Passport to Wellness Health Fair: What's Happening on Saturday, April 8th in Nelson

Hop to IT!

Session Descriptions and Scheduling  

 Saturday, April 8^th, 2017

10:30

Flourishing through Mindfulness- Sonya Franke, Certified Mindfulness Educator

Join Sonya Franke, certified mindfulness educator to learn simple yet effective techniques to increase present moment awareness, helping to cultivate healthy habits of heart, mind and body.  Scientists are calling mindfulness, “Brain Hygiene”.  Mindfulness offers us a way to meet our present moment experience in an accepting, open, compassionate way, developing greater inner patience, resilience, calm and happiness over time.  Learn how to practice in formal and informal ways

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Mental Health through Massage – Sherri Bouliane  RMT

Sherri Bouliane will be presenting on how massage can help with a variety of mental health  issues such as stress, anxiety, insomnia , PTSD, trauma and body awareness.

Karen Leman – Services to support mental health in our community and the health care system- IHA

Join Karen Leman as she helps us understand what the role of the IHA is in the mental health of our community and what resources are available for us.  She will be able to answer questions and direct people to appropriate resources.

12:00

Inspiring Change in self: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Relational Somatic Therapy for Chronic Pain and Mood Problems – Tara Emery RSW/RST

Join Tara Emery as she explains these practical treatments and how they can be used to set goals, inspire change, treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain and insomnia. Tare is a Relational Somatic Therapist and Social Worker who has been with the RISEBC Wellness Centre for 2 years.

Resilience: Addressing the Challenges of MS ( and other Chronic conditions) , Lonnie Facchina Ms Resource Facilitator for Northern and Interior Regions

This session aims to educate and equip those affected by a chronic health condition with inspiring examples and resources to help put positive thinking to work in their own lives.

Growing Home: Your Personal Journey with Aging, Lee Reid Retired Clinical Counsellor-Specialized in Addictions, Founder of SEEDS & Author

Lee offers a 45- minute slideshow, talk and Q and A for group sharing that illustrates the values and skills rural seniors bring to healthy and creative aging.  The audience will travel into the homes and lives of seniors around the West Kootenay in a personal and intimate way.  The presentation is intended to both inspire, and to challenge, social perceptions of aging.  It is not a problem-solving venue

1:30

Parenting Kids in Anxious Times- Christy Bryceland, PhD and Liz Amaral, Family/Parenting Support- Nelson Community Services

Christy will talk about how to recognize childhood anxiety and offer strategies to support anxious children.  Liz will talk about the pillars of parenting especially needed in these anxious times. 

Emergency Room Perspective on Mental Health:  Dr. Wiedrick- MD CCFP (EM) ER Physician Lead and GP Anesthetist at Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson 

Dr. Wiedrick will share his perspective and provide time for group chat and discussion.

 Anxiety: What is it and how to manage it. Laura Barkwell- Registered Clinical Counsellor:

   In this session explore with Laura Barkwell, explore what anxiety is, how it presents, and how is can affect individuals. Tools and strategies will be discussed. In this session feel free to listen share stories and strategies to make this a useful, and productive session.  

Heartfulness Meditation and Peace of Mind- Sarah Sherk, Meditation Coach

Participants will be guided through a relaxation and meditation exercise to discover first hand, how this brings one into the peace of the heart.  Discover how to leave your thought behind and create a quiet space within.  In no particular posture, and in silence, you can learn to do this anywhere and at anytime.  

2:45

Community conversation inspiring action for Mental Well-being and Happiness in our communities.

Facilitated by Mia Gardiner

The “Bite” truck will be on site. Child care is available.

Come spend the day for your Mental Health and Happiness.

See you Friday and Saturday... will be a great two days for our community.

Marion and Eric

Upcoming Workshops on Dementia: In Nelson on January 25; February 16, 23 and March 2, 2017

Community First Health Co-op: Part of a Thriving Community.

Community First Health Co-op is proud to be part of a co-operative movement that is alive and flourishing in the Kootenay region.

 With over 25 co-ops in the area, we are the only health co-op and as such we hold a special place in the B.C. Health Co-operative Association.  The dream to offer an integrated approach to wellness is becoming more real every year with the variety of practitioners in the building who are working together to support the wellness of their clients.

