Technology And Its Effects on the Over 55′s in Restaurants
The Restaurant business is set for a revolution in technology but could there be looming problems?Having new technology like mobile phone ordering and tracking, ordering kiosks, custom mobile apps, table location using cell phones, online only ordering and a host of other technologies designed specifically for improving the customer experience sounds like a great idea… but are they?The rise and rise of the restaurant and eatery since 2007 is wonderful and everyone loves to eat in them. But there are a substantial number of potential customers that cannot use those technologies no matter how they try. And it’s not really their fault!There is no doubt that technology can improve customers experience. There is a substantial percentage of customers that are not at all savvy with using technology and that is a problem. Consider that the value of fast food restaurants in the UK in 2017 for fast food including takeaways alone was a massive £5.1 Billion but adding up across the whole sector to over £14 Billion and even what seems to be smaller percentages of potential customers adds up to massive loss of business.While 56% of consumers between the age of 45-64 do use technology in restaurants that leaves a massive 44% of that age group that do not use technology. Indeed, for the USA around 65% of customers over 55 prefer to be served by waiting staff.Careful consideration of how and where technology is used to improve customer experience is a key consideration for its success, after all who wants to ignore up to 44% of customers because the technology was less than perfect? Remember that the National Restaurant Association says that the number one feature cited by ‘baby boomers’ was a loyalty and rewards program so integrating that in to customer experience technology creates a win/win situation when enticing that sector of customer in to your restaurant or business.It is noted that in the UK the government has provided national statistics about personal wealth by age where the average liquid wealth was at its highest between age 55 to 64 so it makes a great deal of sense where technology could be introduced as a customer interface that the technology itself does not turn away the wealthiest people with disposable income in UK from any restaurant or business.Having a focus towards mobile phone ordering is fine for the younger generations, but most readers will know friends over 55 that struggle daily with their cell phone. Deloitte suggest that there has been a substantial increase of smart phone users over 55 between 2012 and 2017 by as much as 71% change but that certainly is no real reflection of how many of those over 55′s use the phone for smart apps. In fact, Deloitte estimates that at least 1 out of 4 consumers aged 55+ who own smartphones have never downloaded a single app. With that level of app use in the 55+ age group those problems for restaurant technology currently remain high on the agenda but seem largely unaddressed by developers and most often ignored by restaurant operators.It is also worthwhile noting from a recent ‘greenlight’ survey that where the internet is concerned the over 55′s currently spend over £14 Billion through online shopping and are the fastest growing demographic in that area but they tend to be largely ignored by retailers and restaurant customer facing technology development by manufacturers. Bear in mind also that ‘greenlight’ also commented that for 65+ demographic that spending actually reduces compared to the customer in the 55 to 64 age group. Understanding this fact can help to identify which technology will help or hinder that demographic with the resulting increase in sales.But technology in restaurants is not just about the front of house customer experience, there are other attributable technologies now appearing in restaurants that directly contribute to the overall customer delivery of quality service such as staff tracking that can provide key metrics about staff efficiencies to improve service levels and reduce costs accordingly.Thinking about current trends where this same demographic of 55 to 64′s is concerned the payment process can also be a hurdle. While many newer payment methods might involve mobile pay, or server tablets, kiosks or apps, consideration has to be given to the effects those technologies will have in deterring the 55 to 64 age group from visiting any restaurant.It is clear that over time younger generations will eventually migrate to being older technology savvy customers but ignoring the important 55 to 64 age range is not recommended if your restaurants are catering to that demographic already.Of course, there are other technologies that ARE friendly for the 55 to 64 demographics out there that don’t involve ANY difficult customer level high technology use by the customer such as a table tracking system by LRS of Dallas TX, USA. Their ‘Table Tracker’ is simple to use and the only customer involvement is to place a ‘puck’ on the table they choose to be seated at. Service is improved dramatically and it’s a fact that the over 55′s love great service demonstrated by their love for waiter service.So, there are a number of questions that need addressing where technology is either implemented or might be in the future, things like:• Are you limiting your own customer base to millennials? If not:
How does the customer experience technology impinge on potential client involvement of the 55 to 64′s?
