Welcome to your July Newsletter! Empowering you with information for your emotional and physical well-being.
Uprise Health Monitoring Monthly News & Updates
HPSP Outreach
The HPSP (Health Professionals' Services Program) Team is scheduling informational sessions on HPSP. If the administrators of your health care workplace, school, organization, or associations are interested in learning more about HPSP, please ask them to contact Christa Lee, LMSW (503-802-9819; christa.lee@uprisehealth.com) for more information or to schedule a meeting.
Heat Illness and Injury
While summer is a season for outdoor fun, the months of June, July, and August are also the months with the highest numbers of accidental deaths in the United States. Drowning and fall-related deaths account for many summer-time tragedies, but heat-related illnesses are often overlooked. Each summer, an average of 240 Americans die from heat-related illness, and in the prolonged 1980 heat wave, 1,700 people died.
Heat-related illnesses are easily preventable for Americans of all ages and for their pets.
Your body has mechanisms in place to keep your temperature within a fairly small range. Two of the most important mechanisms are (1) the ability to move hot blood from the body core to the skin (known as shunting) and (2) the ability to sweat. It is the shunting of blood to the skin that makes your face look red after exercise, but it can also lower your blood pressure and make you feel dizzy. Sweating is the key to body cooling through evaporation, but it also increases the need for fluid replacement to prevent dehydration. Keep in mind that you may not be thirsty until after you are already seriously dehydrated, so you must drink water before, during and after hot-weather exposure and exercise.
What is Heat Illness?
As dehydration increases, the common symptoms of heat-related illness begin to occur. These include headache, dizziness, muscle weakness or cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Heat illness refers to a spectrum of symptoms which all result from the body's inability to cool itself as environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, and sun exposure worsen. These illnesses include heat-related edema, cramps, syncope (dizziness), exhaustion, stroke, and heat- or exercise-related rhabdomyolysis (disintegration of muscle tissue). These syndromes do not have to occur in a certain order, so you may be seriously ill with very little warning.
How to Prevent Heat Illness
To prevent heat illness, keep the following points in mind:
Never leave children in the car while you run errands. The temperature may become deadly in just a few minutes.
Protect yourself from the sun with hats, umbrellas and sunscreen. Sunburn lessens your body's ability to cool itself by sweating.
Drink lots of water before, during and after outdoor activity. You'll know you've had enough to drink if you urinate every two hours or less, and your urine is clear-colored (like weak lemonade). Drink every 15–20 minutes. Don't wait until you're thirsty.
Coffee, tea, and soda pop don't count as fluid-replacement drinks. They are diuretics and cause you to urinate away more water than they put into your body.
Be outside in the cooler parts of the day—before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m.
If you have any chronic medical condition or take medicine frequently (for blood pressure, thyroid, depression, seizure or others), please consult with your healthcare provider about your possible increased risk for heat illness.
Protecting the Pets
Since they cannot sweat, dogs are at high risk for heat stroke, even at temperatures you find comfortable. Consider the following tips to care for your family pets:
As with children, you should never leave your pets in the car. It only takes a few minutes for your car’s temperature to turn deadly.
Make sure that any animal tied to a post can reach the shade at any time of day.
Cats are usually self-sufficient if they can reach food, water, and shade. Never place them outside in cases during hot weather.
Traveling this summer? Please remember that we require two weeks’ notice of travel plans so we can identify testing sites.
Remember that we need zip codes and dates of travel. Also, please remember to carry your paper chain of custody forms with you on your travels. Get your requests in early if you have already made your summer plans.
Free Continuing Education Opportunities
The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation offers a variety of online learning opportunities on topics related to substance use disorders, alcohol and drug prevention, violence prevention, behavioral health issues, and more.
On Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at 12:00 PM CST they will be hosting a CEU titled, Culturally Grounded Pathways to Healing.
Also available: on-demand webinars from recovery speakers from across the country who share tips for staying sober and living a meaningful life. Click on the link to learn more and to listen in!
A HeartfeltCONGRATULATIONS
to all who are graduating this month—what a tremendous accomplishment! You've put in the hard work, and it's a moment to truly celebrate.
If you’ve found monitoring helpful in supporting your day-to-day consistency and success, we want you to know that support doesn’t have to end here. Our Extended Monitoring Program is available as an option—whether you choose to continue now or return at a later time. We're here to walk with you through the next phase of your journey, whenever you're ready.
More from Uprise Health!
Minority Mental Health Awareness Month
Explore the importance of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month and how to support underrepresented communities in mental health care.
Read more about Minority Mental Health Awareness:
How to Create a Healthy and Inclusive Workplace
Explore actionable steps for building a supportive and empowering work environment, boosting wellness at work.
Read more about creating a healthy workplace:
July's Skill Building Webinar
Thursday, July 17th | 12pm PT
From Conflict to Collaboration: Navigating Workplace Interpersonal Challenges
We spend most of our waking hours at work—and the quality of our relationships can make or break that experience. Join Uprise Health for our next skill building webinar as we explore the real impact of workplace dynamics on well-being and performance. Learn practical strategies to navigate common challenges and build stronger, more supportive connections at work. Because when relationships thrive, so does your team.
Struggling to juggle work, family, and personal goals? Discover practical strategies to regain control and build resilience. From setting SMART goals and managing time to nurturing mindfulness and reducing stress, this guide offers actionable tips to help you thrive. Take the next step towards a balanced life today—you’ve got this!
Questions? Our Monitoring Team is here to support you.
/UH_Primary_Logo_Lg.png?upscale=true&width=1120&upscale=true&name=UH_Primary_Logo_Lg.png){kind=logo}
