Health and wellness

What is asthma? What can you do to control asthma symptoms? Do you need to see how to use a metered-dose inhaler? If you’re struggling to control you or your child’s asthma, this site can help.

Here you’ll find valuable tips, interactive tools, asthma-related apps and helpful resources to answer your questions and help you take control. You’ll learn about things like making an asthma action plan, how to understand your asthma triggers, and when to call the doctor. Find out what small steps you can take right now to help improve your quality of life.

Interactive tools

American Lung Association: What Is Asthma?

A video animation that shows what happens to the lungs during an asthma attack. Watch Video.

What special health screenings do women need? How can you stay healthy if you’re pregnant or planning to get pregnant? What are your options for birth control? This site can help you get the women’s health and pregnancy resources you need.

Visit our Pregnancy & Women’s Health page to learn more about:

• Women’s health information and resources
• Information about incentives and rewards programs
• Interactive tools
• Pregnancy and childbirth-related apps

Whether you’re thinking about having a baby, pregnant, already a new parent, or not planning to have a baby, we can help you take steps to stay healthy at every stage.

What is diabetes? Are you looking for ways to control your blood sugar or manage your weight? Would you like to eat healthier and be more active? If so, this site can help.

Find out about small steps you can take right now to live life well with diabetes. Here you’ll find valuable tips, interactive tools, diabetes-related apps, and helpful resources to answer your questions and set health goals. You’ll learn about changing your lifestyle, important healthcare screenings, and when to call the doctor.

Diabetes apps

Glucose Buddy

It lets you log and keep track of your blood sugar.

MediSafe

It tells you when it's time to take your medicine.

Would you like to have more energy or lose some weight? Could you benefit from changing your diet or being more active? If you want to take steps towards a healthier you, this site can help.

A fit body can be in your future. Here you’ll find valuable tips, interactive tools, fitness-related apps, and helpful resources to answer your questions and help you set personal health goals. You’ll learn about healthy eating and how to make activity a part of your daily life.

Fit body apps

My Fitness Pal

Track calories, exercise, and weight each day.

Interactive tools

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BMI Calculator

Learn your body mass index (BMI) and how it may affect your overall health.

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How Many Calories Did You Burn?

Let this tool do the math for you while you have fun being active.

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Interactive Food Label

Test your knowledge of reading food labels.

Fit body topics

• What Is a Healthy Lifestyle?
• Making Healthy Choices When You Eat Out
• Healthy Eating: Overcoming Barriers to Change
• Fitness: Getting and Staying Active
• Fitness: Adding More Activity to Your Life
• Being Active When You Have Health Problems

Helpful resources

• Nourish Interactive
• Choose My Plate - Healthy Eating Guidelines
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Interactive tools

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What's Your Stress Level?

Find out what effect recent life changes may be having on your health.

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Are you Depressed?

This tool helps you to see if how you're feeling is a sign of depression.

What is heart disease? What can you do to reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke? Are you looking for ways to lower your cholesterol or control your high blood pressure? If so, this site can help.

Here you'll find valuable tips, interactive tools, heart health-related apps, and helpful resources to answer your questions and help you take control. You'll learn about changing your lifestyle, important healthcare screenings and when to call the doctor. Find out about small steps you can take to help improve your health.

Heart disease apps

MediSafe

It tells you when it's time to take your medicine.

My Fitness Pal

Track calories, exercise, and weight each day.

Interactive tools

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Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

Answer a few simple questions to determine if you're ready to quit.

Heart disease topics

• An Overview of Heart Conditions
• Exercising for a Healthy Heart
• Low-salt Diets: Eating Out
• High Cholesterol: An Overview
• High Blood Pressure
• Heart Failure: Checking Your Weight

Helpful resources

• American Heart Association: Getting Healthy
• Medline Plus
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Is your use of alcohol or drugs affecting your daily life? Is it causing problems at work, at home or in your relationships? If so, it may be time to seek help. Addiction is a disease, just like diabetes or heart disease.

This site can help you take steps to become alcohol and drug-free. Here you’ll find valuable tips, interactive tools, and helpful resources. You’ll learn how to spot the signs of drug or alcohol addiction, treatment options, and where to find support.

Interactive tools

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Do You Have a Drinking Problem?

Learn if your drinking habits are healthy or not.

Alcohol and drug free topics

• Drug Problems: Helping Someone Get Treatment
• Alcohol Dependence
• How to Stop Drinking
• Alcohol and Drug Problems
• Teen Alcohol and Drug Use
• Dealing with Teen Substance Use

Helpful resources

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Narcotics Anonymous
• National Institute on Drug Abuse

Have you ever thought about quitting smoking, chewing, or dipping? How much healthier would you be if you stopped using tobacco? How much money would you save? Making a change can be hard, but you can do it! This site can help.
 
You can be tobacco-free for good. Here you’ll find valuable tips, interactive tools, and helpful resources. You’ll learn about things like knowing if you’re ready to quit, steps to help you break the habit, and where to find support.

Interactive tools

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Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

Answer a few simple questions to determine if you're ready to quit.

Tobacco free topics

• Quitting Smoking
• Quitting Smokeless Tobacco
• Quitting Smoking — Temptations and Cravings
• Quitting Smoking — Preventing Slips or Relapses
• Tobacco Use In Teens
• Quitting Smoking: Should I Use Medicine?

Helpful resources

• Smokefree.gov
• American Lung Association – Stop Smoking

Staying healthy during flu season

Influenza, also known as the flu, can make you feel terrible. The flu can result in lost time at school, work, or with family and friends. But there are things you can do now to help keep the flu away:

• Get a flu vaccine, or shot, each year.
• Wash your hands often.
• Stay away from people who have the flu.
• Eat more foods like fruits and veggies that can help protect you from the flu.
• Drink more water.
• Get more rest.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone six months and older, especially those at high risk of serious effects of the flu, get a flu shot every year. And if you’re age 65 or older, the CDC also suggests getting a pneumonia vaccine.

When should you get a flu shot?

Try to get a flu shot as soon as the vaccine becomes available — or by the end of October, before the flu season even begins and reaches where you live. Even though the flu season usually peaks in January or later, this will give your body time to develop the antibodies needed to protect against the flu.

Where can you get a flu shot or more information?

• You can get the flu shot at any of our network pharmacies if you’re age 21 or older.
• Your case manager can talk with you about flu shots and help you find where you can get the flu shot.
• Your primary care provider (PCP) will help you learn about flu shots and can provide them.
• Your local health department will give you the flu shot.

Remember to show your Amerigroup District of Columbia, Inc. ID card when you get the flu or pneumonia shots.

Cold, flu, and pneumonia topics

• Influenza (Seasonal Flu)
• Flu Vaccines: Should I Get a Flu Vaccine?
• Vaccines to Prevent the Flu
• Flu Vaccine Myths
• What can I do for a cold?
• What is Pneumonia and how is it treated?

Helpful resources

• Weekly US map: influenza summary update
• How active is the flu in your state or city?
• CDC: Flu overview