Proactive Health Management in your 20s: Building a Foundation for Lifelong Wellness

For many young adults (18+), their parents still take an active role in making sure they get the healthcare they need, making appointments and finding healthcare providers for them. Often, young people also assume that if they feel fine, they don’t need a primary care provider and can get the care they need when they’re sick or injured from an urgent care facility.

But if you’re moving away for college or job or simply want to take a more active role in your physical and mental wellbeing, now is a good time to get a plan and resources in place to help you live your healthiest life now and in the years to come.

Start by partnering with a primary care provider

A primary care provider acts as the point person of your healthcare team. Your provider helps ensure you get the regular preventive care you need, which can include:

• Blood pressure checks
• Cholesterol test (if you have risk or lifestyle factors that increase the risk of high cholesterol)
• Blood sugar test to screen for prediabetes or diabetes
• Screening for sexually transmitted infections
• Skin checks for potential skin cancers
• Screening for symptoms of mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and ADHD
• Advice on the potential risks and health consequences of alcohol and substance use
• Immunizations like a flu shot, HPV vaccine, COVID booster, meningitis vaccine, and hepatitis B vaccine and any immunizations you may need if you’re traveling overseas

Primary care providers are also a good resource for building a plan to lead a healthier lifestyle. They can provide advice about diet, exercise, stress management, and sleep and can refer you to providers who specialize in these areas, like dietitians, mental health providers, and more if you want additional support.

Your primary care provider also acts as your medical home, centralizing your medical records from other providers, such as specialists, urgent care facilities, labs, imaging providers, and hospitals and outpatient clinics. By having all this information gathered in your medical record with your primary care provider, you can lower the risk of missing needed follow-up care, experiencing drug interactions when you’re prescribed medications by more than one provider, and receiving unnecessary or duplicate care. Your health advisor also plays an important role in making sure your electronic medical record is centralized, reviewed, up to date, and available to be shared instantly (with HIPAA approval) with any licensed provider who treats you anywhere in the world.

Your primary care provider can also refer you to specialists when you need them, like dermatologists, orthopedists, allergists, and others. Your health advisor is another good resource who can connect you with experienced specialists.

Get familiar with your family medical history

Having family members who’ve been diagnosed with a particular condition can mean increased risk of developing that condition yourself. Your parents can outline their medical history, sharing any information about other family members who may have been diagnosed with conditions such as cancers at an early age, heart attack or stroke, or genetic mutations. For example, the BRCA-1 or 2 mutation can increase the risk of breast cancer – or conditions such as Lynch syndrome, which can increase the risk of colon cancer before age 50, just to name a few. Based on both your family medical history and your personal medical history, your provider can recommend appropriate screenings and outline any treatments that may help lower your risk.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a health issue like type 1 or 2 diabetes, ADHD, depression, or childhood cancer, it’s important to know:

• When you were diagnosed
• What your specific diagnosis was
• What treatments you’ve undergone
• What, if any treatment you’re undergoing now
• The contact information for the physicians who have treated and/or are treating you

Before moving away from home, ask your current provider or your health advisor to help connect you with an experienced specialist in the town where you’ll be living so there will be no interruption in your care.

Know when not to tough it out

Because you’re young and healthy, you may not always seek medical care when you need it, assuming your symptoms will improve on their own. While that might work for a cold or minor sprain, there are times when it’s important to get an accurate diagnosis and treatment for your condition.

Some symptoms that warrant a call or visit to your provider include:

• Fever of 103 degrees or higher
• Cough that lasts more than a week
• Shortness of breath
• Serious injury like concussion, deep cut, potential broken bone, severe burn, or animal bite
• Any symptoms that last more than 10 days without improving
• Loss of consciousness
• Chest pain
• Neurological symptoms like confusion or trouble speaking or moving your limbs (even young people can have a stroke)
• Severe headache, especially one that comes on quickly or feels like the worst headache you’re ever experienced
• Vomiting lasting more than a few days or vomiting that’s so severe you risk becoming dehydrated
• Losing weight without trying to
• Persistent fatigue
• Worsening symptoms of depression, anxiety, or any other mental health condition

Choose what health information you want to share with your parents

Once you’re 18 or older, healthcare providers cannot share your health information with your parents or guardians without your permission, which you grant by completing a HIPAA authorization form. If you choose to share medical information with others you trust, you can indicate whether you want to share some information and exclude other information, share all information, or share none on the HIPAA form.

Connect with PinnacleCare

For more information about how PinnacleCare could support your specific health needs as a young adult, connect with us today.

PinnacleCare is a member of the Sun Life Financial Inc. (“Sun Life”) family of companies. PinnacleCare and its employees do not diagnose medical conditions, recommend treatment options or provide medical care, and any information or services provided should not be considered medical advice. Any medical decisions should be made only after consultation with and at the direction of your medical provider. Any person or entity who provides health care services following a referral or other service provided does so independently and not as an agent or representative of PinnacleCare.

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