January 1997

Women: Time to take care for yourselves!!

A Production of: Newfoundland and Labrador
Heart Health Program

Women and Heart Health
Information Session

Table of Contents

Developed by: Jill Squires

under the direction of

Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Women and Heart Health Committee

Eva Laing, Corinne Corning, Wendy Williams, Donna Best

The Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Program is sponsored by Department of Health, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and Health Canada

Acknowledgements

A sincere thank you is extended to the following individuals for participating in the pilot testing of this program.

and to

Carol Crummey for her technical assistance in the production of this resource.

About This Resource Package

This is a resource package specifically focusing on heart health in women. Until recently, most of the emphasis has focused on how men have been affected by heart disease and stroke.

This package considers how women are affected by heart disease and stroke and encourages them to take time to care for themselves. It offers prevention strategies that can be used in everyday living.

The materials and information contained in this manual are meant to be interactive and fun while providing valuable information necessary to improve heart health for women in Newfoundland and Labrador.

This package can be used by health professionals, educators and other community leaders to raise awareness around women's heart health. It has two components. The first component consists of guidelines for conducting an information session on Women and Heart Health. The goal of this session is to increase awareness of heart disease and stroke in women. This component also includes relevant materials such as a video, overhead cover pages to make transparencies and handouts as well as a poster to promote the session. Following this session, participants may wish to continue other sessions or activities using the resources from the second component of this package.

The second component is called Heart Healthy Living. This component is divided into four modules which provide detailed information, suggested activities and a resource list for the following topic areas:

• eating healthy
• being active
• being smoke free
• reducing stress

Facilitators using this component can choose the module they wish to use based on the interests of the women’s group in the area. In addition to the information contained in each module this component also includes a directory of resource people and organizations and a catalogue of heart health resources.