Safer Care for Older Adults

Canadian Patient Safety Week (CPSW) is an annual campaign held in October that provides the opportunity to share resources with the public to help improve patient safety and the quality of care provided in Manitoba.

It’s Safe to Ask

The ‘It’s Safe To Ask’ brochure, encourages you to ask and discuss 3 key questions to become an active participant in your care.

The Medication Card is an excellent way to keep track of medical history, allergies and a list of medications you take. Having the medication card with you during appointments or in an emergent situation will improve communication between health-care providers and yourself.

Are You Craving Change®?

Do you eat when you’re stressed? Do you eat when you’re bored? You are not alone. Many people from all walks of life struggle with their eating. A program called Craving Change® will be offered in Prairie Mountain Health this Fall to help improve people’s relationship with food.

Craving Change® is a registered program in Canada created by dietitian Wendy Shah and clinical psychologist Dr. Colleen Cannon. The program employs a practical, evidence-based approach, which allows people to reflect on the factors influencing their eating behaviours and provide an opportunity for individuals to increase their awareness of personal eating triggers and patterns.

Sherrill-Lee Hyra, a Health Promotion Coordinator, is one of the many facilitators who lead Craving Change® in Prairie Mountain Health. “Food is a big part of our daily lives; it does not simply fuel our body; food can be much more than that. Food is comfort and celebration, and food serves as the foundation of a huge part of our social lives. Here in North America, we live in a society where outside factors greatly affect our eating. The Craving Change® program explores all this and looks at our eating environments and how emotions and learned behaviours influence the decisions we make around food every day,” Hyra said.   

Craving Change® will help you be aware of WHY you eat the way you do, ways to comfort yourself without food, and help develop ways to overcome food cravings.

This free program is designed for people who struggle to maintain healthy eating habits and want to feel more in control of their eating. “This program is not about dieting. It’s about understanding and controlling the behaviours that can lead to overeating,” Hyra said. 

Craving Change® is suitable for adults 18 years of age and older. “Individual diet counselling and teaching are not part of the Craving Change® community classes. Anyone with medical conditions is welcome to attend, but for those who do not understand their individual diet needs, it is recommended to see a Registered Dietitian first. Please call the Healthy Living toll-free telephone number at 1-877-509-7852 to register for Craving Change® or request an appointment with a Dietitian.”

Visit our Public Classes & Activities page to see if there are any Craving Change classes currently being offered. For more information on class dates or to register for this course, contact Prairie Mountain Health, Healthy Living toll-free at 1-877-509-7852.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day

FASD Awareness Day is celebrated on September 9 every year. This is an opportunity to spread awareness of FASD, diagnosis, strategies, and prevention. 

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a diagnostic term used to describe the range of effects that may result when prenatal alcohol exposure occurs. These lifelong effects can include physical, behavioural, and emotional difficulties and learning disabilities. It is estimated that 4% of Canadians have FASD. 

In Manitoba, all assessments for FASD are done by the Manitoba FASD Centre in coordination with the Manitoba FASD Network. Prairie Mountain Health has two FASD Diagnostic Coordinators with the Network.

Today, we would like to share Bobby’s story and experience. Although Bobby is fictional, the experience is a realistic representation of many families that have a child referred to the FASD Centre.

Bobby is an eight-year-old female from the Prairie Mountain Health region who was referred to the FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) Centre for an assessment in 2020. Bobby’s mom was concerned about Bobby’s very active behaviour, poor memory and struggles at school.

Referrals to the Manitoba FASD Network are accepted from families/legal guardians, physicians/health providers, and community agencies.

Bobby’s mom met with the Prairie Mountain Health FASD Diagnostic Coordinator, who helped complete the intake paperwork and consent forms. The Coordinator contacted the school for their view on Bobby’s strengths and difficulties at school. The Coordinator spent time with Bobby’s mom, learning about how Bobby functioned at home, her development from birth to now, prenatal history, and what their family hoped to get from the assessment. All this information helped to determine the assessment plan for Bobby.

The team reviewed Bobby’s file at the Manitoba FASD Centre in Winnipeg. It was determined that the FASD Centre should assess Bobby and identify which assessments she would need.

Bobby needed assessments by a Psychologist, a Speech-Language Pathologist, and an Occupational Therapist. The FASD Centre and FASD Diagnostic Coordinator worked with Bobby’s mom to determine the best times and location to hold these assessments. Some families need to travel to Winnipeg or Dauphin; however, they were able to have appointments in Brandon for Bobby. There were lots of questionnaires to fill out, but the Coordinator helped. The Coordinator also took photos of Bobby to prepare for the assessment with the doctor.

