New Year, Healthy You!

Join the Edmonton and area Primary Care Networks for a Health & Wellness Challenge, starting January 7, 2019. 

Each day has a different challenge for you to complete and post a picture on social media, with the hashtag #PCNCHALLENGE. If posting on Twitter or Facebook, tag us and we will be sure to share your posts!

https://www.facebook.com/LeducBeaumontDevonPCN/

https://twitter.com/lbdpcn

Mission: Possible - 21 Day Challenge to help end diabetes

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to start a healthy habit over the next 21 days to raise awareness on diabetes, live healthier, and to help end diabetes.  

Mission Data:

November is Diabetes Awareness Month! 

11 million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes.  And that’s not even counting the family members whose lives are changed by supporting those living with diabetes.  So many lives are touched by this chronic disease, yet so few Canadians know they are at risk for developing diabetes.  Each November, the Canadian Diabetes Association runs a campaign to raise awareness on the risks of diabetes, and what you can do to lower your chances of developing diabetes.  This year, the CDA is promoting a 21 day health habit challenge.  All that’s involved is a commitment to making a healthy lifestyle change and raise funds to support diabetes research to find a cure!  More information on this challenge at the Canadian Diabetes Association website.

What is Diabetes?

It’s a chronic disease where the body cannot make enough insulin or cannot use insulin properly.  Insulin is a hormone that helps to control blood sugars.  A high amount of sugar in the blood over a long period of time can damage organs, blood vessels, and nerves.  

Find out more about diabetes at our PCN Diabetes 101 class: 

http://lbdpcn.com/Programs/Pages/Health-Education-Classes.aspx

Are you at risk?

Not much is known about definite risk factors for Type 1 Diabetes.  But there are quite a few risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes.  Some we can have some control over, but some we cannot. 

Here’s a list of risk factors for developing Type 2 Diabetes:

• Have a parent, brother, or sister living with diabetes.

• Member of high-risk group (Aboriginal, Hispanic, South Asian, Asian, African descent)

• Have given birth to a baby weighing more than 4kg or 9lb

• Have had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)

• Prediabetes diagnosis

• Have high blood pressure

• Have high cholesterol  or high blood fats

• Have extra weight around abdomen, overweight

• Have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) diagnosis

• Have acanthosis nigricans diagnosis

• Have obstructive sleep apnea diagnosis

• Have diagnosed psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, depression

Ask your doctor to test if you have diabetes if you are over 40 years old or if you have several risk factors after taking this risk test: http://www.diabetes.ca/take-the-test/

Don’t have a doctor?  Find one here: www.edmontonareadocs.ca

Fight the Risk.  Accept the Mission Challenge.

Here are some healthy habit ideas you can try over the next 21 days. 

• Eat a high fibre breakfast everyday. For example, you can have oatmeal with fruit.

• Eat 1 cup of vegetables at each of your meals.

• Eat 2-3 servings of fruit each day (1 serving =0.5 cup or tennis ball size piece of fruit)  

• Go for a 10-15 minute walk at lunch everyday.    

• Try deep breathing or visualization technique to manage your stress.  Or check out other stress management techniques at https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/tests-treatments/pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=rlxsk&

Find out other ways to eat healthier and live healthier at our Nutrition for Diabetes and Active Living class: http://lbdpcn.com/Programs/Pages/Health-Education-Classes.aspx

Start your 21 Day Challenge Now:  http://crm2.diabetes.ca/site/TR?fr_id=2463&pg=entry

Your Team

You have a team of Registered Dietitians, Exercise Specialist, Registered Nurse, Registered Pharmacist, and Registered Psychologist through the SMILE program at the PCN.  You can access this team for support by asking for a referral from your family doctor.  

More information about the SMILE program: http://lbdpcn.com/Programs/Pages/SMILE-Healthcare-Program.aspx

GOGA starts soon!

Just over a week left until GOGA starts! Get Out (and) Get Active with our PCN! Join our 6 week activity challenge, now! www.getoutgetactivepcn.com

Get Out Get Active Challenge begins soon - registration now open!

REGISTER NOW AT www.getoutgetactivepcn.com

EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION PRIZES TO BE WON!

