Circle your answer and calculate your points at the end to determine your level of risk.

51 and over..............5

35-50.......................2

34 and under...........0

At what age did a parent or sibling have a heart attack or stroke or heart surgery?

At or before age 65................5

At or after age 56....................3

None or don’t know................0

Have you had any of the following?

A heart attack................................20

angina, heart surgery, stroke..........10

none of the above............................0

For current smokers:

How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?

Five or more.............20

Four or less...............10

If you smoke, currently take the birth control pill and are

under age 35............2

age 35 and over.......5

For previous smokers who quit less than 2 years ago: How many cigarettes did you smoke per day?

Five or more........10

Four or less...........5

If you never smoked or quit more than 2 years ago.....0

What is your blood pressure ?

High (systolic or diastolic or both readings above 160/95)........6

Borderline (between 140/90 and 160/95)...................................3

Normal (below 140/90) or don’t know.......................................0

For women who have undergone normal menopause: What was your age at start?

41 or older................1

40 or younger...........2

For women who have had a total hysterectomy: What was your age that it was done?

41 or older.............1

40 or younger........3

If you take oral estrogen supplement....... subtract 2

If you are still menstruating..................... subtract 1

How often do you engage in aerobic activity such as brisk walking, jogging bicycling or swimming for more than 20 minutes?

Less than once a week..............6

one or two times a week...........3

three or more times a week......0

If you have had your cholesterol and blood fat levels checked in the last year was it:

6.2 mmol/L or greater.......6

5.2 to 6.2mmol/L..............3

under 5.2 mmol/L.............0

If you have diabetes, what was your age when you found out?

40 or younger................6

41 or older.....................4

Don’t have diabetes......0

Calculate your body mass index (BMI)

If your BMI is 27 or more........2

If your BMI is below 27...........0

Now measure your waist to hip ratio

Example: Suppose your waist is 26 and your hips are 36: 26/36= 0.7

If your waist to hip ratio is 0.8 or greater.......1

If your ratio is 0.79 or less.............................0

Are you easily angered or frustrated?

Most of the time.........6

some of the time.........3

rarely..........................0

15 points or less: low risk

16-32 points: medium risk

33 point or higher: high risk

Heart Healthy Living is the second component of the resource package on Women and Heart Health. It is comprised of resource materials that provide more detailed information on the following topics: eating healthy, being active, being smoke-free, and reducing stress.

This component is intended to be used by facilitators/community leaders to obtain additional information and resources on these four topics. Suggested group activities and lists of resource materials and people are included in this component.

Eating Healthy Being Active

Being Smoke Free Reducing Stress

The importance of eating healthy is being recognized as a way to promote health. Healthy eating contributes to an overall sense of well-being and helps people to look, feel, and perform better.

It is more important to maintain a healthy weight and eat healthy than to focus on becoming thin and trying different diets. Diets don’t work ! (Refer to booklet Healthy Eating Active Living- Diets Don’t Work)

Diets that are high in fat are associated with higher incidence of heart disease and certain types of cancer. Higher fat foods can occasionally be a part of a healthy eating pattern when used in moderation.

Women often determine what foods are eaten and how these foods are prepared in the family. So, it is important for women to have a good understanding of what it means to eat healthy.

Heart healthy eating is based on Canada’s Guidelines for Healthy Eating. Healthy people over the age of two years should follow these guidelines for overall good health, healthy weight, and to reduce their risk for health problems such as cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. Following these guidelines may help lower blood cholesterol.

1. Enjoy a variety of foods.
2. Emphasize cereals, breads, other grain products, vegetables and fruits.
3. Choose lower-fat dairy products, leaner meats, and foods prepared with little or no fat.
4. Achieve and maintain a healthy body weight by enjoying regular physical activity and healthy eating.
5. Limit salt, alcohol and caffeine.

1. Use Canada’s Guidelines for Healthy Eating as a guide.
2. Eat smaller amounts of fish, poultry, and meat. Choose the leanest cuts.
3. Prepare and cook food using as little added fat as possible. Boil, bake, broil, steam, poach or microwave instead of frying.
4. When eating out, choose menu items that are lower in fat and sodium and higher in fibre.
5. Eat less of fatty luncheon meats, wieners, bacon and sausages.
6. Choose desserts of fruit or low-fat frozen yogurt, instead of rich desserts like ice-cream and pastry.
7. Read labels on foods carefully.

