Mental Health Support Options in the Leduc region

 Self-management – Connect with friends, family members, clergy-persons or other supports that already exist for you.

Supportive Listening – if someone just needs to talk…

Leduc Regional Hub: Tues to Fri 2-6pm (780) 739-LHUB (5482)- can help with access to community, social, health and government services

Distress Line (780) 482-HELP (4357)- can offer supportive listening for any distressing issue you might be dealing with – you don’t need to be suicidal to call.

Counselling – For those who want to access a counsellor.

LBD PCN Mental Health team – This program offers mental and emotional health assessment and assists patients in finding the most appropriate mental health service in the community. Access to this program is through referral from a PCN family physician.

FCSS (Family and Community Support Services) offers a subsidized counselling program. Services are provided by psychologists, provisional psychologists and counsellors. They use a sliding scale fee schedule ($20-$50) based on annual income. They provide short-term individual, couples and family counselling.

FCSS – Leduc FCSS – (780) 980-7109

Beaumont FCSS – (780) 929-1006

Devon FCSS – (780) 987-8325

Leduc County – (780) 979-2385

Leduc Addictions & Mental Health Clinic – for those who have a formal mental health disorder such as major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. People in crisis can also go to Leduc Mental Health (780-986-2660).

Local Private Psychologists – Most charge full fees ($190/hr). Some provide sliding scale fees – you can always ask. You may be able to utilize Employee Family Assistance Programs and Health Insurance to pay for services (Contact your EFAP or insurance provider for info).

Karunia Counselling (780-628-3939)

Connelly Counselling (780-237-3510) Family Counselling Centre (780) 612-8577

IASIS Psychological Services (780-739-0707)

24/7 Crisis support:

24hr Addiction & Mental Health Crisis Response Team (780-342-7777)

The Support Network: 211 (info & referral), Distress Line (780-492-4357(HELP))

RCMP – 911

Leduc Community Hospital Emergency (4210-48 Street)

June 2022 LBD PCN Newsletter

 Our June 2022 LBD PCN Newsletter is here! Click the subscribe button inside the newsletter to receive this quarterly newsletter to your email inbox. 

The LBD PCN currently does not have any doctors accepting new patients

 

Season's Greetings!

 

From daily pain to daily gain – how accessing the right care changed a life

From daily pain to daily gain – how accessing the right care changed a life

 

Lynn had been dealing with discomfort in her legs and feet for several years and, like many, chalked it up to the joys of ageing. She became used to not sleeping because of the pain running down her legs and feet at night and feeling miserable all day from the pain. As the intensity of the pain grew, it affected every aspect of her life. She stopped doing activities she once enjoyed because the pain was too much. It wasn’t an excuse for not exercising; it was a definite reason not to remain physically active. Like many, she felt like rest would help, when in fact, it did the opposite. “The more I did nothing, the worse the pain was,” remembers Lynn. She was quick to add that doing nothing was the worse thing she could have done.

Lynn lived with this hardship much longer than she needed to. She didn’t want to sit around any longer, watching the pain take over her life. Hoping for relief, she went to a massage therapist. The massage therapist suggested a chiropractor instead. Lynn found herself at the chiropractor’s office three times a week and felt even sorer after each visit. X-rays showed arthritis had set in. She tried the fixes she knew about first, but massage and chiro were not helping. Lynn eventually talked to her family doctor, who recognized the type of support Lynn needed and recommended she see Adrien, the exercise specialist at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network (PCN).

Even though the doctor’s referral was sent to the PCN when COVID-19 first appeared in Alberta, and we faced our first period of business shutdowns and self-quarantine, Lynn was able to see the PCN exercise specialist right away and in-person at the PCN office. Lynn was put through a complete exam of her back, hips, posture, and gait analysis, given coordination and balance tests, as well as manual muscle testing for her lower body. Adrien determined that Lynn’s symptoms were valid, and she was suffering a high level of pain, considering the severity of her symptoms. Following the assessment, Adrien provided Lynn with specific exercises known as the McGill Big 3 for core strengthening and online workout videos, specifically certain ones Adrien has posted on the LBD PCN YouTube channel.