Finding Balance activity challenge

SENIORS' KEEP ACTIVE CHALLENGE

November 1-30, 2015

We want to help seniors keep active! Join us as we travel across Alberta. Choose where you want to go and then start your journey! Any physical activity will count towards the trip. Keep track of how many steps you take or how many minutes of physical activity you do each day. Add these into the UWALK website to see how far you go by the end of November. If you belong to a senior’s centre or recreation program, you join as a group to travel together. Groups can order a map to track your group’s progress.

The Seniors’ Keep Active Challenge is sponsored by UWALK. Register on the UWALK website and then join the Challenge. You can join the Challenge starting October 26, 2015.

Join the Challenge! Click here to register.

Get your free Finding Balance pedometer at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network (while supplies last).

GOGA starting next week!

The Get Out Get Active challenge begins Monday!

Registration is now open at www.getoutgetactivepcn.com. When you sign up, you will receive a coupon good for 6 free visits at one of our partner facilities!

Get Out, Get Active (GOGA) is a six-week physical activity challenge, which is organized by 10 Edmonton and Central Zone Primary Care Networks (PCNs).

The challenge will start April 27 – June 7, 2015 and is open to anyone who wants to add more activity into their lives. Join your PCN as you walk, run, swim, dance and much more to log steps. Every bit of activity counts.

Go to www.getoutgetactivepcn.com to join our challenge - select the Leduc Beaumont Devon PCN group and help us compete against other PCNs throughout the challenge. By registering and logging your activity, you will be eligible for weekly prizes along the way. If you consistently log your activity, you will be eligible for the grand prize! 

If someone you know would like to join the challenge but does not have access to a computer to enter their activity, the LBD PCN has activity log sheets for use. Simply fill out the sheet with the activity performed each day and at the end of the week, drop by our office where we will be happy to enter the activity into the website on that person's behalf. That way, everyone is eligible for prizes and the activity will be logged along the virtual map. 

We will also have a map posted in our office so that everyone can see our progress along the way.

Mental Health Week

National Mental Health Week - May 5-11, 2014

Mental Health Week is designed to encourage people across Canada to consider the role that mental health plays in our daily lives.  This week is a time to raise awareness about mental health and all the ways it impacts us, our loved ones, our friends, co-workers and society. 

It is estimated that 1 in 5 adult Canadians will suffer from a mental disorder at some point in their lives.  Anxiety disorders and depression are the most common.  It is also reported that mental health problems place an estimated $14.4 billion total economic cost on Canadians.

So how do we maintain Mental HEALTH?

For 2014 National Mental Health Week, Alberta Health Services has devised a series of simple steps that you can use to take care of your mental health and overall wellness.  This is a Mental Health Week Challenge that we at the Leduc Beaumont Primary Care Network would like to extend to as well.  

 

Today’s challenge:

Day 1: Food and Mood

Each day during Mental Health Week a new challenge will be presented, so be sure to check back on the blog each day this week for the next challenge.

Additional Mental Health Resources:

Canadian Mental Health Association Mental Health Fact Sheet

Canadian Mental Health Association Woman’s Mental Health Fact Sheet

www.mentalhealthweek.ca

Sheila Gothjelpsen is a Registered Psychologist with the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network.

Create a workplace physical activity challenge

The LBD PCN staff recently participated in an activity challenge at work. We did a 50-day activity challenge where we had to get at least 30 minutes of moderate to high activity each day. Each staff member was allowed to miss no more than 8 days total over the 50 days.  

To encourage and motivate the staff, we collected a $20 sign up fee from each participate and put each participating staff member’s name on a poster. Each day the completed the 30 minutes of activity, they got to put a sticker on the board. Everyone was very excited and motivated by the shiny stickers and looked forward to putting them on the board each morning!

Sixteen out of our 18 regular staff members took part in the challenge.  At the end of the 50 day challenge, each staff member who completed the challenge with no more than 8 days off had their name placed in a hat for a draw. The person who’s name was pulled won all of the money collected at the start. Our only caveat was that the money was to go towards something for themselves like a massage, new workout clothes, new runners, etc. The winner of our challenge put the money toward a year membership at her local gym.  

The goal behind these types challenges is to create a habit that will continue past the 50 days and become a regular part of everyday routine. The majority of our staff continued on with 30 minutes of activity day after the challenge was over, the habit was formed.

Corinne Cutler

Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network

Exercise Specialist

October is Healthy Workplace Month