Canadians currently get about 38% of their calories from dietary fat.

According to nutrition recommendations, we would be healthier if we could reduce fat intake to no more than 30% of our total calories.

A diet with 30% of calories coming from fat is difficult for some women to picture. If the fat in the diet is measured in grams, it is often easier for people to relate to and really understand how much fat they are eating.

Looking at nutrition labels on some packages in your cupboard.

Fat is usually listed in grams. Healthy fat intake for women in grams is 63. Currently, most Canadian women are consuming 80 grams everyday. For men, daily fat intake in grams is 90. Currently, men consume an average of 114 grams everyday.

Paying attention to grams of fat on labels can help to keep fat intake at a moderate level.

The biggest source of confusion about cholesterol is that people do not distinguish between blood cholesterol and food cholesterol.

Total blood cholesterol that is greater than 5.2 mmol is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke. Although women cannot do anything about a family history of high blood cholesterol levels, good eating habits, regular exercise, and stress reduction can help to decrease your blood cholesterol. Smoking, high fat intake, excessive alcohol intake, and being overweight can increase your blood cholesterol level.

Food cholesterol is found in foods of animal origin such as eggs, meat, fish poultry and milk. Plant foods do not naturally contain cholesterol. When labels on foods such as cereals say "cholesterol free" they are just stating the obvious.

It is often wrongly believed that food cholesterol is mainly to blame for high blood cholesterol. For most women and men, the cholesterol in food has only a small effect on blood cholesterol.

Fat raises blood cholesterol, especially saturated fat. The key to prevent and reduce the risk of high blood cholesterol is to reduce fat intake and increase fibre intake.

Women with elevated blood cholesterol should get medical attention and should see a dietitian. Women with healthy blood cholesterol should follow Canada’s Guidelines for Healthy Eating. Most people can keep their blood cholesterol within normal range if they follow a diet that is high in dietary fibre and get no more than 30% of calories from fat (63 grams of fat per day).

There is no one ideal weight for a person of a certain height. A person’s weight should fall within a healthy weight range. If a person knows their weight and height their Body Mass Index (BMI) can be calculated (see the chart at the end of this module).

The waist-hip ratio can also be used. This determines how a person carries their weight. (See Waist-Hip Ratio flyer at the end of this module). Extra fat carried around the middle is a greater health risk than fat on the hips or thighs. Healthy eating and regular exercise may result in a loss of body fat, increase in body muscle and trimmer figure.

Listed below are activities that can be used with women’s groups in your area. Details for the game are provided at the end of the module. Please consult your Community Health Nutritionist for more information and assistance with your activities (see Resource Directory at the end of the modules).

Play Quick Pick Game.

Have a Heart Healthy Pot Luck Supper.

Organize a Heart Healthy Family Picnic.

Invite a nutritionist or dietician to speak to your group.

Start a Community Kitchen.

Have a Heart Healthy Recipe Exchange.

Approach your Town Council to get a Community Garden started.

Have Heart Healthy foods for snacks during your group meetings.

Lobby restaurant in your community to become Heart Smart Restaurants.

Resource Materials

The Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Project Catalogue of Resources is found at the end of this package. The section in the catalogue on Nutrition Resources provides information on: presentations, videos, heart healthy shopping, grocery store tours and community kitchens. Many of these resources are available from your local Community Health Office.

Some of the booklets available from Community Health include:

Healthy Heart Cooking

Healthy Heart Eating

Healthy Heart Shopping

Healthy Eating- Active Living Diets Don’t Work

Canada’s Guidelines for Healthy Eating

Canada’s Food Guide (tear sheet)

Additional resources are available from the Healthy Eating Module in the NLHHP Community Television Programming Kit, which is available through your local Community Health Office.

