Community News
Considering a Pet Sitter?

If you’re a pet owner who travels, arranging for care for your pets while you’re away can feel like an overwhelming decision. It’s important to look for caregivers who will not only provide for basic needs like food and water, but also companionship, reassurance, and playtime while you’re away. If you can find someone to come to your home, your pet gets to stay in his familiar surroundings, which is less stressful than taking him to a new location! When finding a pet sitter, it’s also important that you’re both on the same page about what’s expected and the fees involved for things like the number and length of visits per day, grooming and walking, accident cleanup, and taking the pet to a vet in case of emergency. You and your pet should feel comfortable about the care arrangements, so you (and your pet) can enjoy your vacation without worry!

Lisa Tustin, Professional Pet Services

Clean Eating: Grilled Corn and Avocado Succotash

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. vegetable oil
S&P
2 tbsp. lime juice
4 ears corn
½ pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 bell pepper
¼ inch diced
½ red onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, chopped into ½ inch cubes
¼ c. fresh basil leaves

Directions:

While steaks are cooking, shuck corn, toss in vegetable oil and let cook on other side of grill. Once you have nice grill marks on corn, take off and slice kernels off with sharp knife. Mix with rest of ingredients, and serve.

Prairie Box, PrairieBox.com

Journaling Relieves Caregiver Anxiety

If you’re a caregiver for a senior loved one, have you considered journaling as a way to relieve caregiver anxiety? Experts recommend journaling as a way to sort out your feelings and count your blessings when life gets crazy. In fact, regular journaling may even improve your health. Writing down your worries may strengthen your immune cells, giving you a better chance of fighting off infections and staying healthy. Journaling may help you fulfill your most important roles with a positive outlook and plenty of energy. It helps to: 1. Reduce the intensity of stress and anger by writing these feelings down. 2. Solve problems through creativity and intuition. 3. Recognize productive (and unproductive) patterns in your life. 4. Track your progress and growth for increased confidence. 5. Sort out your feelings. Journaling gives you a “safe space” to share your thoughts and feelings without worrying about being judged or feeling guilty.

Alevtina (Alia) Tuhari, Reliable Home Care Agency, ReliableHomeCare.ca

Caregiver Pharmacy Support

It can be difficult to be a caregiver and manage multiple or complex medications for a loved one. It is important to ensure medications are taken appropriately to help maintain good health. A visiting pharmacist provides personal support with regular medication delivery and home consultations. The pharmacist reviews a client’s prescription drugs and over the counter medications to advise if there are any drug interactions, and makes adjustments as necessary. This level of support can reduce emergency room visits and hospital stays, and results in strong, trusting relationships between clients, caregivers, and pharmacists. The visiting pharmacist also provides seamless care for hospital discharge patients and works closely with other health professionals to deliver a high level of care to the client. Care is tailored to specific individual needs such as assisting with blood pressure readings, adding medications as needed to adherence packaging, and making changes in an efficient manner.

Teresa Giesbrecht
CareAtHomePharmacy.ca

Tune-Up Your Brain!

Your brain is the engine that drives you – so it’s important to keep it well-tuned. Fat – or lipid – consumption is essential for the healthy growth, development, and function of your brain. In fact, 60% of your brain’s dry weight is fat. Several types of plant and animal fats are used for brain-building material, though one lipid reigns supreme: omega-3 fatty acids derived from salmon, sardines, krill oil, and plant-based Ahiflower oil. There are many benefits of omega-3: it increases cognitive functioning and decreases symptoms of depression, anxiety and aggression. It is also shown to be a protective factor against cognitive decline and dementia in older adults; and it is an essential component of a healthy diet for pregnant women, leading to better health outcomes in newborns. Consider adding omega-3s to your diet as an evidence-based way to tune-up your brain for optimal mental health.

Sean Miller, CMHA Manitoba and Winnipeg

mbwpg.cmha.ca

Book Club: Why Can’t I get Better?

Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease by Dr. Richard Horowitz. Looks at pain, fatigue, memory and concentration problems, sleep disorders, and much more. Lyme disease and its related conditions are incredibly complicated. You can take the questionnaire yourself, and start doing your own detective work with this book as your guide.

LymeDisease.org

Ginseng for Weight Loss

Ginseng does many things to help human health, but many people do not realize that ginseng is good for weight loss. It gives an energy boost and can help fight fatigue. Because of this, it allows for you to be more active. One of the big things that it does in the weight loss battle is by regulating blood sugar. It does this by reducing the amount of carbohydrate that is converted into fat. Also, it is important to point out that ginseng alone will not help lose weight if you engage in poor dietary choices. It is vital that a well-balanced diet is followed and that you are active. Otherwise, like the old English proverb says, “Don’t dig your grave with your own knife and fork.”

Brett Griffin
Weightlosscoffeehub.com 

Mental Health Resources 

Did you know that the Canadian Mental Health Association has information online regarding different mental health issues? As well, your local Canadian Mental Health Association branch can answer any questions you may have and provide services to the public. Workshops and courses are another great way to learn about these issues. The Canadian Mental Health Association along with other organizations in your community offer this service. Research what organizations are around you and call them to find out times, dates and whether courses are available for free at a cost. Visit your local library to take advantage of free resources or head to a bookstore or shop online to purchase.

Canadian Mental Health Association
cmha.ca

Embracing Change

The time has come for you to change your environment, leave your beloved home, or downsize. It may all seem a bit daunting, too much to deal with at once, when your heart and mind are trying to come to terms with everything this change will bring into your life. Some of us deal with change better than others do, yet we are all affected by it one way or another. To make the most of it, we need to find a balance between maintaining a healthy sense of control and embracing the new. Get curious and interested in what your new situation may have to offer you. Allowing yourself enough time to prepare and do everything you need to do in a stress-free manner, while envisioning the positive possibilities of what change may bring into your life, is key to making the process enjoyable.

Emmanuelle Stathopoulos
InnerDreamToOuterForm.com

Feeling Connections in Relationships

How do you recover from conflict? When we are stressed in a relationship, that stress can leak out in unhelpful ways. Maybe it shows up as scorn for our partner. Or maybe we put up a wall and withdraw so as not to deal with a concern. We can also get defensive, or maybe start making critical personal comments. Most relationships will have a bit of disconnection in the bad moments, but happier relationships know how to repair the damage done. You can learn more effective ways to deal with your differences and act in more helpful ways and good communication can help you work out different layers of meaning. Counselling can help you in places where you’re stuck, maximize good times together, and build the core friendship of your relationship. When your connection feels solid and calm, everyone feels better.

Mary Munro
MaryMunro.ca

Financial Fitness

Have you ever heard of Einstein’s Rule of 72? Let’s say you have a credit card debt of $5,000. If you divide the interest rate on your loan into 72, the result will be the length of time it takes for the loan to double (paying only minimum monthly payments). If the rate is 24%, your loan would double in 3 years to $10,000, and in another 3 years, the debt would be $20,000. Often, people feel like they are paying and paying and getting nowhere, and it will feel like that if one is only paying the minimum monthly payment. Purchasing furniture at $2,000 with a deferred payment is costly if you do not pay within the deadline amount. You would then be paying interest on the original amount – at 28% interest and a minimum payment of $70, it will take 4 years and interest would be $1,415.

Doris Minervini, Abakhan & Associates Inc.
Abakhan.com