Are you happy insomuch as the highest disposable income sector of 55+ might not visit your restaurant because of technology concerns?
Have you seriously considered the aspect of customer facing technology affecting your restaurant sales?
Do you propose further investigation of the technology products you currently use?
Review currently installed customer facing technology to address 55+ client sector
Consider the 55+ client base BEFORE committing to technologies that might not attract the 55+ demographic due to the technical complexity when presented to them.
Customer involvement from all adults is king when using technology to enhance customer experience in any restaurant environment especially where sales are concerned.
How to Manage Your Investment Holdings
The uncertain condition of today’s economy is not encouraging investors. This lowered investment trend can be traced back to the past 5 years where investments have been slow with subscriptions to how to manage your investment holdings magazines taking a dip. Many investors are uneasy over investing their money into a volatile market as stocks have been plummeting in value in recent years, with small rebounds here and there, now and then. This does not give investors enough confidence although there are many investing associations that offer courses or tips on how to manage your investment holdings.Good Monitoring of Investment
It is crucial to monitor your investments especially in this time of market uncertainty or volatility. Choosing the best investments is no guarantee of positive returns, much less huge returns, if you are not tracking the movements of your portfolio. As in any investment, there will be profits and losses; you can waste a lot of time and your hard earned money if you do not have good tracking habits or strategies such as proper record keeping. It is essential for any serious investor to review their portfolio’s performance when you are serious about how to manage your investment holdings for good returns.There may be taxes that are incurred, retirement computations which may lead you to make further decisions on your portfolio or opportunities that come by your way to grow your wealth. There are now many online resources for your picking to assist you on how to manage your investment holdings by keeping careful records on every investment you make, be it stock, bond, mutual fund or security. Once the easy setup is done, you will only need to commit to a weekly or bi-weekly check up on the performance of your portfolio. This way, you will not be taken by surprise on any adverse news as you monitor the organizational news of your portfolio.Online Investment Services
Online investment tracking services will update your portfolio automatically to reflect any price changes on a daily basis with a re-computation of your assets. They also assist in comparisons of your investments to your targets and the expected returns of your portfolio. These online investment services also alert the investor on potential purchases to add on to your portfolio. They may even have tips on how to manage your investment holdings that will benefit you.Self-directed investing
This is for those who want to manage their own portfolio; those of you who might be retirees and are keen on how to manage your investment holdings can consider monitoring your own investments with a sufficient bit of basic understanding of the various investment types available for your own consideration. You will need to be familiar with tax consequences as well as investment earnings and related costs with any investment you plan to undertake.You will need to be computer savvy if you are engaging technology in your own monitoring of your portfolio as well as be comfortable with the investment terms and conditions.Self-directed investment requires online accounts monitoring, evaluation and understanding before an investment transaction can be performed. There may be a substantial online research required to confirm or refute financial assumptions.Other factors
There is still a need to engage an investment company or professional broker to perform some of your trades or investments. An online broker may charge certain fees for his services. You should check out the reputation and performance of online brokers first before engaging their services.When you get going on how to manage your investment holdings, you may need to consider it as a long term goal so that you are able to pace your time and effort on the portfolio that you are going to set up. A good investment plan is usually for the long term to enjoy its good returns. Discipline and patience are two virtues that are required when you want to manage your own investments as most stocks do not bring in huge returns in the short run. It’s a great commitment to those stocks which you think will fare well in the long run.
National Health Care System In Japan And Taiwan – Would It Be Possible For Us?