Resources available upon request from the Canadian Cancer Society include:

Eating Out (2 sided flyer)

Smart Cooking (cookbook)

Healthy Food Choices Check-up (sheet)

Fibre Scoreboard (a hand-out)

Healthy Food Choices (a video)

Healthy Eating: Reducing Your Risk of Cancer

Resources available upon request from the Heart and Stroke Foundation include:

Heart Smart Good Food Choices (refrigerator poster)

Nutrition Facts: Eating Out (sheet)

Nutrition Facts: Labelling (sheet)

Nutrition Facts: Cholesterol (sheet)

Nutrition Facts: Fat (sheet)

Healthy Habits, Healthy Weights (pamphlet)

Quick Pick Game

Time 15 - 40 minutes

Resources Needed

1. Master copy of Quick Pick Card.

2. Overhead or poster of Quick Pick Card, made from master.

3. Overhead marker (or regular marker).

4. Overhead projector, if using overhead or flipchart stand to hold poster.

5. Box of plastic food plus empty food packages as per enclosed list.

Literature

1. Using the Food Guide and Using Food Labels (booklets available from Community Health offices.

To Conduct Game

1. Put the plastic food and empty packages into a large bag or box.

2. Display the overhead or poster of Quick Pick Card..

3. Explain to group that Quick Pick is like BINGO. The group wins by filling in a straight line (up, down, diagonal) or four corners, four around the centre, etc.

4. Have one member of the group choose a food from the bag.

5. The entire group decides which block describes that food. The leader or helper writes the name of the food into the selected block.

6. The leader can incorporate the healthy eating message by describing the food group to which a food belongs’ its positive or negative health effects (such as amount of fat in food), how to read the label as in the cereal or "no cholesterol" foods; the concept of variety and moderation in choosing foods.

7. Game continues until group has completed a line or the 4 corners. This can happen quickly or may take a long time. If you play the game a second time, challenge the group to find a different block to describe any foods used in previous game (if possible).

Discussion Points

The game should bring out Canada’s Guidelines for Healthy Eating which are to: eat a variety of foods; eat more higher fibre foods; choose lower fat foods more often and use less fat; limit salt, alcohol and caffeine. Healthy eating and regular activity are important for achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight.

Milk and milk products are the major source of calcium. No other foods provide as much calcium in one serving.

It is the total amount of fat we eat more so than cholesterol that is important for health - the goal is to eat less fat. Foods that are "no cholesterol" may still be high in fat. Cholesterol comes from animal foods. Thus, a food that is cooked in vegetable oil (a plant food) is "no cholesterol" but is still high in fat. A good example is potato chips.

To read food labels, 4g fat = 1 teaspoon. Check the size of the serving for which the amount of fat is listed.

Growing children can eat nutritious, higher fat foods such as cheese, peanuts, peanut butter because they are still growing. As they approach the teen years, the goal is to work towards a lower fat way of eating as recommended for adults.

Fibre is found in plant foods which are fruit, vegetables, dried beans, peas and nuts.

List of Foods for Quick Pick Game

Milk
Chocolate Milk
Cheese
Yogurt
Canned Pudding
Corn/Rice Cakes
Bread
Pasta
Crackers
Cereal
Peanuts
Peanut Butter
Egg
Bologna
Orange
Juice Box
Chocolate Bar
Potato Chips (no cholesterol)
Frozen Dinners- one with less than 10 g fat and one with more, is possible.

Quick Pick Card

 

 

Good Source of Calcium	Label Says "No Cholesterol"	Comes in Single Serving	Quick Pick From the Grain Products
Gives us Iron	Good for Fibre	A Way to "Eat Milk"	Ready to Eat
High in Salt	Quick Pick From Your Grocery Cart	Gives Us Protein	Good Filling For a Sandwich
A Way to "Drink" Fruit	Has Food From Two or More Food Groups	Can Be Prepared in Microwave	High in Fat

Answer Key For

Quick Pick

Good Source of Calcium   - milk - chocolate milk - pudding - yogurt - cheese	Label Says "No Cholesterol"   - potato chips - crackers	Comes in Single Serving   - white or chocolate milk - yogurt - fruit - pudding - peanuts	Quick Pick From the Grain Products   - corn/rice cakes - bread - crackers - pasta
Gives us Iron   - peanuts - egg - cereal	Good for Fibre   - whole wheat bread - cereal (more than 2 g fibre) - peanuts - fruit	A Way to "Eat Milk"   - yogurt - cheese - pudding	Ready to Eat   - milk - cheese - yogurt - fruit - cereal - corn/rice cakes
High in Salt   - potato chips - bologna	Quick Pick From Your Grocery Cart   - milk, cheese, yogurt, pudding - corn/rice cakes - crackers - peanuts - fruit	Gives Us Protein   - milk, cheese, yogurt, pudding - peanuts - peanut butter - egg	Good Filling For a Sandwich   - peanut butter - egg
A Way to "Drink" Fruit     - fruit juice	Has Food From Two or More Food Groups   - sandwich - frozen dinner - pizza	Can Be Prepared in Microwave   - frozen dinner - eggs	High in Fat   - potato chips - bologna - peanuts - peanut butter - chocolate bar

 

Module II

Being Active

Over 30% of females aged 15 and over are inactive, compared to only 23% in males.

