It's not about adding years to our lives – it's all about adding life to our years
Author: dherald2013
Don Herald is an active member of the Cardiac Rehab Alumni Group in Peterborough, Ontario. He is the volunteer Chair of Education Programs for this group. A retired social worker and organizational consultant, Don now enjoys writing short fiction. He is the co-founder and active member of the Writers' Group of Peterborough.
Someone – who should probably remain anonymous – told me that he had recently made not one, but two errors when posting to our page. What did he get wrong, you might be asking? His email address, that’s what! That’s almost as bad as forgetting where you live or having to check your wallet or purse to find your driver’s license in order to remember your name.
‘Can you post something,’ this person asked me in an email this afternoon, ‘can you post something that pokes some fun at my forgetfulness and gives our members a laugh?’
It was a challenge too good to pass up.
So, there’s the cartoon at the top of the page. Task complete.
Oh, one more thing.
This person also asked if I could post the following email address. He said that readers of our recent website posts will know what to do with it. So here it is.
mikehammond2012@gmail.com
Editor’s Comment. Jeez – after typing that address, I can see why the heck he couldn’t get it right. Wouldn’t mh12@gmail.com be easier to remember, my friend?
Just after I posted the information about our proposed November meeting topic – Heart Health – offered by the Registered Dieticians of the Peterborough Family Health Team, I received notice from them that the November 11th date is no longer available. I apologize for this confusion.
PFHT is suggesting that if the topic is still of interest to you, there are open spaces at their THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11TH workshop.
The time is 4pm to 6pm.
You must register in advance, by calling 705-740-8020, extension 315 or 335.
Of course, you can also register for the ‘Mindful Eating’ program on November 25th, 9:30 am to 11 am.
The Registered Dieticians of the Peterborough Family Health Team are leading this most interesting nutrition workshop, exploring the connection between what we think about eating and what we actually choose to eat.
This 1½-hour workshop will introduce you to the concept of mindful eating, which involves eating with awareness and intention. We will explore what drives your eating choices and how to build more awareness around your relationship with food to help you make informed choices about your eating.
Topics include mindless eating, mindful eating, what influences eating choices, increasing awareness, and strategies for change.
This workshop may be for you if:
You are interested in learning why you eat what you do
You are interested in learning more about your emotional relationship with food
You want to learn effective strategies and skills to build awareness of your eating
Wednesday, November 25th – 9:30 am to 11 am.
Registration is easy. You must call the PFHT office to reserve your spot.
705-740-8020 extension 315 or 335.
Due to Covid 19, the workshop will be held on ZOOM.
Our November meeting will be facilitated by the Registered Dieticians from the Peterborough Family Health Team. In our September meeting, members identified Nutrition topics as an information area they wanted more information about. For November, we are delighted to offer you an opportunity to participate in a healthy-heart workshop.
‘Heart Health’ Workshop
This 2-hour workshop teaches you about lifestyle choices that can help you manage your cholesterol and blood pressure and reduce your heart disease risk. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada states that 8 in 10 cases of premature heart disease and stroke are preventable through healthy lifestyle choices and habits.
Topics include information about fat, fibre, sodium, meal balance, label reading, and physical activity.
This workshop may be for you if:
You have high cholesterol or high blood pressure
You have heart disease
Are are at increased risk of heart disease
Wednesday, November 11th – 2pm to 4pm
Registration is easy. You must call the PFHT office to reserve your spot.
705-740-8020 extension 315 or 335.
Due to Covid 19, this workshop will be held on Zoom.
Please join us on September 16th for our first meeting of the Fall-Winter-Spring semester.
It’ll be a Zoom meeting once again. Peter will send you an email on the 15th, perhaps earlier, with our session ID number and Password. Peter will open up our virtual meeting room about 1:15 pm for those that want to check in early and say ‘hello’. We’ll start the meeting at 1:30 pm, ending no later than 3:30 pm.
On the agenda are two interesting topics.
Mike will summarize the highlights of our group’s newly created Business Plan and Strategy document. A copy of this document arrived in your Inbox on Tuesday, September 8th. Please take time to read it. Mike will answer any questions and share how our group will use this document going forward with our partners and interested others in the community.
