Be Proactive About Your Health: Check Out These Check Lists

The United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has just released “his and hers” checklists to guide preventive health care for people aged 50 and up. According to the AHRQ website, “The checklists help answer your questions about what daily steps you can take for good health, whether you need medicines to prevent disease, and which screening tests you need and when to get them.”

Nothing in these pamphlets will surprise you. They suggest that your “Daily Steps to Health” should include no smoking, more exercise, a healthy diet, moderate alcohol consumption and keeping your weight within reason. You knew that. But the value in this handy sheet is that they’ve boiled down lots of evidence-based research, reminding you of the few basic things you need to do to stay in touch with your health status. In addition to the daily steps, there is a quick list of preventive medications you might be wondering about (like aspirin, hormone replacement therapy and immunizations) as well as a list of screening tests and how often you need to have them done. Luckily, they include testing for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, depending on your risk factors. (Yes, people over fifty are still having sex and still taking risks, so a little reminder about staying safe and getting tested is a nod to our continued sexual health.)

Lastly, there is a chart on which you can keep track of all your preventive screening tests – type, dates, results, etc. All in all, a compact, helpful reminder of what it takes to get and stay healthy after age fifty. Download your own copy of the checklist from the AHRQ website, and tuck it where it can gently remind you to head problems off at the pass.

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