Sex: Female

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Occupation: University Student (majoring in nursing)

Hobbies: Running, listening to podcasts

Medical History:

Type 1 Diabetes: Diagnosed at age 8, after parents noticed symptoms such as; excessive thirst, weight loss and frequent urination. Managed with insulin pump, daily blood sugar tests.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD):

Diagnosed at 17 during her first year in university by her primary health care provider.

Prescribed 50mg Sertraline Daily

Immunizations:

Up to date with Hep B, Covid-19, Influenza, and childhood vaccinations

Diet and Nutrition:

Living off campus food, especially from Lady Eaton, has been vegetarian for the past 2 years

Social Life: Lives with a roommate on campus at Lady Eaton, as well occasional alcohol consumption socially with friends, no drug use. Not currently in a serious relationship.

Family:

Parents have been divorced since she was nine, and she does not regularly see her father, only twice a year if he can.

Mother: lives in the same city and helps manage her diabetes, with nursing background

Father: Lives in another city and visits twice a year

Sibling: Older brother, also attending Trent for business studies, they have a close relationship, call regularly.

Current:

• Likely irregular sleep patterns due to university stress and anxiety disorder.

• Living with a roommate may lead to disruptions in sleep schedule.

To improve sleep, Florence should establish a consistent sleep routine, aiming for 7–9 hours of rest each night. She can help her sleep quality by practicing good sleep hygiene. For example she can minimize screen time before bed, create a dark and quiet sleep environment, and incorporate relaxation techniques like meditation or deep breathing. Additionally, if she experiences sleep disorders such as insomnia or restlessness due to stress, it would be important to address these with her primary healthcare provider.

Nutrition:

Current:

• Vegetarian diet for 2 years, primarily relying on campus dining options, which may lack variety and nutrient balance.

• Risk of insufficient protein intake or micronutrient deficiencies (iron, B12).

Florence should include a variety of vegetarian protein sources in her diet, such as lentils, chickpeas, tofu, quinoa, nuts, seeds, and eggs (if she eats them). To avoid iron deficiency, she should eat iron-rich foods like spinach and fortified cereals, pairing them with vitamin C to help her body absorb the iron. She could also explore healthier dining options on or near campus, like the Seasoned Spoon, for more balanced and nutritious vegetarian meals with ingredients that are grown locally on campus. If she still struggles to get enough nutrients, a multivitamin or B12 supplement could also really help.

Exercise:

Current:

• Florence enjoys running
  

Florence should try a balanced exercise routine to stay healthy. She can keep running 3–4 times a week to support her heart but she can also add resistance exercises twice a week. These resistance exercises can help build muscle and control blood sugar. (Diabetes Canada, 2019)  Yoga or stretching sessions can improve flexibility, help her relax, and also help to reduce her anxiety.

Holistic Health Therapies:

Current:

• No current use of alternative therapies.

Florence could try holistic therapies to help with stress and anxiety. In fact, the University of Minnesota reported that in recent studies “about half of the people who suffer from anxiety and depression use some kind of holistic therapy to help with their symptoms” (UMN, 2022). Acupuncture may help her relax and manage blood sugar, while massage therapy can ease tension and make her feel better overall. Mindfulness practices, like guided meditation or deep breathing, could also help her handle anxiety. If she wants to use herbal supplements, she should check with her doctor to make sure they are safe and won’t affect her medication.

Symptoms of Stress: Irritability, Over or Under Eating, restlessness, negative thinking, trouble concentrating, and sleep problems (Health Canada, 2008) ​

Common Mental Health Disorders: Depression, Anxiety, Disordered Eating, Personality and Mood disorders (Health Canada, 2008) ​

Clinical ways to manage Mental and Emotional Wellbeing: Medication and Seek professional resources such as therapy, Florence is prescribed ​medication to treat her anxiety. She can also ask about the benefits of cognitive behavioural therapy.

To Help with her Mental Health: ​

• Taking time to do her Hobbies she loves , such as running and listening to podcasts

• Taking care of her physical well-being ​

• Calling her Mom or Family members to catch up ​

• Get out in Nature and go on a walk​ when anxious

To Help with her Emotional Wellbeing: ​

• Take time to focus on Self-care ​

• Gratitude journalling ​

• Daily Reflection ​

• Getting a Planner to stay organized to help reduce stress surrounding due date. ​

Resources to Reach Out: Locally at Trent

Trent Univeristy: Mental Health Resoruces

​​

• Building and maintaining healthy relationships in and outside of her program.

• Reach out to her parents, daily/ weekly check-ins ​

• Seeing her friends for things like study dates, that way she can still focus on her academics and see those she loves.

Isolation, especially among university students is common, as we transition into a new stage of life. Making connections with those and maintaining our preexisting ones is very important to maintain social wellbeing.

