Running head: PARTNER RISK REDUCTION

Partner Risk Reduction

Danielle Dowd
Ferris State University

PARTNER RISK REDUCTION

Partner Risk Reduction

Everyone has different habits that they incorporate into their life.
Some of these habits may be good for their health, and some of these
habits may be bad for their health. With the help of the Real Age
survey, people can see how their actions are affecting their health. At
the end of the survey it will give you a real age, which is the age that
a persons body is operating at. The Real Age survey gives suggestions
on ways to improve and continue certain health practices. Throughout
this paper on individual named JC will be discussed. JC is a 34-year-old
who participated in the Real Age survey. After the survey JCs age
came out to be 43.5 years old, which is a difference of 9.8 years. JC
wants to make changes in his life to bring his Real Age down to normal,
or to even be younger than he should be.
Positive Health Practices
JC has many positive health practices within his life that is
keeping him young. In the physiological sense, JC has a sense of
purpose in what he is doing. He also keeps his finances in order, which
allows him to keep his stress in check. In a physical sense, JC has a
healthy waist size and BMI. It helps that he consumes plenty of fish
within his diet. JC has a lifestyle that keeps him on the move. The Real
Age site states, Our bodies were designed long, long ago to do one
thing: move. That's why people who spend less time sitting throughout
the day have smaller waists, lower BMIs (body mass indexes), and

PARTNER RISK REDUCTION

healthier blood fat and blood sugar levels than people who sit a lot
(Roizen and Oz, 2015).
Negative Health Practices
JC has multiple negative health practices that is increasing his
Real Age. First off, JC is a smoker. According to the 50-Year Trends in
Smoking, Nearly all the excess risk can be avoided if a person quits
smoking before 40 years of age. Quitting smoking is much more
effective than reducing the number of cigarettes smoked (Thun, et al.,
2013, p. 198). JC is not yet 40 years old therefore this could apply to
him if he would choose to quit smoking in the next couple years. This is
an area of concern in JCs life. JC will be provided with materials to
help him on his journey to cessation of smoking. Other negative health
practices JC has are an unbalanced diet, times of possible depressive
states, inadequate sleeping habits, and a few physical insufficiencies.
JC has to work on increasing his cardiovascular, and weight training to
tighten and tone (Roizen and Oz, 2015).
The area of concern that would be the quickest fix would be to
boost the cardiovascular workout. As stated previously, JC will still
receive information on how to quit smoking because that will impact
his ability to do his cardiovascular workouts. Currently, JC spends about
1 to 3 hours doing cardio each week. In order for it to make an impact
in his life, JC needs to consistently spend at least 3 to 3 hours on
cardio per week.

PARTNER RISK REDUCTION

Increasing Cardio Intervention

It is important to incorporate a cardiovascular workout in your
daily regimen because it can reduce your risk for many diseases.
According to the Health Benefits of Physical Activity, incorporating 40
minutes of cardiovascular exercise can decrease the risk of acquiring
diabetes, cancer, and osteoporosis (Warburton, Nicol, Brendin, 2006, p.
801-809).
Although it can seem difficult to find the time in JCs busy
schedule to incorporate the time for cardiovascular exercise, there are
a few strategies that can work with his daily life. JC stated that he
does have a home gym available to him equipped with a treadmill,
elliptical machine, and free weights. This eliminates the hassle of
trying to find a gym or buying a gym membership. JC can utilize the
treadmill or the elliptical a 3 or 4 times a week for 45 minutes to obtain
his cardiovascular workout.
There are other options that JC can look into to increase his
cardiovascular endurance. JC lives fairly close to campus and can ride
his bike to class and home a few days a week. This will add up to
another 40 minutes a week of cardiovascular exercise, plus it is good
for the environment. It will up his endurance was well as tightening
and toning his muscles.
There are multiple options for increasing JCs endurance. He
does not have to do the same exercise every day or every week. It will