After these assessments, Bobby and her mom met with the Developmental Pediatrician and Coordinator at a clinic. The doctor talked with Bobby’s mom about her current concerns, Bobby’s history, her feelings, school experiences, friends and daily activities. The doctor did a physical and developmental assessment with Bobby.

At this appointment, the Developmental Pediatrician determined that Bobby met the criteria for an FASD diagnosis. The Coordinator was there to support Bobby and her mom. A report containing all the information learned about how Bobby functioned, and strategies to try was mailed a few weeks later. Bobby’s mom, her school, and the Coordinator then met to discuss the assessments’ findings. At this meeting, they discussed Bobby’s strengths and areas of difficulty. They worked together to plan ways to support Bobby in the future.

If you have questions about FASD or know someone interested in having a child under the age of 18 assessed for FASD, please contact:

FASD Diagnostic Coordinators

‘Tis the season for field tomatoes!

Nothing compares to the flavour of the garden and field tomatoes that are available in western Canada in the summer and early fall. This is the time that gardeners are harvesting tomatoes by the box full. Canned tomatoes and tomatoes grown in greenhouses are available all year long. We tend to think of tomatoes as red, but they can come in different colours, including purple, orange, yellow, green, striped etc. They are a great source of antioxidants, including vitamin C and lycopene. Tomatoes are thought to have originated in the Andes Mountains in South America. They are now eaten all over the world.

Tomatoes are wonderful fresh or cooked. They can be eaten on their own or as part of a delicious recipe. They can be frozen, canned, or dehydrated. They are great made into sauce or salsa. The University of Saskatchewan recommends storing fresh tomatoes between 15-22˚C out of direct sunlight.

Only store in the fridge once the tomato is cut or chopped; storing at temperatures below 10˚C with cause chilling injury. Storing and Preserving Garden Tomatoes – Home & Family (homefamily.net)

• Three ways to freeze fresh raw tomatoes | UMN Extension
• National Center for Home Food Preservation | How Do I? Can Tomatoes (uga.edu)
• Recipes:
  • Baked Tomatoes with Cheese (foodhero.org)
  • Terrific tuna and tomato salad – Canada’s Food Guide
  • Shakshuka | Girl Guide Adventures (wordpress.com)

Manitoba Health launches pilot project for retinal specialists in Dauphin

Manitoba Health Minister Audrey Gordon made a stop in Dauphin July 27 to announce details of a Retinal Specialist pilot project, in partnership with Ashcroft Vision Care.

The new program will be especially beneficial to patients who must travel to Winnipeg once a month for injections and currently face barriers due to a lack of access to care close to home including limited transportation options and additional expenses.

Also participating in the announcement were Ashcroft Vision Care optometrist Dr. Kara Vanderheyden and Dauphin MLA Brad Michaleski.

Read the full news release here.

Province invests in CT Scanner for Swan Valley Health Centre in Swan River

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson joined Health Minister Audrey Gordon and Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schoonbaert on July 28 to announce the plan to install a CT Scanner within Swan Valley Health Centre in Swan River.

The province is committing $2 million to the initiative and the surrounding communities are contributing $1-million.

Schoonbaert indicated the next step in the process will be hiring a consultant to see where the CT Scanner can be located within the hospital.

Read the full press release here.

Mindful Eating

Although we strive to make healthy choices by eating mindfully, things are not black and white. We may choose to eat because we are feeling happy or sad and may even eat past when our bodies are feeling full. That is okay! There is no such thing as a perfect relationship with food. By being mindful we can notice how we feel after engaging in certain behaviours or eating certain foods (remember to experience and notice without judgement) and make choices for our future snacks and meals that make us feel our best.

Focusing on smell, taste, and texture of food can help you discover what you like and what you appreciate about certain foods.  This may help connect you to your eating experience and be more conscious of the food you are eating.  Try using your senses by following along with this video.

Mindful eating can help you discover what foods make you feel your best and you enjoy the most. This in turn can help you make food choices that are right for you. For more tips and benefits of mindful eating check out this blog post from Dalhousie University.

Interested in helping your children eat mindfully?  We are all born able to eat mindfully. We can make it easier with the right environment for us and children/youth. Try the A-B-C approach: A: Accept, B: Bond, C: Close the kitchen.  Discover the details on how to raise children with a healthy relationship with food, and how to raise mindful eaters.

Find more information on mindful eating visit: Be mindful of your eating habits – Canada’s Food Guide or The Center for Mindful Eating – Home.