Being active increases your sense of well-being and gives you more energy to complete the activities of daily living. Regular physical activity increases the number of calories you expend and helps you to feel good about your body. When combined with healthy eating, physical activity will help you maintain a healthy weight and a positive body image.

Active living is not just for adults, or for people at risk for heart disease. Active living begins when you are young. Healthy habits, started early will last a lifetime. Women can set a good example for other family members and influence their close friends.

Here are some common reasons that women have for not being active:

"If I had someone to go with it would be easier"

"We have other people to look after, not just ourselves"

"Even swimming is expensive. You pay money every time you go for a swim."

"I feel guilty getting a babysitter to go for a walk...it don’t seem right"

(Nova Scotia Heart Health Program)

Often commitments and responsibilities in a women’s life do not allow the time or opportunity to follow a regular exercise routine. Staying active is an important part of a heart healthy lifestyle. It is important for a women to find an activity that she enjoys doing and is affordable, since this is an activity that she will continue to do.

Active living includes many ordinary daily activities:

Housework Running

Gardening Bowling

Walking to work or school Dancing

Playing with the children Swimming

Going trouting Cycling

Benefits of Walking

Walking decreases the risk of developing heart disease and stroke.

Walking refreshes the mind, reduces fatigue and increases energy.

More than half of the body’s muscles are designed for walking: it is a natural movement that is virtually injury free.

Walking provides an enjoyable time for sharing and socializing with family and friends.

Regular brisk walking can reduce elevated blood fats or blood pressure and improve digestion and elimination.

Walking strengthens bones and helps prevent or control osteoporosis (a condition where bones become brittle and fragile).

Walking relieves stress and tension.

Regular walking increases the number of calories you expend and helps you to feel good about your body. When combined with healthy eating, walking will help you maintain a healthy weight and a positive body image.

Brisk walking is an aerobic activity. It increases the body’s demand for oxygen and trains your heart, lungs and muscles to work more efficiently.

 

 

Cold Weather Walking

Warm-up indoors before you head outdoors (for example, walk up and down stairs).

If the wind is blowing, walk against it to start. At the end walk with the wind in your back - you will exert less energy.

Wear mittens, not finger gloves.

Have a bowl of warm cereal before heading out.

Layer your clothes.

Wear a cream to protect your skin from the cold weather and wind; in very cold weather, cover vulnerable spots (for example: nose, ears, neck).

Suggested Group Activities

Here are some things women’s groups can do to encourage active living in their community:

Start a walking club.

Encourage physical activities for fundraising.

Start a line dancing group.

Teach your children games you played as a child.

Organize an activity for Canada’s Fitweek.

Participate in the Heart and Stroke Mother\Daughter Walk.

Suggest "stretch" breaks instead of coffee breaks at the office.

Start aerobic classes.

Contact the Regional Recreation Consultant in your area for information and assistance in starting activities (see Resource Directory in this package).

Resource Materials

The Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Project Catalogue of Resources is contained in this package. The section in the catalogue on Active Living Resources provides information on activities such as workshops/seminars, fitness leadership courses, starting a walking club as well as printed materials and audiovisual resources.

Additional resources are available from the Active Living Module in the Community Television Programming Kit which is available through your local Community Health Office.

The following booklets, pamphlets, and posters are also available from your local Community Health Office.

Walking: The Activity of a Lifetime (booklet)

Organizing an Indoor Walking Program (pamphlet)

Active Living in Newfoundland and Labrador (pamphlet)

Personal Walking Diary (booklet)

Organizing a Walking Program (sheet)

Active Living: Go for Green - Get Involved ! Get it Going ! (pamphlet)

 

Module III

Being Smoke Free

Why Do Women Smoke?

Women smoke for many reasons

Smoking provides breaks from child caring and housekeeping.