Adrien provided Lynn with the tools she needed to start on the path back to health. Adrien prescribed exercise, and, in Lynn’s words, even though she doesn’t like being told what to do sometimes, she took Adrien’s advice and got to work. Lynn committed to exercising every day, and after only about 6 weeks, she is thrilled to say that the constant pain is gone. If she tweaks something or moves too quickly the wrong way, she can feel it still there, but the daily pain is no longer. Lynn only had to see Adrien at the PCN twice; that’s all it took for Lynn to understand what she needed to do.

Both Lynn and Adrien are happy with her progress and agree that she doesn’t need to continue coming to the PCN, “I’m done with him,” Lynn laughs, referring to Adrien and his expert advice and support. She was prepared with the knowledge and tools Adrien provided, including teaching Lynn to be accountable to herself. “Sometimes things go sideways in life, and we need someone to tell us what to do to get back on track,” Adrien assured Lynn that if she ever needs help again, the PCN door is always open.

Lynn is grateful that her family doctor referred her to see Adrien at the PCN and thrilled he could help her out of a life of pain and misery. “Adrien gave me the tools and a plan for managing my pain. My gains are achieved through exercise and sticking to it. I am grateful for his inspiration and knowledge and will take them forward with me as I continue to grow stronger.”

If you would like to access the Exercise Specialist’s services at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network, please talk to your family doctor, and ask for a referral.

Overview of the 24-hour Movement Guidelines for people ages 18-64 from the Leduc Beaumont Devon PCN Exercise Specialist

 24-hour Movement Guidelines for people ages 18-64: An integration of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep.

As an exercise physiologist who practices in the field of chronic disease management, I often have conversations with patients about increasing daily physical activity. Although beneficial overall, and depending on the individual, simply adding some physical activity to their day is not enough to truly produce the ideal level of heathy change for that person. These guidelines created by the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology (CSEP) are now available to help provide specifics to answer that question for patients.

The guidelines themselves can be broken down to a few specific categories to ensure a “healthy 24 hours”. These include physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behaviours, or time spend inactive or sitting.

Physical Activity

Beginning with physical activity, the recommendations continue to include 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic physical activity added up throughout your week as well as muscle strengthening exercises for your major muscle groups two times per week. It is important to keep in mind these recommendations are for an individual that does not have any medical conditions or disabilities that would prevent their ability to reach these activities levels. If an individual is not able to reach these guidelines from a medical standpoint, they should consult with their health care team to determine appropriate levels of physical activity. This also includes several ours of light physical activity such as standing, which I will speak more on later.

Sleep

The 24-hour Movement Guidelines recommends 7-9 hours of sleep, which includes regular wake and sleep cycles. This continues to follow the current guidelines and remains the gold standard for sleep goals.

Sedentary Behaviour

This is the time spent being inactive such as sitting at a desk, watching TV or sitting in front of a screen. CSEP currently recommends limiting sedentary behaviour to 8 hours or less per day with goals of less than 3 hours of screen time a day, and breaking up long periods of sedentary positions as much as possible; I always tell my patients to try not to sit for more than an hour at a time.

It is important to discuss how people can implement these guidelines and why the recommendations are what they are. Sleep is self explanatory, but I believe these guidelines truly shine when reviewing the recommendations for physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

The get the biggest benefit from the guidelines, people should try and create a goal of turning more sedentary time into beneficial light activities such as standing, walking, moving, and progressing times you may be performing these light activities into more moderate of vigorous activities. Progressing these activities in your day increases the amount of time you spend moving each day, the calories that you burn, and helps your body adapt to being more physically active. When progressing sedentary time to light activity times such as standing, it helps increase what is called NEAT which stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, NEAT is defined as the energy spent for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy spent walking to work, typing on a computer, performing yard work, doing yard work or gardening, and even fidgeting. The more you can move outside of planned times for physical activity, the higher your NEAT and the more calories you will burn and the greater, overall likelihood of positive health outcomes.

It is important to realize these are 24-hour movement guidelines and not physical activity guidelines. These new guidelines help to promote a greater range of activities per day, while emphasizing sleep and reducing sedentary behaviour and continuing to support the previous physical activity guidelines as provided by CSEP.

~ Adrien DeGroot BHK, CSEP-CEP, R.Kin, CSEP - High Performance Specialist, is an Exercise Specialist at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network. To access his services, please ask your PCN family doctor for a referral.

