Season's Greetings!

 

December 2021 LBD PCN Newsletter

 Our December newsletter is out! Read about:

- Edmonton Zone Health Education

- How to access our providers

- Team-Based Care Program

- Prescription To Get Active

- Alberta Seniors’ Centre Without Walls Program

Read the newsletter here: December 2021 LBD PCN Newsletter

Still here for you

 

Your doctor is here to support your health and wellness and want to make sure your health concerns do not get worse during this time. Appointments are available, they just may look a little different with telephone and virtual care options available at many doctors' offices.

#stillhereforyou #healthyab #covid19

Still Here For You

Your family doctor and PCN health care providers are here for you. We work as a team to provide consistent care and are your best source for non-emergent healthcare. #stillhereforyou#StayHealthyAB #AlbertaDoctors #ABdoctors #abhealth #COVID19 #healthheroes #sharethecare

November is Fall Prevention Month

Every year, 1 in 3 Alberta seniors will fall.

Take action to reduce your risk.

Falls are the leading cause of injury among older adults. The older we get, the greater the risk of falling becomes. Our bodies naturally change with age, and these changes affect the way we feel, move, and behave. 

• Older adults with muscle weakness are 4-5 times more likely to fall.
• Try to do 30 minutes or more of physical activity at least 5 days each week.
• Walking, dancing, Tai Chi, and cross-country skiing are a few great ways to be active.
  

A fall can have a devastating and lasting impact on an individual resulting in injury, chronic pain and a reduced quality of life. Even without an injury, a fall can cause a loss in confidence and a reduction in activities for older adults.

• Older adults with low vision are 2.5 times more likely to fall.
  
• A comprehensive eye exam will test your vision and look for issues like glaucoma and cataracts.
  
• Alberta Health Care covers the cost of eye exams for adults 65 and older.
  

Some medications can also put you at risk of a fall.

• Seniors taking more than 3 - 4 medications are at a higher risk of falls.
  
• Some prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, and herbal supplements can increase your risk of falling.
  

These actions can help you prevent a fall and stay independent:

• Learn more about how to lower your fall risk to prevent yourself from falling or falling again.
• Talk with a physiotherapist to get the best walking aid for your needs.
• Exercise to improve your strength and balance.
• Talk with a physiotherapist or our PCN Exercise Specialist about exercise to improve your balance.
• Talk to your health care provider if you are worried about falling, especially if it stops you from being active.
• Do 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week strengthening your muscles can reduce your risk of falling - our PCN Exercise Specialist can provide guidance and exercise routines.
• Keep active to improve strength and balance. 
• Talk with your doctor or health care provider about managing the need to rush to the toilet. Rushing could increase your risk of a fall. 
• Talk to your podiatrist or doctor if you have numbness in your feet; numbness can cause a fall.
• Review your medications, vitamins, and supplements with your pharmacist or doctor yearly or if  your prescription changes or new medications are added. 
• Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about medication side effects or causes of light-headedness. Sometimes an adjustment of dosage or type of medication can help.
• Are you sad or have concerns about anxiety or depression? Talk to your health care provider or doctor about how you are feeling.
• Visit an eye doctor yearly to check your eye health. Poor vision or a change in vision can increase the risk of a fall.
• Wear proper shoes, especially outside. Take extra care when walking on snow or ice-covered sidewalks or parking lots. Learn the "Penguin Walk".

Take this online assessment quiz to see if you are at risk of a fall.

Health care providers can print paper copies of this quiz, here.

Learn more at https://www.fallpreventionmonth.ca/

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.

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.

What is continuity of care and why is it important?

Our PCN friends in the Calgary Zone wrote this great article on continuity of care and why it is so important. Take a minute to read it in this month's edition of Apple Magazine.

Diabetes and foot care

Foot Care is an essential component to your diabetes management.  Diabetes affects the circulation of your body and its immune system, which impairs the body’s ability to heal wounds. As well, over time the excess blood sugar can cause damage to the nerves in the feet, which is known as “neuropathy”. As a result of neuropathy, people are less likely to feel an injury, such as a cut or blister. If this goes unnoticed, it could become infected and lead to serious complications such as gangrene, loss of a limb, or Charcot foot, plus others. 

What can you do to reduce complications from neuropathy?  Start by visually inspecting your feet daily, including the bottom and in between your toes. Use a mirror if you have to.  Check to make sure there is no cuts, cracks, ingrown toenails, blisters, etc. Wash your feet in warm (not hot) water, using a mild soap.  Don’t soak your feet as that could cause dryness. Dry your feet carefully, especially between your toes.   If there are cuts, cracks, etc., cover them with a dry dressing suitable for sensitive skin.  Trim your toenails straight across and file and sharp edges. Don’t cut them too short.  Put unperfumed lotion on your heels and soles, and thoroughly rub it in. Do not put lotion in between your toes as this excess moisture will may promote infection. While putting on lotion, notice the temperature of your feet, it should be warm, not cold or hot. Exercise regularly to improve circulation. Wear proper footwear that is supportive and do not rub or pinch. 

If you do have neuropathy, follow the above instructions but also wear white socks instead of black or dark brown. White socks allow you to see if there is any discharge from a crack or cut. Do not put a heater or hot water bottle on your feet as you may not feel any pain it may be causing. 

It’s best for everyone to have their feet checked by a healthcare professional yearly, if not more often.  However, if you have any swelling, warmth, redness, numbness, tingling or pain in your legs or feet, contact your healthcare professional right away.  

Cherie deBoer is a Registered Nurse at the Leduc Beaumont Devon Primary Care Network.

For more information on when to see your Doctor, click this link: http://www.diabetes.ca/diabetes-and-you/healthy-living-resources/foot-care/signs-of-foot-problems

References:

Foot Care: a step toward good health. (2009). Canadian Diabetes Association. 

Celebrate our Nurses!

May 12 is International Nurses Day and Canada Health Day
May 12-18 is National Nursing Week

International Nurses Day and Canada Health Day are both celebrated on May 12, the day of Florence Nightingale's birth.

The theme for this year's International Nurses Day campaign is:
Nurses: A Force for Change - A vital resource for health



While the American's celebrated National Nursing Week last week, in Canada it is this week and offers a similar theme of:
Nursing: A Leading Force for Change



Let's celebrate our amazing nurses this week! Chris, Carla and Cherie, happy National Nursing Week and thank you for all you do for our LBD PCN patients.



Christina Vesty, Chronic Disease Management Coordinator, S.M.I.L.E. Healthcare Program

Carla Moore, Primary Care Nurse, Geriatrics, Leduc Eldercare Consultation Team

Cherie deBoer, Registered Nurse, S.M.I.L.E. Healthcare Program