We have doctors, naturopaths, chiropractors, massage therapists, psychologists, acupuncturists, community service advocates, yoga therapists, midwives, and training facilities in our building. We have Rise BC Wellness Clinic with a focus on pain management, AppleTree maternity a pre – post maternity facility, a mini medical clinic with a focus on less appointments and more time spent with each patient, a business that trains young people though a mentor ship to work in the building industry, and the Community Services Center offering support in a variety of ways to those in need.

We are connected both financially and philosophically with the Nelson and District Credit Union.  Through their support and leadership we were able to purchase the building, utilize their staff with their financial expertise and depend on them to be an advocate for the co-op movement. We continue to work with Seniors in our area and to be represented on housing forums and seniors committees.

TEETH, a low cost dental program is now over two years old and is growing to include appointments for those in the most need at our Nelson clinic and now we have a mobile dental hygienist serving the communities of the West Kootenay region.

We are planning our 3^rd annual Passport to Wellness Health Fair with a focus this year on Mental Health. We will be hosting the event on Saturday, April 8, 2017 at the Lake Street Building from 10am-4pm. If you know of anyone that might offer a session on mental well-being, please contact us at cfhcoop@shaw.ca 

The New Economy is a documentary with a focus on the cooperative movement and was premiered in Nelson to celebrate Co-op Week. A big thank you to the Nelson and District Credit Union for hosting this event. One of the interesting facts given was that 2 out of 3 people know what a co-op is but only 1 out of 3 can name one. We need to make sure that our name is one of the ones they know.

We are proud to continue our work with the community and with integrated health and look forward to more development in this arena.

It is the time for falling into Fall, so be careful, as the streets and sidewalks get slippery, that you do not fall.

Signing off and out to rake some leaves and get the gardens winterized.

Eric, Erin and Marion 

So Much to be Thankful For...

October Board Meeting is in the books. The leaves are turning colour, the sky is so blue, when it is blue, and the frost is on some of the roof tops, but what a spectacular time to get out and walk or cycle or run. 

West Kootenay TEETH Clinic Society is thrilled that the mobile dental clinic is up and running. In collaboration with IHA, who are letting us use their facilities, one has been held in Castlegar and the next one will be in Grand Forks.  We also have a dentist in Trail and one in Nakusp, who have indicated an interest in helping out and we have one in Castlegar, doing Adopt a Patient dental services from his office.  

As many of you know, we won $50,000 last year from Pacific Blue Cross to support initiatives with TEETH and that money is being spent on new equipment, training of chair side assistants and enhancing our denture service. 

We have had over 635 patient visits but still have 135 people waiting since January for a first appointment. You can help us, but talking to your dentist and seeing if they are willing to be involved in helping us with this vital service.

On a great note, we have a Toonie for TEETH donation and recently we have had former clients, who no longer need to access low- cost dental because of a change in their economic status, donate considerable amounts back to support the program – most notably one for $700.  It is indeed better to give than receive when you are able.

They say if you build it, they will come and we continue to have people looking for space in our building. The latest partners in the Wellness Centre are Street Culture Collaboration, who are working on the streets of Nelson under a contract with the Nelson Community Services Society. We are pleased to have them as part of our integrated services in the building.

Congratulations to the organizers and sponsors of the 2^nd VERY SUCCESSFUL Seniors Fair held on Friday, September 30^th at the Prestige. With between 250-300 seniors in attendance, the organizers were happy with the great feedback and participation in this event.

 One of the most important things for to know about your health is that having a community that offers support, respect and opportunities to participate helps us ALL to be HEALTHY. 

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving... and be thankful for friends, family and your health.

 Eric, Erin and Marion 

Community First Health Co-op AGM and Beyond....

Community First Health Co-op AGM

The CFHC which is celebrating its 10^th year in the Lake Street Building, held their AGM on June 14, 2016 with a good turnout of members and guests.

The presentation for the evening was done by Drs Shiraz Moola and Kevin McKechnie. They were presenting on telehealth and what it could mean for our area.  The realization that the two tier system of health in B.C. is now private or public, but in fact urban and rural. The difficulty for rural communities to access the same level of specialty care as a large centre creates long drives, long wait lists, extra expenses and safety issues for the people who need it.

Telehealth has been piloted in the area for maternity and allows visits from the local hospital or health centre to the doctors in larger centres.  Visits to specialists can be costly and prohibitive for some people so they just do not go to access the help they need.