Unlike other years, we do not yet have the topics of our monthly Educational Program mapped out. We need your suggestions about heart-healthy topics that are of interest to you. To assist in our group discussion, I’m asking everyone to complete a Risk Assessment questionnaire from Heart/Stroke.
It will take about ten minutes and you will receive a printable risk profile and strategies targeting your personal risk factors. In our group meeting, I will facilitate an interactive discussion that will identify the most common Controllable Risk Factors shared among our group members. Out of our discussions, we will identify topics to include in our Education calendar.
The H/S Risk Assessment tool is available at:
Enter ‘ehealthra.heartandstroke.ca‘ into your browser.
You will be on the Risk Assessment information page.
In the bottom right corner, click on the tab ‘Start The Questionnaire‘.
This will take you into the questionnaire itself.
Once you have completed the questionnaire, you will be automatically emailed your own confidential and personal Risk Assessment profile and a menu of heart-healthy strategies to attack your highest ‘controllable risk’ categories.
It’s a cool tool.
If you have difficulty in gaining access to the Risk Assessment tool, contact me at ‘healthyheart@cogeco.ca’.
As our community enters into Stage Two of the provincial reopening, Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT), Peterborough Public Health (PPH) and Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) are asking all patients over the age of two (2) to wear a non-medical mask when attending in-person appointments.
The Ministry of Health recommends a face covering – a non-medical mask – to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission when social distancing or keeping two metres distance is challenging. A mask will help prevent the spread of illness from yourself to others, including other patients and your healthcare team. It also helps us to preserve certified personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and support staff.
Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT) Family doctors and nurse practitioners who are part of the PFHT are open and ready to help patients who need medical attention. PFHT is currently offering virtual/phone assessments as well as safe, in-person appointments when needed. Seeking timely medical attention can help prevent unnecessary complications that could result in a visit to the Emergency Department.
Peterborough Regional Health Centre With ongoing community support for PRHC’s #PTBO1000MaskChallenge, the hospital has distributed more than 20,000 donated handmade masks to patients and visitors since the beginning of April. PRHC continues to provide all patients and visitors with a handmade mask when they go through entrance screening. Fabric masks are made to be washed and reused. If you are coming to the hospital on a regular basis, please bring your freshly-cleaned mask back with you to use for each visit.
Making and caring for your mask Interested in making a mask? You can find instructions here. Interested in purchasing a non-medical mask? You can find a list of several local organizations in Peterborough who are currently making and selling fabric masks here. If you are not able to sew or purchase a non-medical mask, you can find alternative face covering options here, as recommended by Peterborough Public Health. It’s important that you wear and care for your mask correctly to ensure it’s as effective as possible. Learn more. Thank you to everyone for doing their part to help contain and prevent the spread of illness in our community as healthcare providers work hard to meet additional demand on the system.
Lots of excellent information about cannabis products, health impacts you should be wary of and ‘how do I even begin’ type questions.
All will be answered in a video Dr. Paul Oh and a live question and answer session led by Bryce Miller – a local pharmacist, cannabis user and member of our group.
Peter has sent everyone the Zoom log in ID number and password.
Please join us at 1:15 for ‘hello’s’ and check-in’s.
The teaching and discussion starts at 1:30 pm
We should be finished about 3 pm.
See you there. Bring your questions about using cannabis products as part of your overall health management plan.
Bryce Miller is a pharmacist and an active member of the Cardiac Rehab Alumni Group. He is very knowledgeable about the medicinal and non-medicinal uses of all forms of cannabis. Bryce will be answering your questions at our June 13th meeting.
Bryce would like you to send him some of your questions about the use of cannabis products in advance of our meeting next week. There is no question too silly, too naive, too anything.
Please send your question(s) to the following email address:
healthyheart@cogeco.ca
Our Zoom meeting next Wednesday, June 13 begins at 130 pm. We plan to end about 3 pm but, depending on our discussion with Bryce, we may go a bit later, ending for sure, no later than 330 pm.
Healthy Hearts Peterborough 