Women fear that they will gain weight if they quit.

Many women believe that smoking relaxes them and helps to reduce stress. That is because they are hooked on nicotine and just getting a "fix" feels good.

There are influences from family, friends who smoke.

The media and tobacco companies make smoking look glamorous. They make smokers look slim, sexy and in control.

Smoking is addictive.

Loneliness, stress and poverty that often result from being a single parent may affect smoking.

Smoking may be used as a way to keep the lid on feelings of anger and frustration about women’s unequal status in society.

How Many Women Smoke?

About 30% of Canadian women smoke.

Unemployed women have higher smoking rates compared to working women.

Teenage girls smoke more than teenage boys and quit less often.

How Does Smoking Affect Women?

Every 35 minutes a Canadian women dies as a result of smoking.

Women smokers experience decreased fertility, and if pregnant, a higher risk of miscarriage.

Women smokers who use contraceptive pills are 10 to 20 times more likely to suffer from heart disease. Death by stroke is five times higher in women who smoke.

Cigarette smoking has recently been associated with cancer of the cervix, a disease likely to strike younger women.

Smoking causes reduced estrogen levels in women, thereby contributing to menstrual disorders, early menopause and osteoporosis.

Women and men who smoke greatly influence their children to begin smoking.

How Can Women Be Helped To Be Smoke-free?

By being supportive.

Women who smoke often know the risks and benefits of smoking but are unable to quit for many reasons. Most women are addicted to smoking and have probably attempted to quit on several occasions. The average smoker tries nine times before success. Women have always been good at supporting each other. Women can use these nurturing skills to help their female friends and relatives stop smoking because it is a hard addiction to break.

By Sharing information on the risks of smoking.

It is important, however, not to hound those women who smoke, they need sympathy, treatment and support.

By building up self-esteem and assertiveness.

With the help of other women this may be a path to being a non-smoker.

By sharing experiences.

Most women stop on their own, but other ways to help in the process include:

finding a support group

using a non-smoking friend

taking one day at a time

finding out programs that are available in your local area.

Suggested Group Activity

Here are some things women’s groups can do to help make their community smoke-free.

Implement a no smoking policy in the group’s gatherings.

Lobby local restaurants to be smoke free.

Encourage groups and organizations in the community to have no smoking policies.

Contact your local Community Health Office for information and assistance with activities.

The activity below can be used with women’s groups:

Butt In or Butt out

Purpose: To give women the opportunity to examine the reasons why women smoke and reasons for quitting in a non-threatening environment.

Materials: Statements which can be found on the next page will have to be written on separate pieces of paper before the day of the session. Also the titles of the four categories of the Decisional Balance will have to be written up.

Instructions:

1. Divide the group into smaller groups of 4.

2. Create a decisional balance like the one depicted below using masking tape, markers and paper.

Decisional Balance

Good things about quitting smoking	Good things about continuing to smoke
Concerns about quitting	Concerns about Continuing to smoke

3. Create this grid display on the back wall of the room.

4. Each group is given a series of eight statements around the issue of smoking. These are statements of the women’s concerns about continuing to smoke or to stop smoking: and the good things about smoking and about quitting. Use the statements that are provided on the following pages.

5. From the discussion within the groups the women will decide which statements fits into which category and then place the statement into the correct square.

Decisional Balance Statements

A. Good things about quitting smoking

• Quitting smoking would show that I have will power.
• Not smoking will make me feel that I have control over my life.
• If I quit smoking it might influence others to stop.
• I will gain more self-respect and respect from others.
• I don’t like the idea of feeling dependant on smoking.
• My sense of smell and taste would improve.
• I can save a lot of money by not smoking.
• I would feel a lot healthier if I quit smoking.

B. Good things about continuing to smoke

• I smoke cigarettes to give me a lift.
• Gives me something to do when I’m bored.
• Smoking is pleasant and relaxing.
• Smoking helps calm me down and relax.
• Smoking is something I do for myself.
• Smoking gives me something to do with my hands.
• Smoking helps me feel less hungry.
• I smoke to lose weight.

C. Concerns about quitting smoking

• I will be in a bad mood.
• I won't have anything to help me enjoy myself.
• I will feel the urge to smoke when I am with other who smoke.
• I will feel uptight and won't be able to relax.
• I don't know what I will do with my hands.
• I am concerned that I will gain weight.
• I am worried that my appetite will increase.
• I don't know if I have the will power to change.

