GiveLifeAlberta
One organ donor can save up to eight lives and one tissue donor can dramatically improve up to 75 lives. April is National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Month – a time to honor those who have given the gift of life and to share your donation decision with those who need to know.
How to Act on Your Good Intentions
A deceased person can donate organs such as lungs, heart, kidneys and liver – and/ or tissues such as eyes, skin, bone and tendons. If you’re interested in leaving these gifts, please register your decision online at GiveLifeAlberta.ca or in person at a motor vehicle registry office. Donor cards don’t exist anymore; if you have signed the back of your Alberta Health card in the past, you are asked to join Alberta’s registry in one of the ways above.
Albertans are also encouraged to share their wishes with their loved ones. Generally, if someone is eligible to donate at the time of their death, the Give Life Alberta donation team will check the registry and inform their family about their donation decision. It will then be up to their family to decide if they’d like to proceed with donation or not. Many previous donor families have found that decision was easier if they knew what their loved one wanted.
Sharing Your Donation Decision
Donation discussions don’t need to be grim. The national award-winning Give Life Alberta public awareness campaign All the Ways portrays creative ways one could tell their family they’d like to be a donor; for example in the form of a cake, a card or even a t-shirt. Families could also spark the conversation by watching public awareness videos and real-life donor and transplant recipient stories on GiveLifeAlberta.ca
Constant Need for Organs and Tissues
While Alberta marked another record year in 2024 – with 317 deceased organ and tissue donors — there are more than 500 people waiting for life-saving transplants in our province. Last year, 33 people on the wait list died.
For contact information and to learn more about organ and tissue donation, visit https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/gf/Page18846.aspx
AHS wellness Article
April 2025 Seniors Initiative Lunch and Learn
Drumheller Legion Branch #22 invites all seniors and their caregivers to attend their Community Seniors Initiative
Lunch & Learn – Protecting Your Assets
Tuesday April 15, 2025
Lunch and Learns are open to all seniors as well as caregivers in the community, free lunch will be provided.
For more information please call 403-823-5611
Testicular Cancer Awareness Month
It’s Testicular Cancer Awareness Month – Every man should know there’s support.
The message is clear: Know. Thy Nuts. Get to know how your pair’s hanging. That way, any unusual changes, like a lump, swelling or pain, become more easily noticeable. If you do notice something different over time, book a doctor’s appointment to get it checked out.
How to check in 3 easy steps:
Know Thy Nuts | All you need to know about testicular cancer and checking your testicles https://ca.movember.com/men-s-health/testicular-cancer
Testicular cancer resource center & information: https://nutsandbolts.movember.com/
Movember – About Us – Testicular Cancer Projects & Work
Getting Your Gut On Track
Gut microbiome is the community of microbes (bacteria) that live in your colon that influences your health.
There are many foods that support a healthy gut microbiome which is linked to better overall mental and physical health.
– Whole plant foods should make up the majority of what you eat: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes and nuts that have undergone limited processing. A variety of whole plant foods has been shown to help improve feeling of fullness and can help your body to be more sensitive to the insulin.
– Protein foods to support gut health are plant-based protein foods and fatty fish. Examples of plant-based protein foods are kidney beans, chickpeas and lentils, nuts like walnuts or almonds and fatty fish like Arctic char, mackerel, herring, salmon, sardines and trout. Beans and nuts contain fibre, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals) which can help to increase the helpful gut microbes. Fatty fish has omega-3 fatty acids which help lower inflammation.
– Fermented dairy foods that have live bacteria (like kefir and yogurt) can increase the good bacteria in the gut microbiome.
– Low fat milk, yogurt, and kefir with little or no added sugar and lower milk fat, lower fat dairy (2% M.F. or less) is recommended over higher fat dairy foods like cheese because they are lower in saturated fat. Saturated fat is linked to inflammation
– Limit red meat: Small amounts of lean red meat can be included in a healthy eating pattern, as red meat has many nutrients including protein. It is recommended to be included in smaller amounts because it can contribute to inflammation.
– Avoid processed meat: Avoid or minimize them because the curing agents in processed meats contribute to cancer forming compounds when they are digested by gut microbes.
– Try a Mediterranean style of eating – it has been shown to help support a healthy gut microbiome. It includes lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, peas, lentils, fish, nuts, and olive oil. If you are looking for practical ways to eat in a way to support a healthy gut microbiome, visit ahs.ca/nutritionhandouts and search for Mediterranean Style of Eating.
