Community News
Considering a Pet Sitter?

If you’re a pet owner who travels, arranging for care for your pets while you’re away can feel like an overwhelming decision. It’s important to look for caregivers who will not only provide for basic needs like food and water, but also companionship, reassurance, and playtime while you’re away. If you can find someone to come to your home, your pet gets to stay in his familiar surroundings, which is less stressful than taking him to a new location! When finding a pet sitter, it’s also important that you’re both on the same page about what’s expected and the fees involved for things like the number and length of visits per day, grooming and walking, accident cleanup, and taking the pet to a vet in case of emergency. You and your pet should feel comfortable about the care arrangements, so you (and your pet) can enjoy your vacation without worry!

Lisa Tustin, Professional Pet Services

Clean Eating: Grilled Corn and Avocado Succotash

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil
S&P
2 tbsp. lime juice
4 ears corn
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bell pepper
¼ inch diced
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, chopped into ½ inch cubes
¼ c. fresh basil leaves

Directions:

While steaks are cooking, shuck corn, toss in vegetable oil and let cook on other side of grill. Once you have nice grill marks on corn, take off and slice kernels off with sharp knife. Mix with rest of ingredients, and serve.

Prairie Box, PrairieBox.com

Journaling Relieves Caregiver Anxiety

If you’re a caregiver for a senior loved one, have you considered journaling as a way to relieve caregiver anxiety? Experts recommend journaling as a way to sort out your feelings and count your blessings when life gets crazy. In fact, regular journaling may even improve your health. Writing down your worries may strengthen your immune cells, giving you a better chance of fighting off infections and staying healthy. Journaling may help you fulfill your most important roles with a positive outlook and plenty of energy. It helps to: 1. Reduce the intensity of stress and anger by writing these feelings down. 2. Solve problems through creativity and intuition. 3. Recognize productive (and unproductive) patterns in your life. 4. Track your progress and growth for increased confidence. 5. Sort out your feelings. Journaling gives you a “safe space” to share your thoughts and feelings without worrying about being judged or feeling guilty.

Alevtina (Alia) Tuhari, Reliable Home Care Agency, ReliableHomeCare.ca

Caregiver Pharmacy Support

It can be difficult to be a caregiver and manage multiple or complex medications for a loved one. It is important to ensure medications are taken appropriately to help maintain good health. A visiting pharmacist provides personal support with regular medication delivery and home consultations. The pharmacist reviews a client’s prescription drugs and over the counter medications to advise if there are any drug interactions, and makes adjustments as necessary. This level of support can reduce emergency room visits and hospital stays, and results in strong, trusting relationships between clients, caregivers, and pharmacists. The visiting pharmacist also provides seamless care for hospital discharge patients and works closely with other health professionals to deliver a high level of care to the client. Care is tailored to specific individual needs such as assisting with blood pressure readings, adding medications as needed to adherence packaging, and making changes in an efficient manner.

Teresa Giesbrecht
CareAtHomePharmacy.ca

Tune-Up Your Brain!

Your brain is the engine that drives you – so it’s important to keep it well-tuned. Fat – or lipid – consumption is essential for the healthy growth, development, and function of your brain. In fact, 60% of your brain’s dry weight is fat. Several types of plant and animal fats are used for brain-building material, though one lipid reigns supreme: omega-3 fatty acids derived from salmon, sardines, krill oil, and plant-based Ahiflower oil. There are many benefits of omega-3: it increases cognitive functioning and decreases symptoms of depression, anxiety and aggression. It is also shown to be a protective factor against cognitive decline and dementia in older adults; and it is an essential component of a healthy diet for pregnant women, leading to better health outcomes in newborns. Consider adding omega-3s to your diet as an evidence-based way to tune-up your brain for optimal mental health.

Sean Miller, CMHA Manitoba and Winnipeg

mbwpg.cmha.ca

Book Club: Why Can’t I get Better?

Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease by Dr. Richard Horowitz. Looks at pain, fatigue, memory and concentration problems, sleep disorders, and much more. Lyme disease and its related conditions are incredibly complicated. You can take the questionnaire yourself, and start doing your own detective work with this book as your guide.