D. Concerns about continuing to smoke

• My smoking sets a bad example for my kids.
• I feel guilty and ashamed if I smoke.
• Other people disapprove of my smoking.
• My smoking will harm my health.
• My smoking is harmful to other people's health.
• Smoking causes shortness of breath.
• Smoking makes my fingers and teeth yellow.
• Smoking gives me bad breath.

Resource Materials

The Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Project Catalogue of Resources is included in this package. The section on Smoking Resources contains information on tobacco facts, quitting smoking, and workplace policy issues.

The following booklets, pamphlets, posters and videos are available from your local Community Health Office.

Tobacco: the Facts (pamphlet)

Quit and Win Contest (stop-smoking program)

Smoking Against Your Will (video)

Diary of a Teenage Smoker (video)

The Feminine Mistake (video)

Additional Resources are available from the Tobacco Use Module in the NLHHP Community Television Programing Kit which is available from your local Community Health Office.

The following resources are available from the Newfoundland and Labrador Lung Association:

Cigarette Smoking; Is there a Safe Tobacco (pamphlet)

Second Hand Smoke (pamphlet)

Nicotine Addiction and Cigarettes (pamphlet)

Pipe and Cigar Smoke (pamphlet)

Smoking and The Two of You (pamphlet)

You’re Young, You’re Female, and You Smoke (pamphlet)

Freedom from smoking in 20 days (stop smoking program)

Tips to help you quit (pamphlet)

The Nicotine Patch (brochure)

Help a Friend to Stop Smoking (booklet)

Quit for Life (stop smoking program)

The following resource materials can be obtained from the Canadian Cancer Society:

How To Be a Happy Ex-smoker (pamphlet)

Second Hand Smoke (pamphlet)

Fifty Most Often Asked Questions (pamphlet)

When a Women Smokes (pamphlet)

Lobbying for Lives (video)

Women And Smoking (video)

The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador has the following resources available:

Women and Tobacco (pamphlet)

Tobacco and Your Heart (pamphlet)

Tobacco Heart Disease (pamphlet)

Children and Smoking: A Message to Parents (booklet)

 

Module IV

Reducing Stress

Stress itself is not a problem. Stress is a natural part of living. Stress is only a problem when there is no break from it. If a women suffers from stress for a long time with no break, she may become mentally or physically sick.

Many women now have multiple responsibilities of a job, marriage and children. Other women may be unemployed and be a single parent. Increasing demands placed on women, may mean increasing stress. Studies have shown, however, that women who work are far healthier than non-working women. These studies also indicate that women who are working but who have little control over their situation, experience much greater stress than those who are positions of power. Women who stay at home and are dependant on husbands for support appear under greater stress than working women.

All women experience stress in some degree or another. Stress can be caused by some event or change in routine, or by certain thoughts in your mind, but it happens to a women’s body.

Some signs of stress overload on the body are:

muscle tension

headaches

concentration problems

sleep problems

appetite change and weight gain or loss

change in activity level-nervousness or lack of energy

susceptibility to colds and viruses

pounding heart, high pulse rate, change in breathing

What Can Be Done to Reduce Stress?

When stress does occur, it is important to recognize and deal with it.

Here are some ways to handle stress:

Try physical activity

When you are nervous, angry, or upset, release the pressure through exercise or physical activity. Running, cycling, or working in your garden are just some of the activities you might try.

Share your stress

It helps to talk to someone about your concerns and worries. Perhaps a friend, family member, teacher, or counsellor can help you see your problem in a different light. If your problem is serious, you might seek professional help. Knowing when to ask for help may help avoid more serious problems.

Know your limits

If a problem is beyond your control and cannot be changed at the moment, don’t fight the situation. Learn to accept what is happening, at least for now, until such time when you can change it.

Take care of yourself

Get enough rest and eat well. If you are irritable and tense from lack of sleep or if you are not eating properly, you will have less ability to deal with stressful situations. If stress repeatedly keeps you from sleeping, you should ask your doctor for help.

Take time for fun

Schedule time for both work and recreation. Play can be just as important to your well-being as work; you need a break from your daily routine to just relax and have fun.

