Health and Wellness

What is asthma? What can you do to control asthma symptoms? Do you need to see how to use a metered-dose inhaler? If you’re struggling to control your or your child’s asthma, this site can help.

Here you’ll find useful tips, interactive tools, asthma-related apps and helpful resources to answer your questions and help you take control. You’ll learn about things like making an asthma action plan, how to learn your asthma triggers and when to call the doctor. Find out what small steps you can take right now to help improve your quality of life. 

Interactive Tools

American Lung Association: What Is Asthma?

A video animation that shows what happens to the lungs during an asthma attack. Watch Video.

Staying healthy during flu season

Influenza, also known as the flu, can make you feel terrible. Having the flu can result in lost time at school, work, or with family and friends. But there are things you can do now to help keep the flu away:

• Get a flu vaccine, or shot, each year
• Wash your hands often
• Stay away from people who have the flu
• Eat more foods like fruits and veggies that can help protect you from the flu
• Drink more water
• Get more rest

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone six months and older, especially those at high risk of serious effects of the flu, get a flu shot every year. And if you’re age 65 or older, the CDC suggests getting a pneumonia vaccine as well.

When should you get a flu shot?

Try to get a flu shot as soon as the vaccine becomes available — or by the end of October, before the flu season even begins and reaches the place where you live. Even though the flu season usually peaks in January or later, this will give your body time to develop the antibodies needed to protect against the flu.

Where can you get a flu shot or more information?

• Your case manager can talk with you about flu shots and help you find where you can get the flu shot
• Your primary care provider (PCP) will help you learn about flu shots and can provide them
• You can get the flu shot at any of our network pharmacies if you’re age 21 or older
• Your local health department will give you the flu shot

Remember to show your Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Healthcare Solutions ID card when you get the flu or pneumonia shots.

Cold, Flu and Pneumonia Topics

What is diabetes? Are you looking for ways to control your blood sugar or manage your weight? Would you like to eat healthier and be more active? If so, this site can help.

Here you’ll find useful tips, interactive tools, diabetes-related apps and helpful resources to answer your questions and set health goals. You’ll learn about things like making changes in your lifestyle, important health care screenings and when to call the doctor. Find out about small steps you can take right now to live life well with diabetes.

Useful Apps

Glucose Buddy

Let's you log and keep track of your blood sugar.

MediSafe

Tells you when it's time to take your medicine.

Spark Recipes Healthy Recipes

Search and find more than 190,000 healthy recipes.

Interactive Tools

Take the quiz

Diabetes Risk Test

Use this tool to assess your risk for developing diabetes.

Diabetes topics

• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• How to Avoid Other Health Problems
• Taking care of your feet
• Healthy eating tips
• Diabetes blood sugar levels

Helpful Resources

• American Diabetes Association: Glycemic Index and Diabetes
• American Diabetes Association: Living with Type 2 Diabetes Program

Access to quality family planning services and contraceptives is important. These give women and men control over their choices and whether they want to expand their families. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Healthcare Solutions members get contraceptives, or birth control, at no cost. You can set up a no-cost appointment to talk about family planning with your doctor. If you need to find a doctor, we can help. You can call Member Services at 844-396-2329 (TTY 711) Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific time.


Useful tools

You have a lot of choices when it comes to contraceptives. To learn about the effectiveness of birth control methods, visit healthwise.net  here this will help you to compare different birth control methods to find what is right for you. 


Spot On helps to provide information about women’s health and wellness, including a period tracker, birth control alarms, and appointment reminders. Download Spot On from the App Store® or Google Play™.

Useful Apps

Spot On helps to provide information about women’s health and wellness.

Helpful family planning topics and resources

• Which birth control is right for me?
• Contraception for men (English)
• Contraception for men (Spanish)

If you don’t plan to have children, or you don’t plan to have any more, you may consider a permanent form of contraception (birth control), or sterilization. Sterilization is very effective at preventing pregnancies — the failure rate is under 1%. There are no hormonal side effects. Sterilization won’t affect menstruation (your period), appearance, or sexual health. 

