PMH Programs to start your health journey

Welcome to a new year! A clean slate, full of hope for the year ahead. January is a time of resolutions – often focused on improvements in health. Too often, New Year’s resolutions are well-intentioned but set goals too high to be attained, are not action-specific, and lack insight into why an individual is seeking Change. Resolutions made without clearly defined steps and understanding of barriers to success lead to frustration and abandonment of the plan before seeing any success. Long-lasting change starts with discovering why changes have not yet been made. Goals are attained when solutions to barriers are considered before they arise, and an alternate plan is ready to implement. Finally, sharing your plan with others provides accountability and leads to greater success.

The Health Promotion team offers programs that provide information and techniques to guide participants on their health journey. By delivering virtual programs, the barriers of winter weather, road conditions, and transportation have been removed while offering contact with others during the winter months. Three programs that align well with health goals are Get Better Together, Craving Change, and Strive to Thrive.

Get Better Together is a session-based program (6 sessions over 6 weeks) suitable for people with a range of chronic health conditions. Program goals include improving personal skills as a self-manager of health concerns through goal setting, communication, problem-solving, healthy eating, physical activity, sleep, and medication use.

The focus of the Craving Change® program is to help individuals understand their relationship with food. The program takes a look at our eating environments as well as explores how emotions and learned behaviours influence the decisions we make around food. By understanding why it is hard to change how you eat and identifying personal triggers, participants can learn to respond differently and maintain changes in eating habits. The program is one weekly session for three weeks (two hours per session).

Are you thriving or just surviving? Through the Strive to Thrive program, participants will develop skills, knowledge and practices to thrive. The five-session program covers how physical and mental stress is related, thriving versus surviving, life transitions, resilience, and building connections.

If this is not the time to participate in a structured program, there are many free and accessible options that meet the goals of improving physical, mental, or financial health. Look for these programs and individualized programs on the Prairie Mountain Health website under the “Programs and Services” tab. Additionally, find a link to “Public Classes and Activities” on the home page. Find out more about loaner kits for Physical Literacy and geocaching to put the fun into movement for kids and families. This year, make your health a priority.

Reference: GBT-Pamphlet-ENG-2019-WEB.pdf (wellnessinstitute.ca)

Reference: I’m a Member of the Public – Craving Change®

Healthy Together Now – Grant Intake Deadline February 1, 2024

Healthy Together Now (HTN) is a community-led, regionally coordinated, government-supported initiative to help prevent chronic disease in Manitoba. Communities within Prairie Mountain Health can apply for funds to implement programs focusing on healthy eating, physical activity, mental well-being and tobacco prevention and reduction. Grants are awarded for up to $5000 per organization.

Quarterly Intake Deadline Dates: May 1, August 1, November 1 and February 1.

Steps to take to create a successful grant application:

Take time to read the funding guidelines. The approval committees prioritize grants that have strong partnerships, aim to support under-served populations (such as improving access) and have planning or input from the community and end user of the program
Engage community partners. Partners can play a small (advertising) or significant role in the project (financial contribution, venue, staff time).
Contact a Health Promotion staff member. They can assist you in developing your project idea (see contact information at the bottom of the article)

Note: Applications that may have been approved for one area may not be funded in another area. The approval committees consider several factors when approving grants.

To learn more, visit our Healthy Together Now page on the website.

Please enjoy learning about three successful projects from this past year!

Classes for pre & post-natal families in Swan River

Elbert Chartrand Friendship Centre in Swan River hosted a successful series of classes for pre and post-natal families using Healthy Together Now grant money. The Friendship Centre provided a healthy snack each week as parents learned from community partners who presented on Infant CPR, labour and delivery and Crisis Centre programs. Activities with literacy, Indigenous components, and hands-on cooking sessions promoted an interactive program. To continue learning at home, families received simple grocery items to create a snack or light meal with proteins, grains and various new and familiar fruits and vegetables. Emma-Leigh Rusk, a facilitator, reported that the program was able to sustain the number of participants through the program and was pleased that fathers were drawn to attend as well. Partnerships and weekly feedback from participants also led to the success of this program.