Be a participant

One way to keep from getting bored, sad, and lonely is to go where it is all happening. Sitting alone can make you feel frustrated. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, get involved and become a participant. Offer your services in neighbourhood and volunteer organizations. Help yourself by helping other people.

Check off your tasks

Trying to take care of everything at once can seem overwhelming; and as a result, you may not accomplish anything. Instead, make a list of what tasks you have to do, then do one at a time, checking them off as they’re completed. Give priority to the most important ones, and do those first.

Must you always be right ?

Do other people upset you-particularly when they don’t do things your way? Try cooperation instead of confrontation. It’s better than fighting and always being "right". A little "give and take" on both sides will reduce the strain and make you both feel more comfortable.

Create a quiet scene

You can always run away, but you can "dream the impossible dream". A quiet country scene painted mentally, or on canvas, can take you out of the turmoil of a stressful situation. Change the scene by reading a good book or playing beautiful music to create a sense of peace and tranquillity.

Avoid self-medication

Although drugs might relieve stress temporarily, drugs do not remove the conditions that caused the stress in the first place. Drugs, in fact, may be habit-forming and create more stress than they take away. They should be taken only on your doctor’s advice.

Adapted from a flyer entitled "Handling Stress

Suggested Group Activities

The activities on the next few pages can be used in women’s groups.

The Stress Management Model

Note: The facilitator will prepare for this section by giving out the stress management model on page 7. Then, the following information can be explained with reference to the diagram.

Stress is a natural part of living. There is "good" stress, such as excitement of a wedding, a visit from a special friend, or the challenge of a new job. There is "bad" stress, such as worries about money, disagreements with family members or fear of failure.

When we experience bad stress, we often look helplessly to the situation affecting us and wish it could be different. This feeling of helplessness adds to our stress. In reality, we do not need to feel helpless. There is always something we can do to manage stress.

This is how the stress response works:

1. First, there is a situation, e.g., an argument, an unfair landlord, or a problem with one of the children.

2. Second, there is a mental reaction to the situation to the situation. This reaction is the "little voice" in your head that tells you how to react. For example, the little voice might say, "I never win", or "nobody cares about me", which could result in your feeling angry or afraid.

3. Depending on your mental reaction to the situation, there is another reaction in your body. This could be a knot in your stomach or tension in your shoulders.

4. When deciding how to manage stress, consider these three areas. You may decide to focus on the external situation by removing yourself from the argument, talking your house problem to the tenant’s association, or arranging a break from your kids. You may decide to change your self-talk by saying "I deserve to be listened to". You may also decide that, for the moment, the best thing to do to handle stress is something physical, so you take a few deep breaths and relax. Go for a fast walk, or go upstairs and pound your pillow for a while.

All these are effective ways of relieving stress. The choice is up to you.

Moms Take Care of Yourself!

Ask the group to remember when their own mom used to take care of them. Use the following introduction. "Remember when your own mother used to, make sure your coat was buttoned up, that you finished all your vegetable and didn’t kick off the covers at night? Taking care of others seems to be Job One with any mother and that means taking equally good care of yourself! Making time just for you is key to reducing stress. Don’t wait for Mother’s Day to take a break. Take the initiative to make time for yourself. This isn’t easy, and may require a new spirit of cooperation from your family. Just keep in mind that, for you to give your all to them, you need first to make your own health and well-being a priority. Making yourself a priority will help you maintain a healthy balance. A simple regimen of regular exercise, an energizing diet and short relaxation breaks will prepare you to manage any stress and tension.

Encourage the group to learn to "let off steam to prevent overheating."

Have the group practise deep breathing with following instructions.

1) Close your eyes.

2) Imagine some quiet relaxing scene (eg) a quiet beach.

3) Take a deep breath through your nose expanding your chest.

4) Exhale very slowly through your mouth.

5) Repeat this type of deep breathing until you feel your body relax.

Copy the Relax Handout on the following page and distribute to the group.

Relax Handout

Recognize how you are feeling. Admit to yourself that you are upset and then try to isolate the cause of your frustration.

Evade issues and events that tend to upset you when possible.

Look ahead and, when you see a difficult situation approaching, plan for a positive way to deal with it rather than merely tolerating it and storing up stress.

Adjust to any remaining frustration after the fact by reading a book, going for a walk or chatting with a friend.

