Community News
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

Rendez-Vous Estates

Nestled between Dawson Road and the Seine River on Seine Avenue in a well-established Lorette residential neighbourhood, Rendez-Vous Estates offers over two acres of intentionally designed and meticulously maintained property as a backdrop. Fifty extraordinary suites within this 55+ community hold the key to the simple, elegant, and sophisticated lifestyle you have been waiting for. Rendez-Vous Estates’ large windows let plenty of natural light into the beautifully designed suites. With six modern energy-efficient appliances, your open kitchen will make entertaining a pleasure. Your suite also features a private balcony and in-suite clothes washer and dryer. Select from one-bedroom or two-bedroom suites in various sizes to accommodate your budget. All suites have walk-in closets and storage. Other onsite amenities include two elevators, secured entrance, heated indoor parking, a game room, an exercise room, and a guest suite.

Rendez-Vous Estates, RendezVousEstates.ca

Importance of Water Filters

Disinfecting our drinking water for more than a century with chlorine ensured it was free of the microorganisms that can cause serious diseases, such as typhoid fever. To this day, chlorine remains the most commonly used drinking water disinfectant. However, drinking tap water has been linked to bladder, breast, and bowel cancer; and long-term drinking, bathing, and swimming in chlorinated water has been shown to cause malignant melanoma. According to Dr. Rona, M.D., chlorinated water destroys most of the intestinal flora – friendly bacteria that help not only with the digestion of food, but with the production of vitamins B12 and K. Chlorinated water can destroy vitamin E and polyunsaturated fatty acids. All of these factors have been shown to result in skin irritations, including eczema, acne, and rashes. A total water whole-home filter removes 92-95% of the chemicals in our tap water, leaving all the essential minerals.

Total Water Cleaners, TotalWaterCleaners.com

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

Family Summer Camp

I Am Events, the not-for-profit organization responsible for the I Am Festival, brings a full weekend experience to families this summer on August 11-13th! I Am Family Camp brings together an impressive group of experts, ranging from family health practitioners, musicians, business leaders, and coaches.  Highlights include Canadian icon Fred Penner, who will open the event with a fireside chat and acoustic performance; Kellie Johnsen, a certified family and youth coach from Hawaii, who will host sessions that include a discovery workshop for family values and an improv workshop on communication; and Winnipeg mindfulness expert, musician, and yoga instructor, Keith Macpherson, who will join the group leading meditation and a youth session on creative expression. If you’re looking for a new way to create connections and memories with your family this summer, register for I Am Family Camp. There is a limit of 50 spots and registration is now open.

I Am Festival, Iamfesitval.net/familycamp

Ride Don’t Hide!

Spring is finally here and it’s the perfect time to get outside after a long, cold winter! Outdoor exercise is a great way to soak up the sun’s vitamin D, get your blood pumping, and reconnect with your community – all proven ways to boost your mental health. Need some motivation? Think about joining the Ride Don’t Hide movement, a Canada-wide community bike ride to build awareness for mental health. This year’s ride will be held at the Vimy Ridge Park, and its 21 km route will take you and our 300 riders through Winnipeg’s beautiful downtown. Ride Don’t Hide is for riders of all skill levels; it is not a race, but, rather, an opportunity to celebrate mental health and honour the recovery journeys of people who live with mental illness. Join the Ride Don’t Hide movement and celebrate mental health!

For details, visit: www.ridedonthide.com/mb/ride/winnipeg. Sean Miller, mbwpg.cmha.ca

Love Keeps You Healthy

Being in love not only gives you a bounce in your step, but it also has several proven health benefits. When you are in love, your brain produces a hormone, which is its own natural form of amphetamine called dopamine that contributes to feelings of elation, pleasure, optimism, energy, and a sense of well-being. Physical touch, such as hugging, handholding, and lovemaking, releases a hormone called oxytocin, which lowers stress hormones. Studies have demonstrated that people releasing these hormones have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, greater resistance to colds and flus, and decreased stress and depression. It has been documented that happily coupled people also tend to live longer. We have always known eating healthy foods help maintain a healthy body. Now there is no disputing that healthy relationships foster a long and healthy life. Finding your life partner has more benefits than we once realized.

Lianne Tregobov, Intuitive Matchmaker, CamelotIntroductions.com