Vol 6, No. 1

In This Issue...

Regional News

Western Heart Health Coalition Fall Workshop

Sixty-five members of the Heart Health Coalition in Western Newfoundland attended a very successful one and a half day workshop entitled "Heart Health Challenges and Actions: Communities Bridging The Gap". The workshop which took place October 21st and 22nd, 1995 was held at the Best Western Mamateek Inn in Corner Brook. Coincidentally, the Mamateek restaurant had just been designated "Heart Smart" by the Heart and Stroke Foundation making it the first hotel restaurant in Western Newfoundland to earn that honour.

Key note speaker was Ed Smith, well known writer, columnist and educator from Springdale who regaled us with stories and jokes and challenged the group with his commentary "Meeting the Challenge: Personal and Community Action". Shelda Stone, a level 3 student at Templeton, was a member of the panel "Heart Health - A Community Snapshot" and spoke personally of her own smoking experience, stating that participation in the workshop had shown her the dangers of smoking and encouraged her to want to try to reduce smoking among young people. Another panel member, Barbara Parsons, Public Health Nurse, Norris Point, Bonne Bay, gave an excellent presentation on the evaluation of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Concurrent sessions included a grocery store tour and presentations on Tobacco Reduction and Active Living. Neil Tilley's session, "Building Community Capacity: Taking Heart Health Home" brought the workshop to a close with suggestions from Coalition members on how they could work together in their communities using resources already in place. Special thanks go to the energetic and enthusiastic committee members from Community Health Western including Gerard Murphy, Heather Taylor, Lorna Coffin, Barbara Parsons, Florence Newman, Marilyn Fleming and Dr. Minnie Wasmeier. As one person commented on the evaluation form, the workshop was "very worthwhile - worth giving up a beautiful day in the woods". I don't think the planning committee could have asked for higher praise.

Anyone wishing to become a Coalition Member or interested in further information on any of the workshop topics can contact Anne Lynch, Chair, Heart Health Coalition, phone (709) 637-2563.

Central Heart Health Coalition

The Heart Health Coalition of Central Newfoundland had its first information session,on October 23, 1995 from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. in Grand Falls-Windsor. Thirty-eight individuals attended from various groups, communities and organizations. Participants received information on the Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Program as well as an overview of each provincial and community project and resources that have been developed.

As a group of people from across the Central region, we looked at three main questions around Heart Health:

• The current resources we have in our communities or organizations that support Heart Health.
• What we would need in our communities and organizations to increase awareness, education and/or participation in Heart Health issues.
• How could we as a coalition meet some of these perceived needs identified in the region?

The information generated from these questions has been summarized and listed under the following areas of action:

• Educational sessions
• Information sessions
• Needs assessments
• Lobbying on heart health related issues
• Volunteer/leadership training
• Promotion of related issues

Our task as a coalition throughout the winter months, will be to prioritize our focus, set our goals and objectives and decide on a framework for our future direction.

St. John's Heart Health Coalition

We are on our way!

After some introductory meetings in May and June 1995, a core planning group was formed to begin organizing a Shared Planning Workshop for fall 1995. Feedback from the spring meetings indicated that participants wanted to come together to:

• learn more about heart health
• meet other people interested in heart health issues
• identify actions for promoting heart health
• gather heart health resources, and
• form partnerships

As a result, on October 20-21, 1995 a Shared Planning Workshop was held at the Littledale Conference Centre in St. John's. The workshop was well attended by 35 enthusiastic participants. The purpose of the workshop was to:

• outline a strategic plan for the Coalition
• develop strategies for the implementation of heart health activities and
• identify working groups to address the strategies

The workshop provided participants an opportunity to learn more about the NLHHP and to gain an understanding of community capacity building and the role of a coalition. Feedback from the Workshop was very positive and participants enjoyed themselves as they worked. By the end of the session we had:

(i) generated a Mission Statement for our coalition:

The Heart Health Coalition - St. John's Region exists to develop awareness, stimulate action and provide ongoing support in the areas of smoking prevention/cessation, healthy eating and active living in partnership with community leaders, groups, agencies identified.

(ii) identified six areas of emphasis:

• financial resources
• promotion tools
• partnerships
• education/awareness
• programs
• human resources

(iii) listed goals and action plans for each of the areas of emphasis

A follow-up meeting was held in December 1995 to review the workshop report and prioritize initiatives. A working group was formed to begin looking at the identified activities.

We look back with great pride at what we have accomplished over the last six months, and look forward to moving ahead with enthusiasm as we address our priority initiatives in the months to come.

