Health & Wellness

National Aboriginal Addictions Awareness Week will be marked locally with a whole week of activities this year.

During November, the Northwestern Health Unit is promoting the message to parents that their job is like no other.
Being a parent is a big responsibility. Parents are role models to their children in learning how to behave, how to treat others, and how to make healthy choices in their lives.
Take time to talk to your children. Read, play, and share experiences with them.

Five local members of the Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (S.A.L.T.) group spent Monday being trained in order to be able to present to other older adults in the community about elder abuse.
“We wanted it to be a peer-led presentation,” noted Cst. Anne McCoy, the local OPP’s community services officer, who is a member of the coalition.

After her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the early 1970s, Diane Davies faithfully had her own mammogram and exam each year.
Then in 2003, at age 56, she received the dreaded phone call telling her something had been found on the mammogram and she needed to return for a magnified view.

“A terrific response by women in Northwestern Ontario” is how organizers of Friday’s Breast Screening Challenge described the day.
As of 8 p.m. on Friday, 122 women received a mammogram and became new clients with the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP).

Local optometrists Dr. Robert Lidkea and Dr. Bruce Lidkea, of Lidkea Optometry on Scott Street, have joined the World Sight Day Challenge during October to help give the gift of vision to people in developing countries.

Post-election victory celebrations have come to an end but Ontarians still have something spectacular to celebrate.
Thanks to dedicated and passionate voters, 92 MPPs are “Healthy Candidates.”
This means a full 86 percent of Ontario’s legislature has made a commitment to the future health of our province.

The Alzheimer Society of Kenora/Rainy River Districts has kicked off its annual “Coffee Break” fundraiser, and is calling on local residents and business to become hosts to support 1,000 people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias in the area.

People might think an illness, such as oral cancer, won’t happen to them.
But Gruen Von Behrens is proof that it can, especially when you are a tobacco user.

Getting a ’flu shot is a small action on your part but can mean a great deal to those who are most vulnerable for getting very sick or dying from influenza.
A ’flu shot protects you, your loved ones, and your community.
Seasonal influenza vaccine is available to all residents of Ontario who are over six months of age, free of charge.