Prioritizing your health sounds simple enough, but when you mix in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, working from home and increased isolation it’s understandable how taking care of yourself can get placed on the backburner.

Colorectal cancer (combined colon and rectal cancer) is the third most common cancer in both men and women in the United States. Most colorectal cancer cases happen in people over the age of 50, but according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), cases in adults younger than 50 are on the rise.

If you feel like you’ve put exercise on the back burner since the start of the pandemic, you’re not alone. According to a recent study by the American College of Physicians, there was a 27.3% decrease in physical activity (steps) worldwide within the first 30 days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

May is National Skin Cancer Awareness and Prevention Month, and with summer right around the corner, many are looking forward to enjoying the warm weather and spending more time outdoors. However, it’s important to protect our skin from potential harm from the sun. Elyn Bowers, MD, a dermatologist at Mercy Medical Group Midtown Dermatology in Sacramento, shared the following tips on reducing skin damage while enjoying those summer days.

Today and every day, we celebrate mothers and mother figures in our lives and recognize the care they give to their families, their communities and their careers. This Mother’s Day, we asked Stephanie Parmely, PhD, a Behavioral Health Psychologist at Dignity Health Mercy Medical Group and mom, to weigh-in on how she navigates motherhood, her career and most importantly, self-care.