AHS Wellness Article
To Enhance the Knowledge and Skills as a Caregiver
The Alberta Caregiver College is offering a free online course via Zoom: To Enhance the Knowledge and Skills as a Caregiver
Click here to register: https://forms.office.com/r/2s9tRr8QRH
Additional support resources from the Alberta Caregiver College can be found here: https://caregivercollege.ca/mod/page/view.php?id=105
Alberta Virtual Chronic Pain Program
The Alberta Virtual Chronic Pain Program is a virtual group education treatment program for adult Albertans experiencing persistent pain longer than 3 months.
This interactive program led by licensed health providers incorporates peer support and an opportunity to connect with others living with pain while learning more about your chronic pain and strategies to better manage it.
Call 1-877-719-7707 to learn more about the program. Self-referral is accepted.
For more information visit: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/find…/service.aspx…
Free – Online Workshop – Mealtime Struggles in School-Aged Children
Click the link to register: https://redcap.albertahealthservices.ca/surveys/…
Measles
Measles is an extremely contagious disease and is spread easily through the air by coughing, sneezing, yelling, singing, and breathing.
Symptoms of Measles include:
• Fever of 38.3° C or higher
• Cough, runny nose and/or red eyes
• A red blotchy rash that appears three to seven days after fever starts, beginning behind the ears and on the face and spreading down the body and then to the arms and legs.
Who is most at risk?
• You are at risk of being in contact with measles if you travel outside of Canada or to areas within Canada where measles is spreading.
• Measles tends to be more severe in babies and adults.
• If you have measles, you can spread the disease before you show any symptoms.
Measles can spread starting 4 days before the rash appears until 4 days after the rash appears.
If symptoms of measles do develop, individuals are advised to stay home and call Health Link at 811 before visiting any healthcare facility or provider, including a family physician clinic or pharmacy.
If you were born before 1970, there is a good chance you are immune to measles, as you were likely exposed to measles when it circulated widely before 1970.
Measles vaccine is highly effective at preventing infection and complications. People born in or since 1970 who have received fewer than two doses of measles-containing vaccine are susceptible to infection. Those who have received fewer than two doses of measles-containing vaccine AND are pregnant, under one year of age, are adults and/or have a weakened immune system are at most risk of complications from measles.
In Alberta, the measles vaccine is offered, free of charge, through Alberta’s publicly funded immunization program. Children in Alberta typically receive their first dose of measles vaccine at 12 months of age, and their second dose at 18 months of age.
However, anyone who is not up to date for their recommended vaccines can receive them by booking an appointment with your local public health office.
Sleep Hygiene Tips for Daylight Savings Sunday March 9th, 2025
Keep a consistent routine, you should be going to bed and waking up at approx. the same time.
Give yourself about 30 minutes to wind down from your day, do things that encourage relaxation like light stretching or reading.
Keep your lights low during your bedtime routine, the light we take in has a huge effect on our sleep and wake cycles.
Try not to look at your electronics right before bed, or just as you wake up.
If you are having trouble falling asleep, don’t stay in bed, after 20 minutes get up and do something else that is relaxing.
Make sure you get access to sunlight at some point in the day. If that’s hard to do, there are lamps specifically designed to trick your eyes into thinking they’ve received sunlight.
Regular exercise is proven to help you fall asleep at night.
While alcohol might make it easier to fall asleep it can disrupt our sleep later in the night. It’s best to reduce alcohol intake, and to avoid alcohol just before bed.
Caffeine is a stimulant, meaning it can keep us awake even when we want to start winding down, especially if taken in the later afternoon or evening.
Heavy meals late at night can mean you’re still digesting by bedtime. Keep any meals before bedtime as light as possible.
Working from your bed is a big no-no. The goal is to link being in bed with sleeping, so try to avoid doing other things in bed.
Make sure you have a pillow that suits your sleeping style, to ensure a pain-free sleeping experience.
Set the temperature to one that feels comfortable to you, but try to keep it on the cooler side, as we tend to sleep better in a cooler room.
Make sure that incoming light, like from streetlights, is blocked out by using heavy curtains or an eye mask.
Earplugs can be useful in preventing noise from waking you or you could try using a white-noise machine or a fan.
Can’t sleep because of racing thoughts? Try keeping a journal next to your bed to write down any worries that are preventing you from sleeping.
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://campusmentalhealth.ca/…/CICMH_RestandSleep…