The Brandon Men’s Resource Centre received HTN funding to expand healthy recreational activities for men and help them balance their minds, bodies, and spirits through physical activity, traditional teachings, cooking classes, and cultural activities. My favourite activities were playing bocce ball, learning how to fish, fillet and cook pickerel and attending a Powwow. Participants learnt new skills and met other like-minded men in a safe and positive space.

Activities at Brandon Men’s Resource Centre

This past year, Neepawa and Area Settlement Services used HTN funding to provide cooking classes to new Canadians in the area. Participants learned healthy eating, meal planning and budgeting, and recipes using locally sourced and affordable ingredients while also learning English at the same time! Neepawa and Area Settlement Services partnered with the Neepawa Salvation Army Food Bank to ensure participants were aware of the services available and ensure recipes aligned with everyday food bank items.

For more information, please contact one of the following Health Promotion staff members:

Deb Wilson
PMH NORTH
Phone: 204-937-6277

Tara Smith
PMH SOUTH
Phone: 204-328-6215

Nikki Dean
PMH BRANDON
Phone: 204-578-2194

National Non-Smoking Week 2024 – Keeping Children and Youth Nicotine-Free

National Non-Smoking Week, including Weedless Wednesday, began over 40 years ago as a way to raise awareness about the risks of smoking and to encourage smokers to quit smoking. The collective efforts of many health agencies, non-profits and governments have seen substantial reductions in smoking rates from roughly 50% of Canadians smoking in 1965 to about 10-15% today[1].

Since the mid-2000s, the tobacco industry has been trying to harness a new group of customers to maintain and even grow their bottom line. Naturally, their target audience is children and youth to maximize their long-term purchasing potential. Cigarette smoking amongst 15-19-year-olds has declined from roughly 11% a decade ago to about 4% today; however, the overall nicotine use in this age group has stayed relatively stable, hovering around 15-17%[2]. The percentage of never-smokers using nicotine products has jumped from 9% in 2013 to 19% in 2023, with an obvious increase occurring the year after vaping was legalized and heavily marketed in Canada. This suggests that youth who were not likely ever to smoke have become addicted to nicotine via vapes and other nicotine delivery systems such as nicotine pouches (i.e., Zonnic). Most would agree that these candy-flavoured products are being marketed directly to children and youth under the guise of tools to help smokers quit.

Vaping is not harmless, and evidence of harm continues to mount against these products, especially for children, youth and other non-smokers. A 2019 article from Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada suggests that instead of comparing the harms of vapes to the harms of cigarettes, they should be considered “differently harmful.” There is good evidence to suggest that vaping causes harm to the lungs and cardiovascular system. Additionally, there is growing evidence that nicotine has negative effects on teen brain development. We must continue to work collectively to ensure youth are aware of these harms and fight back against Big Tobacco’s nasty tricks to market their harmful products to children and youth.

Staff in PMH continue to work on smoking and vaping prevention efforts with presentations in schools and the community, as well as working with staff in education to get the message out to youth. The target age of these prevention efforts is students in grades 5-8.

What can parents or others who work with youth do?

Familiarize yourself with the risks of vapes or other emerging nicotine products such as nicotine pouches. Health Canada Tip Sheet
Find the right moment and start the conversation.
Recognize how tobacco companies market these products to young people and point them out to youth.

For people wanting to quit vaping, check out these apps and websites

App: Stop Vaping Challenge
App: Crush the Crave – Vape Edition
App: Quash – Quit Vaping
Website: www.smokershelpline.ca / Call: 1-877-513-5333 / Text: iQuit to 123456
Website: https://teen.smokefree.gov/quit-vaping (US-based)

References:
1. https://uwaterloo.ca/tobacco-use-canada/adult-tobacco-use/smoking-canada/historical-trends-smoking-prevalence

2. https://smoke-free.ca/2023/CTNS-CTADS%20-%20Any%20Nicotine%20Use.pdf

3. https://smoke-free.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/health-effects-of-vaping-2019-11-11a-2.pdf

Race, Ethnicity & Indigenous Identity Data

Let’s achieve health equity together.

We are gathering information from patients to help us understand and close existing gaps in health care access, experience and outcomes.

Race
Ethnicity
Indigenous Identity

Earlier this year, Manitoba became the first Canadian Province to collect Race, Ethnicity and Indigenous identity data as part of the admission process at all hospitals and at CancerCare Manitoba’s BreastCheck Program.