Eastern Heart Health Network Holds Fall Conference

More than 30 people gathered in Clarenville on November 8, 1995 for the second conference of the Eastern Heart Health Network. During the morning, people worked in small groups to discuss the goals of the Network and to suggest ways to meet these goals. In the afternoon, Eva Laing presented the Community Cable T.V. kit and showed clips of the demonstration videos. She also introduced the presentation package for the Making Public Policy Healthy Manual.

The Eastern Heart Health Network is making steady progress. About half the people at this meeting were newcomers. Members have had the opportunity to participate in planning the direction of the network. Some ideas from the planning session are the importance of: regular communication, building on what exists in communities, and continuing to expand the variety of people in the network. The planning group looks forward to implementing the goals of the network and to involving more people in this implementation.

The Network plans to hold a two-day conference in the spring to act on some of the suggestions made at this meeting.

Project Profiles

Food, Fun, and Flavours in Port Blandford

In June, the Port Blandford Heart Health Coalition Committee had a potluck supper to recognize people in the town who have supported the project in practical ways. Certificates of appreciation were presented to Les Hann of the Royal Canadian Legion, Port Blandford and Vida Greening, town council employee. Terra Nova Park Lodge was also recognized for their part in promoting active living in the town.

On Nov. 21, 1995, the committee held an afternoon of Healthy Heart Cooking at the Royal Canadian Legion. This was a "hands on" event - about 12 women from the community made and sampled five recipes. They made four recipes from Healthy Heart Cooking; Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, Oven Baked French Fries, and Mock Sour Cream. The Mock Sour Cream was made into four vegetable dips by flavouring it with different herbs. The group also made a chick pea curry. The event went very well. In no time, the women had prepared the recipes which all turned out well. As we sampled the finished products, the women told the others what was in the recipe. Several children had joined us by this time and they agreed that the recipes were tasty.

This event was easy to plan, was fun and brought the concept of Healthy Heart Cooking into practical experience. The Healthy Heart Cooking booklet gives tips on making your own recipes more heart healthy. Therefore, any group can conduct this type of activity as a fun way to expand their own collection of higher fibre and lower fat recipes.

Community Action - Good Health For All

Members of the Dunfield Park community have been participating in many different activities in an effort to achieve good health for families. The Community Garden was an active and rewarding effort to increase access to fresh and nutritious vegetables. Through SWASP (Student Work And Services Program) Greg Ollerhead was hired for eight weeks in the role of garden facilitator. The garden would not have been as successful as it was without Greg and volunteer Connie Butt's dedication and commitment to the project. Nine families from the Dunfield Park area have benefited from an excellent harvest of potatoes, greens, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and tomatoes.

The Community Kitchen Program has been very successful. Three different groups met to plan, shop, and prepare meals for their families. A member can participate in the program for three complete cycles and then that position is offered to a new member. One popular recipe is the Low Fat Lasagna which follows:

Low Fat Lasagna (Serves 12)

2 lbs. hamburger meat (use lean ground if possible)
5 onions
1 tsp. garlic
2 tbsp. oregano
salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1 28oz.can tomatoes
1 14oz.can tomato sauce
12-14 lasagna noodles
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup margarine
1/3 cup flour
2-3 cups skim milk

Meat Sauce:

Brown meat and drain fat. Add onions, spices, sauce and tomatoes. Cook slowly for at least 1 hour - longer if possible.

Cheese Sauce:

Melt margarine - add flour, then milk slowly to make thick sauce. Add 1/2 cup parmasan cheese.

Cook Noodles:

In large pot of water cook according to directions on package.

To Assemble Lasagna:

In large pan ( 10 x 20 or so) put 1/3 of meat sauce. Cover with 1/2 of cooked noodles - overlapping each other. Cover with cheese sauce. Cover with second layer of meat sauce. Place 2nd layer of overlapping noodles. Cover with remainder of meat sauce. Top with 1-2 cups of mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350° - 375° for 45 mins. or so until bubbly around edges.

The community has been active in initiating several activities which promote all aspects of good health. Some of these include:

• A Smoking Information Workshop was held on Nov. 18, 1995 at our centre for youth in the area. Twenty-two teens participated in the various sessions which were developed to give the teens information and skills to deal with the various issues relating to smoking.
• A Healthy Lifestyles Club has been formed by several community members. Ten participants meet twice a month to discuss health-related issues such as second-hand smoke, food intake and weight management, and physical fitness.
• A cookie exchange was held by 7 members on Dec. 6, 1995. The activity provided an opportunity for socialization and fun as well as a way for participants to do some Christmas baking with a low cost/high yield result.