To view and participate in Adrien's at-home workouts, please check out our LBD PCN YouTube channel.

Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network relaunch

Registered Nurses

Registered Dietitians

Exercise Specialist

Mental Health Therapists

Behavioural Health Consultants

All of our Team-Based Care providers, Leduc Eldercare Consultation team and visiting specialist are now offering in-person appointments for those who would like to come see them in the office. Of course, telephone and video appointments are still available as well.

For more information on our relaunch, visit our website.

June is Recreation and Parks Month!

In support of June is Recreation and Parks Month and our friends at the City of Leduc, our PCN Exercise Specialist Adrien encourages you to get outside and discover all of the recreation opportunities in Leduc. In this short video, Adrien shows you to the outdoor fitness area at William F. Lede park near Telford Lake.

For more information about the outdoor fitness area, please visit: https://www.leduc.ca/william-f-lede-park/lede-park-outdoor-fitness-area

Help with sciatic nerve pain

Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network Exercise Specialist Adrien shows you some stretches and exercises for those with sciatic nerve pain, also called sciatica. You will need a chair and a stool or step for this activity. Coach Luna keeps an eye on Adrien and approves of his techniques.

Watch the video by clicking the image, below.

If you are new to physical activity, if you are returning to physical activity after injury or illness, or if you have a medical condition that might make physical activity difficult, please consult with your family doctor before starting a physical activity program. Adrien also suggests that if you are at risk of falls, please have someone present with you while you do the falls prevention exercises.

If you have questions for Adrien, please add a comment on our YouTube channel. Also, please subscribe to our channel so you can get notification as Adrien adds more videos.

June 2020 newsletter now available

Our June 2020 newsletter is now available! In this edition, you will learn about:

- how our Team-Based Care and Leduc Eldercare Consultation Team are seeing patients

- resources available to you online

- our exercise specialist's workout videos

- our new Warburg Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic (opens TODAY!)

- COVID-19 supports

and more! Read the newsletter, here.

Leduc After-Hours Closure

COVID-19 MESSAGE

***Please note that if you have symptoms such as a fever, cough and difficulty breathing and have traveled outside Canada OR have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19, stay home and call Health Link at 811. Do not go to a physician’s office, a health care facility or a lab without consulting with Health Link 811 first. Do NOT attend the Leduc or Beaumont After-Hours Clinics. These facilities are not equipped to test for COVID-19. Call 911 if you are seriously ill and need immediate attention and inform them that you may have COVID-19***

Stand Up To Falls

We have a new class offered at the PCN!

For more information and to register: http://lbdpcn.com/Pages/Event-Details.aspx?EventID=102&EventSeriesID=225&

The City of Leduc would like your help to develop a community-based opioid response plan. Please fill out this quick survey - everyone in the Leduc region is asked to participate. https://www.leduc.ca/opioids

Walk With a Doc in Leduc has moved to Wednesdays!

How can the Leduc After-Hours Clinic support you?

We're hiring!

Medical Office Assistant

Part-time Position 

The Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network is a joint venture between participating local family physicians and Alberta Health Services.  

Our mandate is to sustain and enhance the quality, coordination, and integration of health care services in Leduc and area and to improve the quality of life for the community of patients and physicians.

The Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network is seeking an experienced Medical Office Assistant. The successful candidate will work part-time at the Leduc-After Hours Clinic based in the PCN’s centralized office in Leduc.  Applicant must be available to work 1-2 shifts per week. The Leduc After-Hours Clinic is open Monday to Friday from 5:30-10:00 pm.

The position will be the first point of contact for patients and the public.  Some of the responsibilities include: operating the phone system, booking patient appointments, updating medical records and submitting billing as required.

The ideal candidate for this position should meet the following requirements:

• Excellent organizational, communication and time-management skills as well as the ability to     multi-task;

• Medical Office Administration diploma and/or previous experience in a medical setting;

• Grade 12 education or equivalent;

• Current CPR certification;

• Knowledge of Alberta Netcare is an asset;

• Knowledge of PS Suite EMR is an asset;

• Demonstrate knowledge at an intermediate level of with Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word and Excel). 