Every society is affected by any national changes or new movement introduced; therefore, an issue one may think is unrelated to his environment can very well affect him through chains of cause and effect.Health care is an immediate issue that concerns all of us. We all experience it and need it. Let’s serious ask ourselves if the current health care system is satisfactory and available to everyone. Should health, medicare and treatments be available to only selected groups? Many people are voting for the presidential candidate who can restore the present health care system or who can pioneer a better healthcare distribution for our country. Personally, I hope to see a change that health care is available and affordable to everyone.Being able to receive basic health care is a fundamental need of all people. Fulfilling this fundamental need makes people feel secured, and it makes sense that people with better health can contribute more to the society. A realistic and reachable standard of health should be set for all people. This effort needs a non profit driving entity to establish and to maintain it. People’s life and health should not be compromised for the profit of few organizations.Before moving to Japan, I was covered under my parents’ insurance policy in the United States. Their policy covered children of the family until the age of twenty-four. Upon graduating from university, I moved to Japan and started my first job there. I joined the Japanese national health insurance through the company I worked for. There are basically two types of health insurance in Japan: national health insurance and employer-sponsored health insurance. Usually, under employer sponsored insurance, the insurance premium is calculated according to income, number of dependents, and the company’ subsidies. For someone who is self-employed or unemployed, the national health insurance costs a minimum of 13300 yen, or about $110 per month plus a small percentage of income for those who are self-employed. In other words, everyone can get insurance from around $100 dollars a month. Unlike the Medicaid program in the U.S. which is only available to certain low-income groups with specific requirements for eligibility, the Japanese health insurance is available to every citizen and legal residents. There is a ceiling to what the Japanese National insurance covers, but it covers all the basics and beyond.In most cases in Japan, patients choose their doctor and hospital. There is no limitation to the doctors or hospital they can visit. This is a true competition among the clinics, hospitals, and medical practitioners, not for profit, but for quality. The same insurance that people have in Japan gives them the freedom to get second opinions and naturally eliminates those doctors whose practices are in question. The doctor visits, treatments, and medicine are not free; one is responsible for thirty percent of their medical bills. Japanese health costs are much lower than the costs in the United States. Thirty percent of the medical bill is still a reasonable amount one can afford. There are also special cases or categories of illness for which the insurance would give more coverage. If one is late on his payment, his insurance will not automatically be invalid. The insurance will still cover the person as long as he makes up the missed payments. After all, some people do run into difficulties in life at one point or another. Sounds to good to be true? Well, It’s real.Taiwan, a place with no world recognition politically, has one of the top public health care system in the world. After moving to Taiwan due to my husband’s transfer a year a go, I learned and appreciated the system where universal or national health care is available to all more than ever. When speaking of universal, national, or pubic health insurance, people often turn their attention to the well-debated and discussed health care system in Canada. There are those whose views are negative, claiming that the medical service in a single-payer insurance system may not perform at its ultimate, and those whose views are positive, saying that they do not live in fear of ever having to face bankruptcy for outrageous medical bills. From my informal inquiries, more Canadian I came across favor their national health care system. Most of those who favor their national health care system commented that people of Canada are more secured in having their basic physical and psychological needs met.In Taiwan, there is also government-sponsored universal health care for not only their citizens but also for foreign residents who live in Taiwan. Foreign residents can apply for the government-sponsored insurance after proving their legal status of residing in Taiwan. The insurance fee starts from the basic 600NT, or around $18 a month. For people in higher income brackets, their insurance is calculated based on a percentage of their income over the 600Nt. Fees are waived for retired soldiers, those who are physically challenged, and people who have economic disadvantages.Interestingly, Taiwan’s national health insurance has only been established for little more than two decades, since 1985. The government policy-makers studied health care system from different foreign countries and composes the first Taiwan national health care from the ideas and methods of the system of other countries. It was said that Taiwan’s national insurance system is like a completed puzzle made from pieces of which fit its country and people. This insurance now covers the entire population, including foreign legal residents. According to research funded by Taiwan’s National Health Research and Taiwan’s Bureau of National Health Insurance, the cost of health care did not rise after the universal coverage was established (Jui-Fen & Hsiao, 2003.) What does that tell us?A basic health care program can greatly reduce the consequences of illness left untreated. Basic health care does not mean free of charge or mindless spending without control. To build a healthy nation, we should take a closer look at the current U.S. health insurance. After all, a sound nation starts with the health of its people.