All Heart Health activities are the result of partnerships between the Healthy Hearts in Dunfield Park Project, The Family Outreach Resource Centre, The Organization For Community Action Initiatives, The Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation, the Dunfield Park Tenants Advisory Board, Community Health - Western Region and of course, the families of Dunfield Park area. With such representation and commitment from such a wide range of interested groups, our programs will continue into the year 2000!

Info Corner

February is Heart Month

News From the Heart and Stroke Foundation

February 1996 is expected to be one of the busiest ever for the staff and volunteers of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. As well as the annual door to door canvass, look for these special activities planned for this month.

This year's school promotion will be called "HEART-TOONS". Children in grades four and five in the province will be invited to develop a comic strip with a heart healthy message. Cash prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each category.

The "NEWS BITES" Newsletter will be published for the third year, and made available to establishments participating in the Heart Smart Restaurant Program. An entry form in the Newsletter will invite readers to submit their name to win prizes including cookbooks, mugs, and dinner at a participating Heart Smart Restaurant.

A special effort will be made to promote awareness of the issue of Women, Heart and Stroke during February 1996. In partnership with "Becel" a four page newsletter will be delivered to 2.5 million households in Canada, and also will be available in grocery stores and from the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

"HEART TO HEART", an eight week cardiac rehabilitation education program will take place in St. John's beginning in early February. This ongoing program is designed for people who have had a heart attack, heart surgery or angina.

A two hour Heart Smart Cooking Class will be offered in the St. John's area during Heart Month. CPR Courses are scheduled for the month as well. For information regarding times, dates, location and cost for these and other activities of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, please call Corinne Corning, Education Coordinator, 753-8521.

Fund raising efforts taking place in February include the annual door to door canvass, business campaign, Mary Kay's Kissing Booth and a ticket sweep with an early bird draw on Valentine's Day (Feb. 14th). The draw for the Grand prize ($10,000) will take place on St. Patrick's Day. Please take this opportunity to show your support for the research and education programs of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Butting Out At Work

The risks and costs of smoking are no secret: Smoking is the single biggest cause of preventable premature death in the developed world. It is a significant factor in disability and death due to lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis. Non-smokers exposed to tobacco smoke face serious risks as well. Secondhand smoke contains higher concentrations of many cancer-producing chemicals than does inhaled smoke.

This has an impact in the workplace. Absenteeism is higher among smokers than among non-smokers and, where smoking is allowed at work, productivity is lower and job-related accidents higher among smokers. General cleaning and maintenance costs are also higher where smoking is permitted.

Given all of this, it's surprising that greater attention isn't paid to smoking cessation in the workplace. Results of the 1992 National Workplace Survey show that less than half of all worksites in Canada offer any sort of smoking cessation interventions. In those offering interventions, there is a wide variation in the availability and quality of programs across the labour force.

Smaller business (those with fewer than 50 employees) are much less likely than larger organizations to pursue smoking cessation efforts. Worksites with predominantly blue-collar workers and with union involvement are also under-represented with respect to smoking cessation activities.

Furthermore, employers are twice as likely to provide information about tobacco as they are to offer smoking cessation programs. While this may give the appearance of action, we know from the research that the provision of information--in the absence of programs and a supportive environment--has a rather limited impact on behaviour change.

Research and literature reviews which have helped to shape Health Canada's Tobacco Demand Reduction Strategy show that there is significant value in workplace efforts addressed at smoking. The workplace is a key area for tobacco control for several reasons:

• It is a powerful setting for policy to protect workers from the effects of secondhand smoke.
• It provides a highly accessible and potentially effective setting for smoking cessation programs reaching large numbers of people.
• The costs of tobacco use to the employer ( as noted above) create the potential for direct incentives and a win-win collaboration between employer and employees.

Health promotion surveys show considerable readiness among smokers to kick the habit, an expressed desire for employer support for cessation programs and a reduced level of smoking where restrictions are in place. Employers who build on these attitudes and trends and implement effective policies and programs will make an important contribution to the health of their employees. At the same time, they can look forward to a healthier bottom line.

This article is provided by the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute in collaboration with ParticipACTION.

Heart Health Promoted at Registered Nursing Assistant Educational Conference

Gander, October 1-3, 1995

Approximately 200 RNA's from across Newfoundland and Labrador attended an Educational Conference held at the Albatross Hotel in Gander in October 1995. A Heart Health display by Barbara Coffin, RNA, Community Health - Eastern was well attended. The viewing of Community Action for Heart Health video attracted many participants. Heart Health t-shirts were given as prizes and all conference participants received Heart Health refrigerator magnets in their registration kits.