These questions are voluntary and your participation will not impact your care. Your answers are protected under the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA). The data will further help identify gaps that exist and actions to address them.

Q: What are you using my information for?
A: This data helps us make sure we can respond to the specific needs of our community by identifying and addressing any gaps in the services we provide.

Q: Who can see my answers?
A: Your answers are protected like any other personal health information. Your information will stay in your Electronic Patient Records and be accessible to members of the health care team taking care of you. Your responses will not negatively impact your care. In the future, researchers may also want to use this information. In such cases, anything that would identify you as an individual will be removed.

Q: Who is being asked these questions?
A: We ask everyone the same questions to make sure our data accurately reflects the people we serve.

Q: Do I have to answer these questions?
A: These questions are voluntary. Your participation will not impact your care.

Q: What if I have concerns about the way I am being treated because of my race or ethnicity?
A: Every service delivery organization has a Client Relations or complaint process you can contact to report any concerns about the way you are being treated in health care. If you need support in deciding whether or not to report something, or help in navigating the process, you can reach out to someone you know or a community organization you trust.

Click here to read a letter from Dr. Marcia Anderson, Vice-dean Indigenous health, social justice and anti-racism Project Lead, on behalf of Shared Health.

To learn more visit sharedhealthmb.ca/rei

Virtual Information Session for Nursing Students

Are you a Manitoba nursing student in your final year of study?

Join us at one of our virtual nursing career information sessions coming up on Monday, Dec. 18!

This free information session will offer you:

Information on opportunities, supports, and incentives that may be available to you
Advice from recent nursing graduates about transitioning to the workforce
Guidance from health care recruiters and nursing leaders on applying for jobs and the opportunity to ask questions

Please note that we will be offering sessions at two time slots – one at 12 p.m. and one at 7 p.m. – via the GoTo Webinar platform.

Register Now!

December 2023 Donations for PMH

Parkland Rangers Hockey Fights Cancer Night another success

Members of the U18 AAA Parkland Rangers were on hand in three local communities December 14 to present proceeds from their ‘Hockey Fights Cancer Night’, which was held back on October 20 when the team played host to the U18 Brandon Wheat Kings. The annual recognition night raised a total of $4000 dollars, with a split of $1,338 presented to three Community Cancer Programs within the Prairie Mountain Health region. Cancer Care Units in Dauphin, Russell and Swan River were grateful to receive the contributions, which were primarily raised through game night donations, door prizes and a raffle draw.

Fuel Good Day – Birtle Gas Bar

Twin Valley Coop selected the Birtle Sunnyside Personal Care Home Activities Department as the recipient of their 2023 Fuel Good Day donations in September.

Accepting a donation of $700.00 is Kari Fouillard, Marketing & Community Relations Manager; Jenna Hohmann, Recreation Facilitator; Tracey Howe, Recreation Worker.

Grit Force Fitness Donates to Neepawa Chemo Unit

Grit Force Fitness donated $1000 to the Neepawa Chemo Unit from their Second Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser Workout. Kristi Friesen Cancer Care Nurse from Neepawa accepted the donation from Sheri Hockins, owner Of Grit Force.

Stuffy Donation for Pediatric Unit

Devan Bradley is a dedicated volunteer at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, he volunteers his time in the surgical suite and visiting long-term patients. Devon brings a smile to patients’ faces regularly and has now extended these smiles to the pediatric unit. Devan raised 800 dollars in donations through his YouTube channel @Headupthrottledown, he used these donations to purchase stuffed animals for the pediatric unit. Volunteer Services and Prairie Mountain Health would like to thank Devan for his efforts and generous donation.

Craving Change® in 2024?

As we prepare to flip calendars and ring in a new year, people may find themselves making new year’s resolutions for the year ahead. Often these resolutions centre around goals of improved personal fitness and nutrition and people find themselves making a promise to quit some of their usual habits, resolving to make improvements in these areas. If finding ways to improve your eating tops your list, Prairie Mountain Health wants you to know about the Craving Change® program and let you know how you can get involved.

Craving Change is a 3-session course that has been developed by a registered dietitian and clinical psychologist to help people understand their triggers for problematic eating, discover ways to control cravings, and to maintain healthy changes!