Health Care Planning
One of the foremost challenges faced by health care professionals is to formulate a well-devised, well-thought out plan for assisting both the patients as well as the health care givers. Care planning is an essential part of health care, but is often misunderstood or regarded as a waste of time. Without a specific document delineating the plan of care, important issues are likely to be neglected. Care planning provides a sort of ‘road map’, to guide all who are involved with the patient’s/resident’s care. The health care plan has long been associated with nursing; however, all health care professionals need to be assisted in the care giving process. In today’s world, highly expensive Health Insurance policies are not viable for most individuals. Therefore, the government needs to play a crucial part in ensuring that ‘health care’ is impartially and effectively provided to all citizens.At the beginning of the 20th century, a new concept, the concept of ‘health promotion’ began to take shape. It was realized that public health had neglected the citizen as an individual and that the state had a direct responsibility for the health of the individual. Consequently, in addition to.disease control activities, one more goal was added to health-care planning- health promotion of individuals. It was initiated as personal health services such as mother and child health services, mental health and rehabilitation services. C.E.A.Winslow, one of the leading figures in the history of public health in 1920, defined public health care planning as: ‘the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health and efficiency through organized community effort.’The first step in the health care planning program is accurate and comprehensive assessment. Once the initial assessment is completed, a problem list should be generated. This may be as simple as a list of medical diagnosis. The problem list may include family/relationship problems,which are affecting the parent’s overall well-being.Following the problem list, the health-care professional must ask,’ will I be able to solve this problem?If yes, then the goal of the health-care professional must be to solve that particular problem. Moreover, this goal should be specific, measurable and attainable. The approaches towards achieving that goal should also be measurable and realistic. An example of a problem that could improve, would be health-care deficit related to hip fracture. With rehab, this problem is likely to resolve.In case a medical problem is irreversible- such as diabetes- the next step would be to eliminate further complications or possible health deterioration. In the case of such health problems, the goal should be to retain the level of health at an optimum level.In case of an illness, where further health complications are inevitable, the goal should be to improve the quality of life. It is note-worthy that for all medical problems, approaches must be ordered by the physician. The health care planning process is never completed until the patient is discharged from the current care setting. Periodic schedule re-evaluation is also necessary once the patient is discharged.In the final analysis, the ultimate purpose of the health care plan is to guide all who are involved in the care of the patient and to provide appropriate treatment.
Rapid Weight Loss Hypnosis – Myths About Rapid Weight Loss and Fast Dieting
There are lots of things sabotaging people from proper, rapid weight loss. Not only do people have their own brains and anxiety to get in the way (which is why I use hypnosis, NLP, and EFT to assist) but there are myths out there that make people think incorrectly about rapid, safe dieting. How many times have you heard, “Losing more than 1 to 2 pounds a week is unsafe.” Or “You should never skip breakfast! That messes up your metabolism!” or “Look how those French people eat! That plate is tiny! That’ can’t be enough!” “Medicines and supplements can enhance your weight loss!” These are some of the myths people say to me and my patients when they embark on the rapid weight loss plans I place them on for fast, healthy weight release.Well, as a physician, I too have heard these things from nutritionists, dietitians, and other doctors and expert colleagues who still work under an old paradigm of what’s right and wrong in dieting. I’m here to share a new paradigm to bust these myths so that you can lose weight safely and rapidly just as your body has been designed to do.As a physician who has successfully helped 50 patients lose a total of 2000 pounds, or an average of 40 pounds each, in a 5 month period, I can tell you that these myths only get in the way of healthy and safe rapid weight loss. And NO! These patients did NOT have gastric bypasses or lap bands! They used their bodies’ natural weight loss tactics to succeed.Let’s talk body basics. We eat to stay alive. When we eat extra it becomes fat. When we don’t eat enough to sustain ourselves, the fat is burned off to use up what we’ve stored. It’s that simple. All mammals have this ability. Fat allows our body to have sugar and nutrients to stay alive and disappears when we don’t have enough going in our mouths.However there are all these little nuances to that simplicity that are used to confuse you and help perpetuate these myths to losing weight.1. “Losing more than 1-2 pounds a week is unsafe.”