(PHOTO)

Shown in photo are : (L) Barbara Coffin RNA, Eastern Community Health Board, and Emeline Coffin RNA, Grenfell Health Care Board, Churchill Falls.

NLHHP Public Policy Sub-Committee Activities

The Public Policy Sub-Committee is a working group comprised of members from the Coordinating Committee as well as selected members from key community groups and organizations.

Recognizing that Healthy Public Policy is instrumental in providing the supportive environment for a heart healthy lifestyle, the focus of the Public Policy Sub-committee was to develop a model for assessment, development and evaluation of public policies that support the health of individuals and communities. Members of this subcommittee take great pride in the accomplishments to date.

The document "Making Public Policy Healthy: a vision for our community's health" was produced in the winter of 1994 and has since been broadly promoted and distributed to governments and organizations both inside and outside the province. It was officially launched by the Minister of Health at a press conference in October 4, 1994 and the following week introduced to approximately 350 municipal leaders at the Annual Meeting of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities.

To bring the document to life, a seminar has been developed and promoted to all provincial government departments and to all member organizations of the Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Co-ordinating Committee. These seminars are ongoing at the provincial level and are presently being promoted at the regional level through the Community Health Regions and Regional Heart Health Coalitions. Further to this "A Guide to Assess the Health Implications of Public Policy" has been developed and is being circulated to all government departments by the Assistant Secretary to Cabinet along with the directive that require "Government Departments to include in their Cabinet Submissions an analysis of the implications which the proposed policies or programs will have for the health of the population."

On the international scene, Newfoundland's experience with development of a healthy Public Policy Model was promoted through a poster presentation at the 2nd International Heart Health Conference in Barcelona, Spain in June 1995.

The development of the Healthy Public Policy document has also been supportive of the development of a provincial nutrition policy. It is anticipated that this nutrition policy will be adopted by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in the very near future.

The Latest Resources

The following resource is available from NLHHP Central Office (phone: (709) 729-3939)

Canadians and Heart Health ... Reducing the Risks; Health Canada 1995

This report examines the results and implications of 10 provincial heart health surveys between 1986 and 1992. It provides the most comprehensive data on the cardiovascular health of the nation.

The following resources are available from Community Health Regional Offices:

NLHHP Catalogue of Resources

This catalogue is part of the NLHHP Leadership Manual and has just been updated. The catalogue provides a listing of useful resources for heart health grouped by topic areas including Active Living, Nutrition, Smoking and Blood Pressure. There is a brief description of each resource and how to obtain it.

Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Community Project Activities Manual

This manual is a collection of information from the nine Community Heart Health Projects in the province. It contains descriptions of the various activities that have been initiated by each of the projects and includes step by step directions for conducting these activities.

Community Kitchens Video "Major Cooking For a Minor Sum"

This video shows how a community kitchen works. Used along with the manual "Community Kitchens: Taking Affordable Action on Healthy Eating", it can help a group to get a community kitchen started and keep it going.

Note: This video can also be purchased from the Single Parent Association of Newfoundland at a cost of $20.00.

Community Television Programming Kit

This kit has been developed to promote a heart healthy lifestyle to people in Newfoundland and Labrador using the existing community television network. It is designed for use by community groups and community cable operators to develop television programs for Heart Health.

The following resources are available from the Heart and Stroke Foundation (phone (709) 753-8521):

Heart Smart Cooking Course (1995)

The Heart Smart Cooking Course has been revised. It now contains one core module, 9 information modules and 10 cooking modules which allows the Dietitian or Home Economist to develop their course to meet the needs of the intended audience. The resource contains overheads and handouts and is available on loan or for sale ($50.00) from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Heart At Play

Heart at Play is a resource kit on heart health based on "discovery learning" for children aged 9 -11 years. The facilitator or teacher acts as a resource person to assist the children with their projects. Children are encouraged to learn about how the heart works and how healthy eating and physical activity contribute to a healthy heart.

Contact Us. . .

If you would like to have some "heart health" information presented in Heart Matters or you would like to receive more copies of future issues or add your name or the name of a community group or organization to the mailing list, please contact:

Heart Matters
Newfoundland and Labrador Heart Health Program
Confederation Building, West Block
P.O. Box 8700
St. John's, NL
A1B 4J6

E-Mail:NHHP@infonet.st-johns.nf.ca
URL:http://www.infonet.st-johns.nf.ca/providers/nhhp