Would you like to have more energy or lose some weight? Could you benefit from changing your diet or being more active? If you want to take steps towards a healthier you, this site can help.

Here you’ll find useful tips, interactive tools, fitness-related apps and helpful resources to answer your questions and help you set personal health goals. You’ll learn about things like healthy eating and how to make activity a part of your daily life. A fit body can be in your future. Find out what small steps you can take right now to help improve your quality of life.

Useful Apps

Fast Food Calories

Check more than 20,000 menu items from 108 restaurants.

Spark Recipes Healthy Recipes

Search and find more than 190,000 healthy recipes.

My Fitness Pal

Track calories, exercise and weight each day.

Interactive Tools

Go

BMI Calculator

Learn your body mass index (BMI) and how it may affect your overall health.

Go

How Many Calories Did You Burn?

Let this tool do the math for you while you have fun being active.

Go

Interactive Food Label

Test your knowledge of reading food labels.

Fit Body Topics

• What is a healthy lifestyle?
• Making healthy choices when you eat out
• Healthy eating: overcoming barriers to change
• Fitness: getting and staying active
• Fitness: adding more activity to your life
• Being active when you have health problems

Helpful resources

• Nourish Interactive
• Choose My Plate - Healthy Eating Guidelines
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Fit Mind Apps

Calm

Relax and relieve stress with calming music, sounds and visuals.

Stop Breathe and Think

Let this app guide you through mindfulness exercises.

Unique Daily Affirmations

Use this app to manage negative self-talk.

Virtual Hope Box

Use a variety of tools to help you relax and cope with stress.

Interactive Tools

Go

What's Your Stress Level?

Find out what effect recent life changes may be having on your health.

Go

Are you Depressed?

This tool helps you to see if how you're feeling is a sign of depression.

What is heart disease? What can you do to reduce your risk of heart attack or stroke? Are you looking for ways to lower your cholesterol or control your high blood pressure? If so, this site can help.

Here you’ll find useful tips, interactive tools, heart health-related apps and helpful resources to answer your questions and help you take control. You’ll learn about things like making changes in your lifestyle, important health care screenings and when to call the doctor. Find out about small steps you can take to help improve your health.

Useful Apps

MediSafe

Tells you when it's time to take your medicine.

Spark Recipes Healthy Recipes

Search and find more than 190,000 healthy recipes.

My Fitness Pal

Track calories, exercise and weight each day.

Interactive Tools

Go

Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

Answer a few simple questions to find out if you're ready to quit.

What unique health screenings do women need? What can you do to stay healthy if you’re pregnant or planning to get pregnant? What are your options for birth control? This site can help you get the women’s health and pregnancy resources you need.

Visit our Pregnancy & Women’s Health page to learn more about:

• Women’s health information and resources
• Information about incentives and rewards programs
• Interactive tools
• Pregnancy and childbirth-related apps

Whether you’re thinking about having a baby, pregnant, already a new mom or you’re not planning to have a baby, we can help you take steps to stay healthy at every stage.

Is your use of alcohol or drugs affecting your daily life? Is it causing problems at work, at home or in your relationships? If so, it may be time to seek help. Addiction is a disease, just like diabetes or heart disease.

Here you’ll find useful tips, interactive tools and helpful resources. You’ll learn about things like how to spot the signs of drug or alcohol addiction, treatment options and where to find support. This site can help you take steps to become alcohol and drug free.

Interactive Tools

Go

Do You Have a Drinking Problem?

Learn if your drinking habits are healthy or not.

Have you ever thought about quitting smoking, chewing or dipping? How much healthier would you be if you stopped using tobacco? How much money would you save? Making a change can be hard, but you can do it! This site can help.

Here you’ll find useful tips, interactive tools and helpful resources. You’ll learn how to know if you’re ready to quit, steps you can take to help you break the habit and where to find support. You can be tobacco free for good. 

For more information on quitting tobacco, visit www.njhealth.org/quittobaccohelp.

To get started, make an appointment. Call 1-888-830-4300 (TTY 711) from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday.

Interactive Tools

Go

Are You Ready to Quit Smoking?

Answer a few simple questions to find out if you're ready to quit.