation is not entirely outside of your control. By focusing on gaining the right support, planning your activities, and building your skills you can achieve a successful and enriching comeback.

Exploring The Concept Of Consumer Confusion In Home Health Care

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The concept of consumer confusion in the healthcare industry is worth understanding because it will help in both development and validation of the care process as well as help the home care agencies to improve the quality of life and the care process as well.

Over the years there has been a significant rise in the demand of home health care but with that there has also been a change in the concept of other different aspects such as:

  • Patient autonomy
  • Consumer sovereignty
  • Information provision and
  • All the essentials to decrease data asymmetries.

This means there will be no miscommunications between the patients and the healthcare service providers. However, care must be taken for greater availability of such third-party information sources because this can lead to customer confusion and negative side effects.

By nature, the patients can be confused regarding the type of care services to be provided as well as the cost of it. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the home care agencies to provide quality information to the patients to eliminate the chances of any confusion among the patients.

Consequences of a confused patient

According to the research conducted among a few competing health care providers it is found that such conflicting information causes a lot of patient confusion. This in turn affects the behavioral intention of the patients to choose a health care provider.

  • The present study confirms the model of patient confusion with reference to the context of hospital choice.
  • It also reveals the perceived overload of information and its similarity as well as its ambiguity which in turn affects the cognitive mechanisms of patient confusion.

When a patient is confused, they typically have an inclination to narrow down their choices as well as their available set of possible decision alternatives.

Finally, the customers should make an empirical analysis that will help them to know about the effective and cognitive elements that ideally leads to patient confusion. They will be able to mediate the perceived information overload, similarity, and vagueness of information regarding Home care jobs.

Care delivery at home

When it comes to delivering health care in the home it is quite different from a hospital or nursing home health care setting or any other institutional environment where nurses and home care aides work.

  • The home health care nurses work alone
  • They work depending on the support resources that are available from their central office and
  • They work on the basis of a nurse-physician relationship.

It also involves direct physician contact and in most of the cases it is found that it is the physicians who rely on the nurses to a greater degree for making proper assessments and analysis of the finding and also communicating it with the other team members.

  • The home health care nurses usually spend a significant part of their time on paperwork as compared to the nurses working in a hospital or a nursing home. They in fact spend a lot of time with the reimbursement issues.
  • There are also a few specific and distinctive characteristics that make the nurses working in a home health care environment much different for the other nurses working in different other settings. One of it is the safety, security and quality of outcomes.

In fact, there is a very high degree of patient autonomy found in a home setting that includes limited oversight as well as experience of the informal caregivers as compared to the professional home care givers of the clinicians. All these are situational and are variable according to the unique situations in each home.

Reasons consumers err

Now, with all these benefits and variances provided by a home heath care giver or a nurse, the natural question that may come to your mind is why exactly consumers make a mistake in choosing the right care plan.

Well, the first obvious reason seems to be the open enrollment plan that is provided by almost every kind of health insurance companies.

  • There are millions of people who use Medicare plans.
  • There are others who choose any other type of health insurance that is sponsored by the employer.

In addition to that, there are also a significant number of people who choose a specific health plan from the Affordable Care Act or ACA marketplaces.

Quite naturally, the consumers encounter with a large variety of options. According to research, it is revealed that it is due to this large variety of option that is available to the consumers that creates a confusion and in most of the times compels them to make a mistake in making the final choice. Invariably, more often than not they end up paying more than that need to pay for a particular health plan.

Type of confusions created

There are people who select plans that come with deductibles that are too low. Well, you may think that this is a fine choice but in most of the cases when you choose a plan that has lower deductible will have higher premium. That means when you save on deductibles while receiving the claims, you pay a large sum of money while you continue to pay the premiums.

Such type of mistakes made is typically seen when bulk insurance is sold to the employees of a firm. They hardly have the knowledge and skill to distinguish between the 26 plans they are offered and all seems to be identical to them. This forces them to bad deals which in most of the times is influenced by the choice of the colleagues.

People have a variety of reasons to make mistakes like this.

  • Some do not understand the basic concepts of health insurance
  • Some cannot identify the basic cost-sharing features and
  • Some are highly predictive of overpaying for a lower deductible.

Therefore, there is no doubt that the consumers face a lot of confusing situation when it comes to choosing a health insurance plan as well as a health care provider. Add to that, the different programs offered by the Medicare Advantage confuse the consumers even more. This is why a proper research is essential before making any such choice.

Restaurant Allows Guests To Pay It Forward – In A Unique Way

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I think this is such an awesome idea. I would have no problem donating like this. It could be as simple a a pay-it-forward change jar where guests could dump some money in that the restaurant could use to feed those who are in need. Some restaurants don’t allow you to buy food for those in need and some have actually denied service to any caught doing so an escorted off the premises. Our world can be heartless sometimes. If opportunities like this were given I think more people would be encouraged to help. What opportunities would you be willing to help like this? Have you seen something equally cool to help those in need you can share?