Social Activities:

• Get involved within her community, volunteering or activity groups she enjoys

• Find on campus organizations/ opportunities ​

• Join a group fitness class or sports team, Trent offers daily group fitness classes she may enjoy   

  
  

  Social Wellness Checklist (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2023)​

  
  

  Volunteer Opportunities Peterborough 

Meditation --> Mindfulness meditation

• reduces anxiety and depression

• helps stay grounded

• decenter from negative thoughts

Prayers--> connecting with religion

• triggers relaxation response, which lowers blood pressure

• gives a sense of sharing the control in life

• elicits positive feelings such as gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, hope

Mindfulness --> being mindful

• improves mood

• cope with pain management

• less negative thoughts

Values and Beliefs:

Undering your values and beliefs is beneficial to your wellness in many ways, including;

• It gives a sense of self

• It is grounding

• It makes individuals resilient to stressors

Due to Florence being a nursing student, she may possess values and beliefs such as;

Values

• Empathy: providing the best care to patients

• Honesty: explaining patients diagnosis and treatments

• Trustworthiness: building trust with patients so they allow you to provide care

Beliefs

• Honouring patients regardless of race, religion, values

• Treating everyone equally and with kindness

• Provide the best care to all patients

• Self-esteem has been linked to happiness increases (Baumeister et al., 2003)

• Self-esteem can have both positive and negative effects

• Improvement through the use of daily affirmations, acknowledging personal accomplishments, focusing on self

Personal Development:

• Involves developing the required skills needed for adapting to change and for growth (van Woerkom & Meyers, 2018)

  • View challenges as growth opportunities and themselves as capable of development

• Can occur through goal setting, changing your mindset, accepting and encouraging feedback, skill development (Brougham-Chandler, 2023)

• Regular visits with primary healthcare provider to manage diabetes

• Keeping up with vaccinations

• Continued use of anxiety medication

• Therapy

Health Education:

• Contacting specialists

  • Dietitians or nutritionists, therapists, diabetes nurses, etc.

• Following wellness plan

There are many different techniques to manage and reduce stress. Some of these include;

• Daily exercise

• Get enough sleep

• Practicing yoga

• Deep breathing

• Eating healthy

Adaption:

While adjusting and coping with life changes, individuals need to explore mechanisms to help build resilience.  

According to Newman, five science-backed strategies to build resilience include;

1 – changing the narrative

2- Face your fears

3 – Practice self-compassion

4- meditate

5 – cultivate forgiveness

Practicing these strategies will result in having strong, resilient attributes.  

Challenge; Individuals' needs may change frequently as they progress into new situations, and it may be difficult to stay consistent.

Solution; Access areas she may have the most difficulty with: Stay consistent, make them more straightforward, and make them easier to manage/ smaller plans.

Challenge: New information all at once can seem daunting and hard to know where to begin to incorporate the wellness plan.

Solutions: Instruct her to begin by slowly incorporating manageable tasks, building up to bigger ones. She can also begin by writing out what she plans to do to add the wellness plan into her daily life.

We can ask follow up questions regarding how the patient felt overall before vs after. ​

We should consistently monitor progress of the plan, i.e surveys, check-ins, progress updates, health-stats. ​

Understand where needs to improve within the plan, as we should be continuously improving as needs change

Baumeister, R.F., Campbell, J.D., Krueger, J.I., & Vohs, K.D. (2003). Does high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or healthier lifestyles?. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/1529-1006.01431

Brougham-Chandler, A. (2023, November 23). 11 ways to supercharge your personal development. breathe. https://www.breathehr.com/en-gb/blog/topic/employee-performance/11-personal-development-strategies-that-really-work

Diabetes Canada Website (2019, February 16). Managing-My-Diabetes; Resistance Exercise https://www.diabetes.ca/DiabetesCanadaWebsite/media/Managing-My-Diabetes/Tools%20and%20Resources/resistance-exercise.pdf?ext=.pdfWhat

Duncan, C. (2024) Prayer. Taking Charge of Your Wellbeing. https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/prayer#:~:text=The%20relaxation%20response%20%2D%20prayer%20elicits,needing%20to%20be%20in%20charge.

Health Canada. (2008b, January 7). Mental Health - Coping With Stress. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/healthy-living/your-health/lifestyles/your-health-mental-health-coping-stress-health-canada-2008.html ​

Holistic Therapies and Practices Help with Anxiety and Depression? (2022, June 21). Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing. https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/what-holistic-therapies-and-practices-help-anxiety-and-depression

Mayo Clinic. (2023). Use Mindfulness to Improve Well-being. https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/use-mindfulness-to-improve-well-being

News in Health. (2021) Mindfulness for Your Health. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2021/06/mindfulness-your-health

Regis College. (2021). Why Nursing Values and Beliefs Are Important to Achieving Career Success. Regis College. https://online.regiscollege.edu/blog/why-nursing-values-and-beliefs-are-important-to-achieving-career-success/

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2023, May 19). Your healthiest self: Wellness toolkits. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/health-information/your-healthiest-self-wellness-toolkits

Valizadeh, L., Jasemi, M., Zamanzadeh, V., & Keogh, B. (2017). A concept analysis of holistic care by hybrid model. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 23(1), 71. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.197960

van Woerkom, M. & Meyers, M.C. (2018). Strengthening personal growth: The effects of a strengths intervention on personal growth initiative. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 92(1), 98-121. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12240

Key Components of SCT are:

Self- efficacy, self-control, reinforcements and observational learning (Bandura, 2000)

Application into our Wellbeing Plan:

Florence will find that she has more success sustaining her wellness plan is by having those around her who are succeeding in working towards similar goals.  We can also use SCT for her to monitor her positive outcomes from her plan to encourage her to continue with positive reinforcement.  

Thank you again for reading!