After completing its first decade of service to the Bandera community, the Arthur Nagel Community Clinic is moving full-speed ahead into its second decade by enhancing existing programs and launching new ones to reach more patients and the public at large with health services and education.
The Clinic’s award-winning RiskBusters Program, which works on the preventive side to help patients manage issues of weight, diabetes, hypertension, and physical inactivity, is expanding with a new Walk+Talk Group starting on March 21. This month, the project is for current patients only, but there are plans to open it to the community at a later date. Participants will walk the beautiful track around the garden, learn to prepare healthy dishes in the H-E-B Teaching Kitchen, and get helpful tips on controlling weight, blood sugar, and cholesterol.
RiskBusters utilizes a new 7-step plan to help patients reduce their risk of ill health and improve their outlook on life. Components of the plan address losing excess body fat, following a low-calorie and more plant-focused diet, water intake, increasing physical activity, reducing stress, sleeping well, and keeping medical appointments. Program Manager, Susan Broa, elaborated, “Many Clinic patients have successfully changed their behavior for the better with RiskBusters. We have no magic wand. Working the steps is entirely up to each patient, but we stand with them to provide encouragement and offer time-tested advice to help them succeed.”
Free exercise classes, which are open to the public, take place every Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:30a in the Events Center next to the Nagel Clinic. Both classes are low-impact cardio. Men and women may join these classes at any point. To participate in a class, contact Susan Broa at the Clinic at 830-796-3448, extension 3.
RiskBusters is only one part of the Nagel Clinic’s approach to comprehensive care for the individual. All Clinic patients are seen for primary care of illness or injury, with possible referrals to integrated behavioral health counseling to help link positive thought and actions toward overall health. Patients may also receive prescription assistance for medications they need, and a referral to RiskBusters for help with diet and exercise.