Sherrill-Lee Hyra, a Health Promotion Coordinator, with PMH is one of the facilitators who leads Craving Change® in the region. “We live in a society where outside factors greatly affect our eating. The Craving Change® program takes a look at our eating environments as well as explores how emotions and learned behaviours influence the decisions we make around food,” Hyra said. This is a necessary first step when working towards sustainable changes to our eating behaviour.

If you have ever struggled to maintain healthy eating habits and want to learn more about what your eating is all about , attending a Craving Change® class series might be for you. “The program is not about dieting. It is about understanding the many factors that influence our eating behaviours,” Hyra said. “Having other participants in the class to share and learn from is also helpful.”

Prairie Mountain Health is offering several courses throughout the new year. Starting the 3rd week of January, courses will be offered virtually using the MS Teams Platform. While space is limited there is still room for people to sign up. If you would like to register for a class this new year please call Prairie Mountain Health’s Healthy Living Toll free line at 1-877-509-7852 to learn about the course times and dates.

MONDAY AFTERNOONS
January 15, 22 & 29
1:30-3:30pm
Offered virtually by MS Teams

THURSDAY EVENINGS
January 18, 25 & February 1
6:30-8:30pm
Offered virtually by MS Teams

Find a printable poster here.

***Pictured:*** *Katrin Olarte, second from left, Jeffrey Olarte and 2-year-old daughter, Kristelle, with Chandel Bailey-Morrison (middle).* Shared Health representatives- Roselyn Garcia and Jhunell De Rivera

PMH Philippine Recruitment Update

Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) warmly welcomed four more new Filipino health-care workers, some with family members, who were recruited earlier as part of Manitoba’s Philippines Recruitment Initiative earlier this year. The new arrivals landed at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport on November 28. They were understandably tired but excited for the next steps in their journey. Here’s some additional background on Prairie Mountain Health region’s newest residents.

Jay-ar Felipe is an internationally educated nurse who will be working at Dauphin Regional Health Centre as an Undergraduate Nurse Employee – Internationally Educated Nurse until such time gap training is complete as full licensure as a Registered Nurse is obtained.

Ruth Navarro will be working as a health care aide at Rideau Personal Care Home, Brandon. Ruth is arriving with her husband, Joey, and 7-year-old boy, Ethan. Ruth, excitedly, will be reunited with her sister, who lives in Brandon.

**Pictured:** Lisa Merrill, Provincial Nursing Practice Lead, Kris Reynon (Michelle’s husband), Chandel Bailey-Morrison (DRHC Care Team Manager), Jay-ar Felipe, Michelle Reynon, a new recruit (unknown name for another health region, Ruth Navarro, Monika Warren, Chief Operating Officer for Provincial Health Services, Joey Navarro (Ruth’s husband) and Ethan Navarro (Ruth & Joey’s son).

Michelle Reynon will be employed as a health care aide at Swan River Lodge. Michelle is arriving with her husband, Dan.

Katrin Olarte will be employed as a health care aide at Westman Nursing Home in Virden. Katrin will be arriving with her husband, Jeffrey and 2-year-old daughter, Kristelle.

“We’re very pleased to welcome these recruits and their family members to Manitoba and our health care region!” stated Brian Schoonbaert, CEO of Prairie Mountain Health.”

“We know our staff, community partners and stakeholders will go that extra mile to make their arrival and settling process as smooth as possible!”

Larissa Kominko, PMH Recruitment Manager, says members of regional care teams volunteered their time to assist and welcome the new arrivals to PMH.

“Thank you to Chandel Bailey-Morrison, Amanda Watts, Vicky Ketch and Amanda Campbell, who are graciously helping with the arrival, settlement and orientation of the Philippines recruits to our province and the region. We depend and sincerely appreciate their willingness to help,” Kominko added.

**Pictured:** Jay-ar Felipe arrives at Winnipeg International Airport and is greeted by Chandel Bailey Morrison, Care Team Manager of Dauphin Regional Health Centre.

PMH is already working on its next arrivals, which will be welcomed to Minnedosa, Neepawa, and Russell throughout December and January.