EXhale slowly. Take time to RELAX with some deep breathing. Coping with stress related anger is never easy, but a little practice can go a long way toward improving your attitude and outcome.

Adopted from the pamphlet "Moms and Stress"

by the Independent Order of Foresters.

 

 

Resource Materials

There are few resources available on women and stress specifically. General information on stress and stress management are listed below.

What Everyone Should Know About Stress (a booklet available from Community Health Regions).

Stress (a pamphlet available from the Canadian Mental Health Association).

How Fit Are You When It Comes to Managing Stress (a pamphlet available from the Heart and Stroke Foundation).

Resource Directory

Community Health Regions

Community Health - St. John's
P.O. Box 13122, Station A
St. John's, NL
A1B 4A4
(709) 738-4831 (phone)
(709) 738-4930 (fax)

Community Health - Eastern
P.O. Box 70
Holyrood, NL
AOA 2RO
(709) 229-3367 (phone)
(709) 229-4005 (fax)

Community Health - Western
P.O. Box 156
Corner Brook, NL
A2H 6C7
(709) 637-5257 (phone)
(709) 637-5160 (fax)

Community Health - Central
143 Bennett Drive
Gander, NL
A1V 2E6
(709) 651-3306 (phone)
(709) 651-3341 (fax)

Grenfell Regional Health Services
c/o Curtis Memorial Hospital
St. Anthony, NL
AOK 4SO
(709) 454-3333 (phone)
(709) 454-2052 (fax)

Health Labrador Corporation
P.O. Box 190, Station A
Happy Valley -Goose Bay, LB
AOP 1EO
(709) 896-7171 (phone)
(709) 896-4032 (fax)

Other Agencies and Organizations

Canadian Cancer Society
P.O. Box 8921
St. John's, NL
A1B 3R9
(709) 753-6520 (phone)
(709) 753-9314 (fax)

Newfoundland & Labrador
Lung Association
P.O. Box 5250
St. John's, NL
A1C 5W1
(709) 726-4664 (phone)
(709) 726-2550 (fax)

Canadian Mental Health Association
354 Water Street
P.O. Box 5788
St. John's, NL
A1C 5X3
(709) 753-8550 (phone)
(709) 753-8537 (fax)

Newfoundland and Labrador Parks/
Recreation Association
P.O. Box 8700
St. John's, NL
A1B 4J6
(709) 729-3892 (phone)
(709) 729-3896 (fax)

Heart & Stroke Foundation
of Newfoundland & Labrador
P.O. Box 5819
St.John's, NL
A1C 5X4
(709) 753-8521 (phone)
(709) 753-3117 (fax)

Regional Consultants
Recreation and Sports Division
Department of Tourism
Culture and Recreation

Mr. Trevor Paine
Labrador Region
Tourism, Culture & Recreation
Recreation & Sport Division
P.O. Box 3014, Stn. B
Happy Valley, Goose Bay
AOP 1CO
(709) 896-3209 (phone)
(709) 896-0291 (fax)

Mr. Clayton Welsh
Bonavista/Burin Region
Tourism, Culture & Recreation
Recreation & Sport Division
P.O. Box 428
Grand Bank, NL
A1E 1WO
(709) 832-2002 (phone)
(709) 832-2053 (fax)

Mr. Randy White
Central Region
Tourism, Culture & Recreation
Recreation & Sport Division
P.O. Box 646
Lewisporte, NL
AOG 3AO
(709) 535-6903 (phone)
(709) 535-0228 (fax)

Mr. David Feener
Avalon Region
Tourism, Culture & Recreation
Recreation & Sport Division
Box 1244
Bay Roberts, NL
AOA 1GO
(709) 786-2269 (phone)
(709) 786-5039 (fax)

Mr. Josh Carey
Western Region
Tourism, Culture & Recreation
Recreation & Sport Division
1 Union Street
Corner Brook, NL
A2H 5M7
(709) 637-2
427 (phone)

Women and Heart Health

Personal Contract

 

 

In the next few weeks, I _________________________will

Name

 

attempt to make a heart healthy change such as:

 

_______________________________________.

Heart Healthy Activity

 

 

If I am successful in changing my behavior, I will

 

reward myself by _______________________________.

 

 

Signed:__________________________ Dated: __________________

 

 

 

 

 

First...