Please forward a letter of interest and resume by May 28, 2017 to:

Penny Garton, Clinic Manager

Email:  penny.garton@lbdpcn.com

Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

A criminal record check will be required of the successful applicant. 

Walk with a Doc in Leduc

Last week, the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network, in partnership with the Leduc Recreation Centre and led by Dr. Trevor Byers of the Smyth Clinic, launched Walk with a Doc to a full room of participants.

The weekly event takes place each Thursday at 7pm at the Leduc Recreation Centre. Participants meet in the Vantage Room upstairs by the gym for a quick health-related presentation, then gather outside for a walk around the trails behind the LRC. Feel free to ask Dr. Byers any health-related questions, or just chit-chat!

This event is FREE and open to all; please bring a friend! Registration is not required, just show up and be prepared to walk outside. If the weather is terrible, we will walk on the indoor track at the LRC.

Here are a few pictures from our inaugural event!

Full house in the Vantage Room at the LRC - Dr. Byers gave a presentation titled "Physician, Heal Thyself" about his own past health concerns, what triggered him to change and how he did it.



Recipe for Change



Enjoy the ride!



Off we go for a quick walk around the trails behind the LRC. Dr. Byers brought flashlights for everyone - it was dark out there! But NO EXCUSES :)



Like, it was REALLY dark out there.




We look forward to see you this Thursday at the LRC!

LBD PCN Launches Walk with a Doc Program in Leduc

The Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network (LBD PCN) is encouraging Leduc and area residents to take a step toward better health with Walk with a Doc, a health program that brings doctors and patients together to get out and walk.

Walk with a Doc is an initiative whose mission is to encourage healthy physical activity in people of all ages and reverse the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in order to improve the health and well-being of the country.

“This program has had tremendous participation and success in hundreds of cities in both Canada and the US,” says Dr. Trevor Byers, a LBD PCN member physician. “I’m very pleased to bring this exciting and simple program to Leduc as it has shown such improved health results for countless people.”

Walk with a Doc is open to the community. Participation is free and pre-registration is not required. The first Walk with a Doc event will take place on October 20^, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. Walkers will first listen to a short health-related presentation in the Vantage Room at the Leduc Recreation Centre and then enjoy a refreshing and rejuvenating walk on the trails with Dr. Byers and other LBD PCN healthcare professionals, who will provide support to participants and answer questions during the walk.

“Walk with a Doc is honoured to team up with the LBD PCN. By incorporating this program into the practice, Dr. Byers (pictured) and the PCN are demonstrating an exceptional level of care and commitment to their community,” said Dr. David Sabgir, founder of Walk with a Doc.

Why walk?

“First, because it is fun and it feels good.  Also, an active lifestyle reduces the risk of many chronic medical illnesses, including coronary heart disease, breast and colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes, depression and anxiety.” says Dr. Byers.

According to the Heart & Stroke Foundation, walking as little as 30 minutes a day can provide the following benefits:

·         Improve blood pressure and blood sugar levels

·         Help maintain a healthy body weight and lower the risk of obesity

·         Enhance mental well-being

·         Reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke

Leduc joins a growing list of communities in both Canada and the US that have started local Walk with a Doc (WWAD) programs. WWAD was created by Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist with Mount Carmel Health Systems in Columbus, OH.  He has walked with patients and community members every weekend since 2005.

Learn more about Walk with a Doc at www.walkwithadoc.org.

Exercise in the Park

Are you looking for opportunities to get more active outside? Did you know that Leduc has an outdoor gym with several pieces of equipment that is FREE to use? This equipment is located at Kinsmen Park (50 Corinthia Drive), west of Leduc Composite High School. If the equipment is not your thing, bring a yoga mat and an activity ball to your favourite outside location and do some gentle stretches and poses or try the tennis courts or walking track.

The LBD PCN also offers a free group walking session on Tuesdays at 4pm around Alexandra Park. Register online: http://lbdpcn.com/Pages/Events.aspx

Leduc Composite High School is located in the top right area of the picture. The walking track is the purple oval and the tennis courts can be seen in the lower left area beside the walking track. The outdoor equipment is located directly south of the tennis courts. Click here for a Google Map of Kinsmen Park.






Corinne Cutler is the Exercise Specialist at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network.