Sept. 19, 2019 — After growing up caring for her six younger siblings, Margaret began her career as a nurse at age 20. For the next 30 years, Margaret worked in critical care as a nurse. When a business opportunity presented itself abroad, Margaret and her husband relocated
to Europe, only for the business venture to fall through. Margaret and her husband moved back to the U.S. and were greeted with a challenging job market and no signs of a new job. Although she had struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide
before, the letdown in Europe was difficult for Margaret to recover from.
“I couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t shower, I wasn’t eating well,” Margaret recalls. She tried to get help, but found that the medications she was prescribed made her feel worse. Margaret then took advantage of Sharp Health
Plan’s Best Health® telephonic coaching program. She connected with Amanda Abbs, a health coach
with Best Health. Margaret wanted to learn how to relax so she could manage her emotions better. Together, they explored the concepts of positive emotions and the power of perspective.
After three and a half months of working together, Margaret got the green light from her doctor to stop taking the medications. She reached her first personal milestone: she decided to knit again. Margaret also introduced healthy habits into her routine
like walking over 10 miles a week and meditating every night.
After two years of working with Amanda, and with the support of her husband Hans, Margaret reached a monumental milestone. She was able to say that she was “happy for the first time in years.” Soon after reaching this milestone, Margaret discovered
Sharp HealthCare’s guardian angel program. She decided to honor Amanda, and the customer care representatives who worked with her so often, with guardian angel pins.
“Margaret is the true angel and star in this story,” says Amanda. “Our sessions are small moments in time. The real work and change comes outside of our appointments. Margaret had to choose to go all in and implement action steps each
day, each minute, each second, for weeks. She made that commitment — yes, initially to me — but ultimately, to herself.”
Best Health’s one-on-one phone-based coaching sessions are available to all Sharp Health Plan members at no additional cost.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “HOME” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or call 911 immediately.