I have safely guided my patients through a 1-pound-a-day weight loss through low-calorie diets. It works and it is safe and was how we were genetically designed to use fat. I sometimes think the people who use this first myth are justifying people staying on their diets or regimens longer. It sells gym memberships and sells monthly weight-loss programs that cost 50-1000 dollars a month. If it’s normal to just lose 1 pound a week, you can keep someone who needs to lose 80 pounds on that diet for 80 weeks! That’s a good amount of cash! If you look to the Mayo Clinic website there are multiple articles explaining against losing more than 1-2 pounds per week, however you see that they discuss rapid, doctor-assisted weight loss for the most unhealthy patients. Why do we do that for them but not healthier patients? I have made no distinction and the results have been great. But yes, these patients lose weight with the guidance of a physician so that I can ensure there are no problems during the weight loss.With my weight loss programs that I have given my patients, they can lose 30 pounds in 30 days, 80 pounds in 80 days, 150 pounds in 150 days, and so on. I just had a patient come in today who lost 50 pounds in 50 days, came off 3 medicines for blood pressure, who looks and feels great. Her blood pressure is 100/80 now when it was 150/90 when we started. Are you telling me a slower weight loss would be better for her so she could have high blood pressure even a day longer? I don’t think so. She’s healthier and safer in a rapid amount of time with my hypnosis and rapid weight loss techniques that I will explain later in an upcoming article.2. “Don’t skip breakfast. It’s unhealthy in a diet and you won’t lose as much weight!”
Eating breakfast keeps your metabolism in line so you burn more calories through the day. This is true when you are at a steady weight. However, when it comes to losing weight, eating breakfast is not an accelerator of weight loss. The calories going in still need to go somewhere. Yes, you definitely get more obese in the long term if you skip breakfast, then eat normal amounts of food for lunch and dinner afterward. A person who skips breakfast puts their body in starvation mode so that any excess food that you eat later in the day instantly becomes fat as the body scrambles to keep any sugar available in the body after being told it’s starving when breakfast is skipped.However, if you skip breakfast, and then take in small amounts of food for lunch and dinner, (lower amounts of calories than is needed for a full day), you WILL BURN FAT to make up for energy that you don’t have coming in from food. So skipping breakfast, during a lower calorie intake period, allows you to burn excess fat. It’s the way God designed us. When we were hunter-gatherers and we roamed the earth for the next food supply as nomads, there would be times where the winter would come in and the food supply would drop, or there would be times of famine where there just wasn’t a food supply. God was smart enough to design us with a source of sugar during these times of need for food. All mammals have this food storage system called fat. When you see those commercials asking to aid children starving in other countries, those children are relying on these fat stores to survive their lack of adequate nutrients.God and evolution also designed us to HEALTHILY use up this fat store when we don’t have enough food. Fasting is how we were designed to use up our fat, so anyone who tells you weight loss through fasting is unhealthy has an argument with the Big Guy who designed this survival system. Through time the human body has adapted to using fat for food storage to allow survival through times of famine or starvation. If it was unhealthy, the system wouldn’t exist as it came to be through evolution and nature. The fittest survive, and those with fat storage systems survived longer when there is no food.Well here is how this system got bastardized. After we went through the ice age and became agrarian in our economy, an abundant food supply existed. We didn’t starve anymore, and we don’t starve anymore because right now we have plenty of farms and excess food stores to supply us with nourishment. The supermarkets have been bigger and supersized as has our readily available fast food. It’s funny we call it fast food because although it is fast due to the rapid service, this is the very food that prevents us from fasting anymore since it is readily available. In fact we overindulge and never starve, and that leaves us with huge food stores in our body through obesity.Add to that that we have, over the last 15 years, added huge amounts of sugars to our food as fillers and as fat replacements to add flavor. So not only do we not starve anymore in the middle-class western hemisphere, we also give ourselves more food than we need and thus we are more obese than ever. (Don’t get me started on our first ever epidemic of obese 6-month-olds because of recent additions of fructose to formula).So