PARTNER RISK REDUCTION

benefit his body and decrease his Real Age if he uses some of these
interventions. The Real Age site states, Making 30 minutes of cardio
part of your daily routine helps your heart, lungs, and circulatory
system deliver oxygen and nutrients to your body's cells and take
away waste products (Roizen and Oz, 2015).
Wellness Diagnoses
There are two wellness diagnoses that fit the assessment data
that was gathered. The first wellness diagnosis is, Health-seeking
behaviors related to absence of aerobic exercise as a risk factor for
coronary artery disease (Sparks & Taylor, 2010, p. 842). JC will be at a
decreased risk for coronary artery disease if he increases his
cardiovascular endurance. According to Exercise and Physical Activity,
The results are strong, with the most physically active subjects
generally demonstrating CAD rates half those of the most sedentary
group (Thompson, 2003, p. 42e-49).
The second wellness diagnosis is, Readiness for enhanced
therapeutic regimen management (Sparks & Taylor, 2010, p. 870).
This is related to JCs drive to make a positive impact on his health by
following a set regimen.
Goals
It is appropriate to assign two SMART goals to JC. The first
SMART goal is that the client will utilize the elliptical at home gym for
45 minutes four times a week. This is a very attainable goal for JC since

PARTNER RISK REDUCTION

he studies and works at home. He can multitask while on the elliptical

with studying or other work. The second SMART goal is that the client
will ride their bike to class and back once a week. This will give JC
another great option to get some cardio in since it is not a very long
bike ride.
Transtheoretical Model
The Transtheoretical Model depicts the different stages that
people go through before they are willing to make a change to their
lifestyle. JC is currently in the contemplation stage of the model. This
means he is getting ready to make a difference to his life, but he is still
weighing the costs and benefits. He knows how difficult it is going to
be to stay committed to this workout regimen, but he knows it will
drastically improve his health. At times he lacks the motivation
because he feels busy with his family, school, and his career.
Evaluation
After a week of implementing the interventions into his life, JCs
SMART goals were reviewed. The first SMART goal positively impacted
JCs life in many areas. JC slept better at night and felt less stress.
Before adding a cardiovascular workout, JC had a difficult sleeping at
night. He is now sleeping longer and feeling more refreshed when he
wakes up. JC also had a problem with occasionally feeling down. He
feels now that he has a workout schedule it gives him a method to
workout his feelings of anger, sadness, or stress.

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The second SMART goal had mixed feelings with JC. He enjoyed
riding his bike to class when the weather was nice, but once the
weather changes it will not work. He does enjoy that it is not a long
ride, and it feels good to be active after being stationary in class all
day. This goal can be revised upon the winter months to give JC
another method of obtaining the cardiovascular workout he needs.
After evaluating all the positives and negatives to the SMART
goals, the second SMART goal will be the one that will need revision. A
possible revision would be to add another day of elliptical training to
make up for the loss of 40 minutes of exercise.
Appendix A
Dear CJ,
After reviewing the progress you have made I believe we
are on a great track. You have been working hard and I can see that. I
have taken in your concern for when the weather changes with the
second SMART goals. I am glad to see that you are feeling better and
the improvement of your cardiovascular endurance is positively
impacting other areas of your life. Now that we have tackled your
cardiovascular workout, we can start to look into other areas of your
health habits would benefit from change.
References
Roizen, M. and Oz, M. (2013). RealAge. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from
http://www.realage.com.

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Sparks, S. & Taylor, C. (2010.) Nursing diagnosis reference manual, 842

& 870. New

York, NY: Lippincott & Williams.

Thompson, P. (2003). Exercise and Physical Activity in the Prevention

and

Treatment of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: A

Statement From the

Council on Clinical Cardiology (Subcommittee

on Exercise, Rehabilitation,

and Prevention) and the Council on

Nutrition, Physical. Arteriosclerosis,

Thrombosis, and Vascular

Biology, 42e-49. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from

http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/107/24/3109.full
Thun, M., Carter, B., Feskanich, D., Freedman, N., Prentice, R., Lopez,
A., . . . Gapstur, S.

(2013). 50-Year Trends in Smoking-Related

Mortality in the United States.

Survey of Anesthesiology,

198-198. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1211127#t=articleResults
Transtheoretical Model (or Stages of Change) - Health Behavior
Change. (n.d.).

Retrieved March 31, 2015.