*Felipe gets into the spirit of the unusually warm weather when arriving in Dauphin.*

Food, Family and Traditions

Food is part of celebrations across the globe. Regardless of culture or religion food is part of our cultural identity and has a way to strengthen bonds within our own families and our community , helping us to connect with one another.

To celebrate the diversity of our community, bring awareness to the importance of food celebrations and family traditions in our lives, we encourage you to take time this holiday season to enjoy a family meal together, involve family member’s in the preparation of a family meal and discuss why eating with others is important.

Here are some discussion questions you may want to explore over the winter holiday break with your child:

What are our family favourite foods?
What family mealtime or food traditions do we have to help celebrate special occasions? (Christmas? Birthdays? Weddings?)
What is the role of food in families and their traditions?
Is there a new meal time tradition that we could create in our family? If so what would it be?

The best part of any holiday is enjoying the opportunity to connect with family and friends. If you feel some of the holiday traditions need a refresh, re-imagine the holiday with a new tradition and enjoy!!

Here is a tasty recipe to try this holiday season!

Texas Caviar

Brine:
1/2c sugar
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1/2c oil
3/4c vinegar

Vegetables:
1 yellow pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 orange pepper, 1c celery, 1/4 of a 4oz jar of jalapenos (chopped)
1 can corn
1 can black beans
1 can chickpeas

Directions:

1) Make brine- add sugar, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, oil & vinegar in sauce pot; bring to a boil & cool
2) Finely chop vegetables & add these to the brine along with the 1 can corn, 1 can black beans & 1 can chick peas.
3) Stir all together & refrigerate overnight.

Serve with taco chips, over rice or place filling into a lettuce leaf and enjoy!

PMH CEO extends warm wishes for the holiday season

November 2024

It’s hard to believe we are less than a month away from the holiday season and the start of 2024! The mild weather has certainly masked the countdown to the holidays. This ‘El Nino’ climate effect has undoubtedly flipped the script weather-wise. Here’s hoping the nice weather continues and we still get a white Christmas!

Since announcing my intention to retire in April 2024, it’s given me pause to realize this will be my last festive season message to you as CEO of Prairie Mountain Health. I think back to a few years ago, around this time, when we were still deeply mired in the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it seems like a blur now, it was a difficult time for everyone. Each of us had to navigate through that intense and strenuous time, though we continue to feel its impacts to this day! Thankfully, we are not in such difficult pandemic circumstances right now, though we continue to experience COVID and respiratory outbreaks at several of our sites.

We have many facilities that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I greatly appreciate the staff that provides care over the holidays. Many times, our staff are the ones who are there to lend an extra hand and extra ear to those who are in our hospitals, personal care homes and the community and are not able to be with their families during the holidays.

Our tremendous staff continue to give of themselves and do what they do best ‘all year long’ — provide quality care to the people we serve. We really can’t say thank you enough! We know residents within our health region remain incredibly grateful for the dedication, commitment, and compassion you bring to work with you every day!

When considering visitation at our sites, if an ‘in-person’ visit isn’t possible, PMH encourages families to consider providing a personal device, such as a cell phone or iPad, to their family member that allows for a direct connection. You can also let health centre patients and personal care home residents know you are thinking of them by visiting the PMH website and filling out the “well wishes” information. By making this well wishes request, it will be delivered directly to the person on your behalf. A direct link can be found here.

For those who have lost loved ones or for those facing other stressors and challenges, the holiday season is an extremely difficult time of year. Prairie Mountain Health provides mental health services and support for those in need. We all have mental health, and we have to continue to make our well-being a priority. Remember, ‘that if you don’t make time for your wellness, you will be forced to take time for illness.’ To learn about the available resources and supports, please visit our website.

Here’s to a holiday season filled with love, happiness, fellowship and memories.

Decorating the tree, exchanging gifts, singing or listening to songs, celebrating traditions, watching heartwarming movies, enjoying a festive meal, playing games, volunteering —whichever ways you choose to celebrate or recognize this time of year —our wish is that you make it as enjoyable as it can be!

On behalf of the PMH Board, our Executive Management Team and our staff, we wish everyone a safe, healthy and happy holiday season and all the best in 2024.

Brian Schoonbaert, CEO
Prairie Mountain Health

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