LymeDisease.org

Do You Feel Lonely?

If so, you are not alone in that feeling. Even though we are connected through the worldwide web and various other social mediums, almost one-quarter of Canadians will describe themselves as ‘lonely’. Chronic feelings of loneliness can eventually lead to mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety.  People would rather openly speak about having other ailments than confess to feeling alone. We could be surrounded by people and still feel lonely due to not feeling understood or heard by family and friends. So, what do we do if we are feeling this way? 1. Write down why you think you are lonely. Journaling helps shed light on what is going on inside. 2. Bring new people into your life through joining a group or even an online community. 3. Volunteer in your local community. Helping others raises self-esteem. There is additional support through professional talk therapy.

Patty Parsons, Counselling Therapist, ParsonsTherapy.com

Why Switch Your Coffee?

Did you know that caffeine in traditional coffee actually INCREASES your stress hormones? The stress response elicits cortisol and increases insulin. Habituation to caffeine decreases insulin sensitivity, making it difficult for your cells to respond appropriately to blood sugar. High blood sugar levels lead to arterial deterioration and increased risk of mortality related to cardiovascular disease. Addiction is often an issue with coffee drinkers and makes it difficult to rely on the body’s natural source of energy. Make the switch to a better coffee! Organo Gold is a leading coffee product enriched with 100% Certified Organic Ganoderma Lucidum Red Mushrooms. Ganoderma Lucidum promotes health and wellness by increasing antioxidant levels, combating harmful free radicals, boosting the immune system, and regulating your blood sugar. Treat your body well and experience the benefits of Ganoderma with a hot cup of freshly brewed Organo Gold coffee.

Organo Gold, DrinkOrgano.ca

Financial Wellness Tips

Pay bills on time and balance your chequebook each month. Know what you currently have to spend so you know what you can afford to spend. • Stop buying on impulse. Instead of using a credit card, save money for something you want. • Always pay more than your minimum balance on credit cards. Get rid of them as soon as possible. You will save money on interest and have more to save for the future. • Always include some savings in your budget. Too many of us are unable to identify our needs after retirement and don’t save. This results in financial difficulty during our declining years. • Find out what you don’t know about finances—and learn it. There is plenty of available information on financial management. • Be careful with the media pull for spending and don’t be drawn into the hype. Be a savvy shopper and saver to avoid overspending and debt.

Brian Denysuik, President & CEO, Creditaid.ca

Hearing Loss and Depression

Research continues to prove a strong connection between hearing loss and depression. The two are referred to as invisible conditions, as you cannot see their effects at first glance. Because of this, their effects can often go unacknowledged, unrecognized, and untreated. Hearing loss affects one’s ability to communicate, which can cause stress, fatigue, social isolation, and, in turn, depression. Along with depression, clients with untreated hearing loss are known to experience anxiety, relationship problems, low self-esteem, stress, and other negative emotions. However, hearing aids have been found to help combat these issues. A study by the National Council on the Aging (NCOA) found that those with untreated hearing loss were more likely to report depression, anxiety, and paranoia, and they were less likely to participate in organized social activities compared to those who wear hearing aids. Source: www.audiology.org/publicationsresources/document-library/untreated-hearing-loss-linkeddepression-social-isolation.

Lisa Reid Audiology, LisaReid.ca

Relaxation: What’s That?

How often do we hear this? “The only time I relax is with a drink in my hand. My brain does not know how to slow down.” Diagnosed with anxiety, a recent client found counselling and group work to be highly stressful. “I’m always scared of what others will say or think!” She was always so tired that she barely had energy to complete daily tasks; yet, when she went to bed, she couldn’t sleep. Brainwave Optimization helped her feel relaxed for the first time in her life. By attending to her brain frequencies, she wasn’t stuck in fight-flight anymore. She was able to keep her food down and digest better. Her sleep came more easily without meds. She was calmer around others and felt less intimidated by them. She could hardly believe she could get to that point without having to try and figure out what was “wrong” with her.

Joanne Couture, RMFT, RSW, LaLobaTraumaRelease.com