we don’t starve anymore but we have a plentiful harvest every time we walk into a supermarket. Since people don’t starve, we have no chance at using our natural human system for sugar storage and release: Fat burning through Calorie deprivation.That’s where Gastric bypass, mouth wiring, lap band procedures come in. Instead of having famines or food shortages or winter times to naturally allow us to lose weight as we were designed, we use artificial surgeries to force our unhealthiest members of the population, the severely obese, to lose weight the way Nature had intended. Forced calorie droughts through surgical means work but have high-level surgical risks for these unhealthy patients. Through my experience with my own patients and those of my colleagues, I’ve seen our patients die after these procedures from sepsis (Body infections), Heart conditions, complications of the surgery itself and anesthesia, malnourishment, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin deficiency, and depression-induced suicides. I even had one patient die from bulimia after the procedure. Not everyone gets the psychological support they need nor do they get the guidance of what to expect once they lose the weight.Also there has been a phenomenon of displeasure and poor satisfaction with the results after they have lost weight. When I say satisfaction, I am talking about life satisfaction. Many people lose weight through surgery only to find that the tremendous changes they have been told would happen in their lives don’t happen. Guys who lost weight aren’t suddenly dating models, Women aren’t suddenly happy to have smaller dress sizes. There isn’t a sudden acceptance into social circles after this rapid weight loss change. This leads to a feeling of defeat.4. “Medicines and supplements can enhance your weight loss!”
Some people use medications and miracle supplements to allow them to not notice hunger but eat less. I get asked at least 50 times a month by patients and friends to give them phentermine. Nobody I know who has used phentermine has had a sustained weight loss, they haven’t lost large amounts of weight, and the risks of the medication are great for people who already have enlarged hearts or elevated blood pressures. You aren’t supposed to take it with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, glaucoma, or any heart conditions, conditions that many obese people already have. The medication can make you restless, nervous, dry of the mouth, and induce insomnia. But people are so desperate to lose weight they keep looking for artificial means of weight loss.Worst of all, I’ve had a few patients in recent years come to me to find that their use of that medicine with Fenfluramine in the past has led to Heart valve problems and a lifelong cardiac condition. If you want to continue to believe in medicines and supplements as weight loss miracles, you should plan on giving up large amounts of money for minimal weight loss. There are some supplements and medicines that enhance your weight loss such as orlistat and phentermine itself. But to truly keep the results, you need to make changes that are sustainable. With the methods I use, the results are sustainable and ongoing and are real life methods… ones that the patient can understand without having to do point calculations and higher math nor do they have to buy foods processed and packaged by someone else. You can use whatever food you like. My next blog will explain how.3. “French diets are tiny! This restaurant is gyping me!”
Now let’s look at food amounts and how people joke about the small amounts of food the French serve in their restaurants. If you look at pictures of people from the USA before 1960, you will see we were a lean nation then. People’s plates were smaller, we ate less food, and we were in trim shape for the most part. Look at your grandparents pictures and those of your great grandparents — a picture is worth 1000 words. People ate leaner and survived at a thinner weight. Compare a restaurant plate then to one now that you can get from Atlantic City or Las Vegas Buffets. Those plates are HUGE.In these days of supersizing, buffets, and large dinner plates, the mindset is quite different. We expect a full plate these days, and we expect second helpings of what we like. We like sugary drinks. And as a whole, the population back then wasn’t as far off from what we do now in the realms of exercise and training. Sure, we have highly developed cross training and intense burning and core body exercises now, but isn’t it funny how not many of these new regimens are different from the past (Kettle bells are back in vogue for training? Lifting tires?). The only difference is our perceived eating needs have changed to explain the lean bodies of our grandparents to our own. Do you see fat skeletons of cavemen and women in the museums?France has not strayed very far from it’s previous eating patterns. In fact in American Movies and commercials we are constantly making fun of the small portion sizes in