In This Issue:
• Project Health Update
• Quick Facts: Stress and the Holidays
• Resources
• Mark Your Calendars - Upcoming Events
Project Health Update
Welcome to the December edition of the Workplace Wellness e-bulletin. With the holidays fast approaching we felt it was timely to focus this edition on the topic of stress and the importance of trying to reduce stress especially during this busy holiday season.
We had an excellent turnout at our final Project Health pilot networking session Nov 16th, which focused on smoking cessation and what is available locally to assist your employees in quitting smoking. Thank you to all of you for being a part of our one year workplace pilot project and we look forward to your continued involvement as we begin to partner with Public Health in the expansion of our Project Health concept.
Mark your calendars - the launch of the Public Health workplace health initiative will be on Thursday April 12, 2007 in room 508 at the Region of Waterloo Public Health building, 99 Regina St, Waterloo. The exact time and details will follow early in the New Year.
In the meanwhile, don't forget to submit your applications for the one time opportunity for free individual consultation to assist you in creating and sustaining workplace wellness action plans in your organization. The deadline for submissions is Friday December 15, 2006. For more information contact Shelley Bolden, T4H Coordinator at 519-883-2008 x5299 or bshelley@region.waterloo.on.ca or Gretchen Sangster, T4H Workplace Workgroup Chair at 519-883-2008 x5292 or sgretch@region.waterloo.on.ca
Remember that between now and the April 2006 event, the list serve is available to you if you: require support, have questions or would like to share your ideas with other pilot workplaces. It's as easy as sending a message to: projecthealth@together4health.ca
Quick Facts: Stress and the Holidays
The holiday season can be a particularly stressful time in ones life, especially when balancing family and workplace commitments with shopping and entertaining. A simple way to ensure you maintain your physical and emotional health during this stressful season is to:
- Exercise regularly
- Get 6-8 hours of sleep per day
- Eat healthy food
- Decrease caffeine consumption
- Limit alcohol consumption
- Seek the company of friends who have positive attitudes
- Find the humour in a situation
The holidays will be what you make of them. Take control of your holidays and make them everything you want them to be.
Resources
Managing Holiday Stress
Holidays can be a particularly stressful time for everyone. There's the cleaning and decorating to do, the relatives and friends to invite, the menus to plan, the cookies and cakes to bake, the gifts to buy and wrap, the children to get dressed. Under these conditions who wouldn't feel stressed? This Canadian Health Network article has plenty of advice for this stressful time of year.
Busting Holiday Stress
The holidays are here! A delicious assortment of comfort foods, family gatherings and warming up by the hearth are the mainstays of the season. But there’s a flip side including waiting in long line-ups at the mall, risking your life by driving in bad weather and an inability to always meet the expectations of family and friends. Learn what you can do to Bust Stress this holiday season.
Home for the Holidays - Coping with the Festive Chaos
It's the most wonderful time of the year-that's what the song tells us, anyway. But for many-whether celebrating Christmas, Hanukah or Kwanzaa-'tis the season to be stressed. A mother-in-law moving in is the least of your worries; there's also a six-foot-long shopping list, a house to be cleaned, meals to be made, parties to be thrown and, oh yeah, kids to be entertained. Your to-do list has come to resemble an epic movie.
Holiday Stress? Learn ways to cope this season
The holiday season is filled with festivities and family gatherings but for some people, this season can also be very stressful. Here are some helpful tips on coping with stress during the holiday season from the Canadian Association of Mental Health.
Holiday Stress Blasters
The holidays are fun? This shouldn’t be a question, but for those trying to juggle work and home with presents, parties and perfection; it can be one of the most taxing times of the year. If you’re left feeling snowed under by the season, then clear some time out of your hectic holiday schedule to take in the tips below.
Surviving Holiday Stress
The winter holidays are upon us and typically they are filled with busy schedules, parties, shopping, and good food, but there can also be tension and stress. For many people, the holidays mean changes in work, exercise and dietary habits. These can lead to frustration and anxiety. Taking care of yourself becomes especially important during stressful times like the holidays. Try these tips from the Canadian Chiropractic Association to keep holiday stress under control and get the most out of the festive season.
Coping with Holiday Stress
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) suggests that some of the best ways to deal with added stress around the holiday season are common sense strategies.
Mark Your Calendars - Upcoming Events
International Day of Disabled Persons - December 3, 2006
National Non-Smoking Week - January 14 to 20, 2007
National Non-Smoking Week (NNSW) has been observed during the third week in January for more than 20 years. With a wide variety of activities and participants across the country, National Non-Smoking Week is one of the most important events in Canada's ongoing public education efforts on controlling tobacco-use. Weedless Wednesday is on January 17, 2007
Introduction to Health Promotion Planning Workshop - January 30 & 31, 2007 (Toronto, ON)
This workshop introduces participants to planning in the context of health promotion, including working with many stakeholders; addressing health in a broad context; and building upon community capacities. Other topics covered include developing situational assessments, goals and objectives conducive to evaluation; and selecting health promotion strategies and activities for programs. A logic model framework will be used to guide the planning process.
PARC conference - February 5-6, 2007
The Physical Activity Resource Centre Annual Conference - Building Momentum, takes place in February 2007 in Toronto. The PARC conference is planned by and designed for physical activity promoters from public health, community health centres, recreation leaders and others interested in physical activity promotion.
Eating Disorder Awareness Week - February 5 -11, 2007
Eating Disorder Awareness Week (EDAW) is an annual effort by groups across Canada and other countries to educate the public on the relationship between dieting, body dissatisfaction and eating disorders. The goal is to increase awareness of the factors causing individuals, particularly women, to develop anorexia, bulimia and weight preoccupation.
February is Heart Month
Every year the Heart and Stroke Foundation plans a variety of events and fundraising activities to raise awareness about Heart Health and the need for research.
National Nutrition Month – March 2007
The theme for 2007 is “Cook it up healthy!” which will help Canadians discover the pleasures and benefits of cooking.
For more information or to suggest topics you'd like addressed in future bulletins, please contact Gretchen Sangster of Together 4 Health's Workplace Wellness Work Group at (519) 883-2008 ext. 5292 or by email at ebulletin@together4health.ca.
Check the Together4Health website for more information.
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