Telehealth would be an online face to face meeting with the patient, the local doctor and the specialist. Although there are some concerns re privacy, technology and issues to co-ordinate the people needed for the call, it seems to far be outweighed by the benefits.

The fields in which it seems Telehealth is making inroads to have specialists on board are urology, general surgery, pre-surgical screening, cardiology and psychiatry. Also some mobile maternity and ER/ ICU needs. If 1 out of every 3 patients who needed to see a specialist could use Telehealth it would save 2,614 patient visits, 9,410 hours and over $300,000 for the health system, plus the money saved in patient travel costs each year.  Although this is a Kootenay –Boundary initiative, there are multiple projects province wide.

There would need to be incentives for telehealth to be successful from the physician’s perspective as it takes some organization for appointments and connections with specialists.

One of the audience members who had a skype follow-up after his surgery was most pleased with not having to go to Vancouver again.

The way to help is to advocate with the Ministry of Health as to the needs for rural or remote areas to have equality of care. 

The AGM followed after some birthday cake and coffee to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the opening of the Wellness Centre at 518 Lake Street in Nelson.  It has been an extraordinary 10 years.

The highlights of the AGM were:

1.    Deb Zeeben speaking about how the credit union co-ops and health co-ops both came to be in the 1950’s and how we are connected across the world in the co-op movement.
2.  The Wellness centre is about hope, help, care and choice as we try to be a catalyst for integrated health care.
3. The determinants of health show that 25% is determined by wellness and 25% by community and social connectedness. As we continue to connect with our community through the Resource centre, involvement in low cost dental, seniors issues and affordable housing we are supporting wellness in the community.
4. Deb will be leaving the board as she has served her 6 consecutive years but she will continue in an advisory positon and as past chair for the next year.  Thanks for all you have done!
5. The various board members reported on the Resource Centre, Low cost Dental, Heath Fair, Social media and promotion, the Wellness Centre and new partners and our connections in the community.

Our new board will be:

Pegasus McGauley, Marion Hunter, Eric Ramsden, Erin Morrison all in continuing terms, Lynn Adams and Sharon Browning beginning new 3 year terms and two new board members, Lonnie Facchina and Lynn Goodison.

 

Lonnie

Lonnie Facchina is known for her work for the MS Society, the Nelson District Hospice Society and as the volunteer co-ordinator for the Resource Room. We look forward to her expertise on our Board.

Lynn

Lynn Goodison retired from nursing in 2008 and is currently employed with the Nelson and District Seniors Co-ordinating Society as the Home Help Co-ordinator. She brings to the table a medical perspective.

The next meeting will be the Statutory meeting on June 22, 2016 at 11:00 am and the board members will be chosen for executive and committee roles.

We are all looking forward to summer and some down time to replenish for the next year.

Eric and Marion

November 30th Board Update: #voteforTEETH, Resource Centre, Home Care Outreach

TEETH is in FIRST PLACE

We are so excited that after 2 weeks of voting. TEETH is in first place in the Pacific Blue Cross completion to win $50.000. We want to thank everyone who is voting and sharing the video so that we can continue to provide low cost dental in the Kootenay and Boundary area.  The final day for voting is December 6, 2015.

 Have you visited the Resource Centre at Community First Health Co-op at 518 Lake Street?  We now have 20 health related organizations that provide information kiosks or hold their meeting there.

OverEaters Anonymous meets on Wednesdays at Noon and T.O.P.S meets on Monday at 5:30 pm.

The Alzheimer Society hosts regular sessions on a variety of dates and the Breast Cancer Survivor group also meets in our Resource Room.

The Resource Centre is staffed from Monday to Friday 1-4 with volunteers.   Lonnie Facchina is our Volunteer Coordinator and if you would like to volunteer please contact her

Lonnie.facchina@mssociety.ca  or 250-505-3997

We were pleased to announce that the Seniors Co-ordinating Society has been awarded a Columbia Basin Trust donation to be able to hire a person to co-ordinate the Home Care outreach. This will go a long way to ensuring that Home Care continues to be provided in our community.

And do not forget to save April 16, 2016 for our Passport to Wellness 2 Health Fair.  

Thanks for stopping by... and don't forget to Vote for TEETH.


Marion, Erin and Eric