the French diet. However what they are eating in portion is actually in line with what truly is needed. Just Google “world obesity rankings” and you’ll see where US and France currently stand. You’ll see USA at a 30% obesity rate (3 out of 10 Americans is obese) versus France at Number 23 on the list with a 9.4% obesity rate (Just less than 1 out of 10). The closest country to the USA, Mexico, is at 24%, so we are WAY over the rest ofic the world in the USA.So these days, most of the population have a skewed view of proper food amounts in our diet, we have a food supply full of sugars and high fructose corn syrup, and we go back for seconds and clean our plates. Add to that the vast amounts of food we offer for celebrations. The last wedding I went to for 200 people there were 5 large tables of all-you-can-eat food and all-you-can-drink free alcohol. Way over the handfuls of food we should be eating. Christmas time is always a gutbuster, and Easter and Halloween are candy-based foods. Gluttony is en vogue these days. The USA has been battered by constant commercials about food and eating to make a normal portion size that of a super big burger and large sized fries and large sugary soda. We have learned to eat until full rather than to eat when satisfied. The handfuls of food in the french diet is normal and not wasteful! We no longer have to be brainwashed to eat until full. We haven’t been listening to our bodies to stop eating when we are satisfied. (This is one of the subconscious commands I give my hypnosis clients to help them lose weight). Eat when hungry, stop when satisfied. Avoid being full as that is the signal from the body that you went too far.All these myths I’ve mentioned above prevent appropriate weight maintenance and rapid weight loss. They are just a few of the myths that make naysayers say while the doers lose weight with me. In Neurolinguistic programming and Hypnosis we talk about “Frames”: Those reference points people use to view the world. The most basic frame is optimist vs pessimist — do you see the glass as half empty or half full? People who see the glass half full are the ones who see most things in their lives as positive, those who see it as half empty have a pessimistic tone to the things that happen in their lives. If you believe in these myths, you are already framed to not accept the paradigms and information I am about to present to you in the next blog. These beliefs have clouded doctors and their patients for years as to what is right and wrong about weight loss. When we reframe these thoughts from generally accepted truths to myths and barriers to our success in weight loss, we have freed ourselves to accept that it is safe to lose a pound a day using our natural mechanism for food intake reduction.In my next blog I will discuss my friend Dr. Alwin Lewis’s discovery on dieting and rapid weight loss, and how it has helped transform the lives of many of my patients into successful rapid weight loss and hypnosis clients without pills or surgery… see me at http://www.rapidweightlosshypnosis.com
What are anti-ligature blinds?
Anti-ligature blinds are becoming increasingly popular in a range of different settings. The way these blinds differ from traditional blinds is that they are designed to prevent suicide by hanging.
Initially, uptake for this type of blind was largely restricted to high-risk environments such as psychiatric hospitals and prisons, where suicide is common. In mental health environments and detention centres, suicide via hanging is common and preventative measures must be implemented. A huge range of objects could be used to create a ligature point, meaning anti-ligature systems are highly important.
Over the years, anti-ligature blinds have been supplied to hospitals, schools, student accommodation and even hotels.
How do they work?
There are a range of different systems on the market, but the most reliable could well be the magnetic anti-ligature system. YewdaleKestrel® products utilise load release magnets which separate when a downward force is exerted on the product. This means that the product falls to the ground safely and prevents suicide via hanging.
The magnetic systems used in Yewdale’s products are highly reliable because magnets don’t lose their strength for hundreds of years, guaranteeing a lifetime of lifesaving functionality.
Anti-ligature blinds usually have a magnetic connection point above the blind’s barrel. The blind is easy to reconnect to the magnetic bracket after it has fallen to the floor.
If you are considering an anti-ligature blind, Yewdale is a highly recommended company. Based in the UK, Yewdale produce a wide range of anti-ligature products, commercial blinds, and healthcare products including hospital cubicle tracks and medical curtains.
Yewdale produce other anti-ligature products too including a soft, lightweight en-suite door and other accessories such as soap dispensers, toilet roll holder, shelves and artwork. You can see the full range on the website using the link below.