Mosaic’s Monthly Feature: September is National Arthritis Awareness Month
September is National Arthritis Awareness Month in Canada. Over 4.6 million Canadians, adults and children, with arthritis suffer every day. This month we take time to consider what it means to live with chronic pain, and how we can help them. Throughout the month of September, The Arthritis Society encourages people to share their comment about arthritis on their social media platforms. Sharing stories and experiences will help to change perceptions around the disease and improve the fortunes of those living with it. This is a great time to help raise awareness arthritis and help raise the spirits of those who live with it!
Drop by Mosaic’s Community Resource Centre at The Shops on Steeles and Don Mills to grab literature on arthritis during Arthritis Awareness Month. Throughout the month of September Mosaic has information from The Arthritis Society set up outside our Resource Centre. We encourage members of the community to stop by and grab a brochure on arthritis and learn about it. We will have more information inside so stop by and grab what you need!
Check This Out: Doc Mike Evans YouTube Page
Have you stumbled across the Doc Mike Evans YouTube page?
This great page offers “edutaining” videos on health and wellness that are engaging and informative. Dr. Mike Evans is a founder of the Health Design Lab at Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael’s Hospital. His videos provide the latest research fused with useful advice into an engaging, well-illustrated video. Here is a sample of some of his videos.
1. What’s the Best Diet? Healthy Eating 101
Looking to eat better? This video covers it all, from dieting, to losing weight, to healthy eating and to evidence on what works and what doesn’t. Most importantly this video gives practical ways to control your eating and tips and tricks to eat healthier.
2. 23 and ½ hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?
Have you ever wondered what is the single best thing you can do for you overall health? This “medicine” that Dr. Mike Evans prescribes a half hour of exercise a day and shows the huge benefits that come with a daily walk, every day. This video might get you to go on daily walks!
3. Quality Improvement in Healthcare
How do we create quality improvement in our healthcare system? In this video Dr. Mike Evans goes into detail on how we need to change our attitude and outlook to improve our health care outcomes. This great video gives practical ways to implement small changes that can have huge health outcomes.
Dr. Mike Evan’s videos are engaging, informative, well-researched and often provide practical solutions. With his YouTube page covering a wide range of subjects, take a few minutes to browse his page where you can find great advice and a wide range of health and healthcare subjects. Each video will keep you engaged with its beautiful illustrations, and well researched subjects. Take a few minutes to browse his channel and his videos you won’t regret it!
Young & Old, Side-by-Side
What happens when the young and old live together, side-by-side?
Australian television program Dateline ventured to the Netherlands in a mini-documentary called “My 93-Year Old Flat Mate” to showcase a unique arrangement:
In the city of Deventer, near Amsterdam, students are offered a place to live for free in the aged care home Humanitas. In return for free rent, students must spend 30 hours a month with the seniors, helping them with chores, taking them out, and socializing with them. Both young and old offer each other the opportunity learn, share experiences in a unique set-up that helps to create dynamic relationships that nurture inter-generational friendships.
In the documentary we see how each generation benefits from interacting from the other. The seniors get a chance to feel young, sharing experiences with their younger roommates and being involved in their lives reinvigorates them with youthful energy. From gossiping and teasing the students after a night out, to playfully flirting with the students this intergenerational relationship helps the seniors feel young once again. Tech-savvy students also help the seniors navigate the internet and new technologies, helping them understand how to use them. These relationships blossom to the point where the seniors see the students as a part of their own family, even their sons or daughters.
The younger generation also takes away life lessons from interacting with older generation. As the students interact with the seniors they learn to take their lives slow at times, to appreciate the moment. Through interacting with the seniors, the students realize that they are people too with their own experiences, likes and hobbies. The students also learn life lessons like the experience of death but at the same time find a rewarding experience in helping the seniors find happiness as their lives come to an end.
Creating environments for multiple generations to come together has benefits for everyone involved. For the older generations they can find happiness, share what they have learned in life and touch youth once again. While for the younger generations find rewarding experiences and learn life lessons from those who have lived it. It is important for everyone that we become a more open society, providing the opportunities and environment for inter-generational interactions. Everyone, young and old and in between would benefit from it.
Growing the Community, One Walk at a Time
Mosaic is proud to have started its Summer Pole Walking Club in early July with two wonderful sunny walks at both our locations; the Toronto Office at the CNIB Centre, and the Markham Office at The Shops on Steeles.
As the summer goes on, Mosaic is excited to see the Pole Walking Club as more people from the community join is in committing themselves to fitness this summer. Every week we hope to add another person to our club. Every week we will walk a bit further. Every week Mosaic hopes to grow a healthy community, one walk at a time!
Mosaic’s Pole Walking Club encapsulates Mosaic’s values of passion, compassion, and education. As the community gathers every week, these three values are ever present as we embark on our walks. Meeting every week and dedicating an hour of time to pole walking shows our passion.
A photo of the historic church our Pole Walking Club came across.
Jane and the Pole Walking Club from the Markham Office pose for a picture.
A lovely garden our group stumbled across during a walk.
If you or someone you know is interested in being a part of our Pole Walking Club, contact Kevin at 905 – 597 – 7000 or kevin@mosaichomecare.com. Mosiac’s Pole Walking club will run Thursdays (at the Toronto Office) and Fridays (At the Markham Office) starting promptly at 9:30am. The walk will be about an hour in length, going until around 11:00am. Refreshments will be served before and after our walk. Join Mosaic in growing the community, one walk at a time this summer!
Helping other members out with advice or encouragement shows our compassion. And providing sound fitness and nutrition advice, teaching each other new routes, and sharing local history shows our education. Each and every week we commit ourselves to these values!
Summer Pole Walking Club: at both our Toronto Locations….Mid Town at the CNIB and Markham at The Shops on Steeles and 404!
Join Mosaic Home Care Services and the community every week this summer for our wonderful Pole Walking Club. This fantastic event will be running all summer and is great way to get exercise and make new friends in the community. Last year, Mosaic ran the club successfully at our Toronto Office at the CNIB, where the community would meet Thursday mornings for a wonderful walk through the area. It was a well-received event in the community and this year, Mosaic is proud to have it return to our Toronto Office at the CNIB and expand to the Markham Office at The Shops on Steeles and Don Mills!
Mosaic’s Pole Walking Club is a great opportunity to get in shape, make new friends and be a part of the community. Pole walking is great way to get exercise, especially for seniors. The benefits of pole walking include: burning more calories, engaging the upper-body, reducing pressure on joints, and using more skeletal muscles including other benefits. Being part of Mosaic’s Pole Walking Club is also a great way to make new friends and be a part of your local community. Meeting every week and sharing the wonderful experience of exercising together is a great way to make new friends from your community or enjoy an activity with your current ones. This summer join Mosaic and the community in being physically and socially active through our Pole Walking Club!
Mosaic’s Pole Walking Club will run Thursday and Friday mornings at both our locations throughout the summer. If you live closer to our Toronto Office at the CNIB Centre, join us Thursday mornings at 9:30am for a walk around the lovely wooded areas around Sunnybrook. For those closer to our Markham Office at The Shops on Steeles, join us Friday mornings at 9:30am as we walk around the surrounding area. Each walk should last around an hour to an hour and a half, and refreshments will be served before and after the walk. Make sure you bring comfortable clothing, your Nordixx Poles if you have them, and a water bottle to stay hydrated. Mosaic has 3 pairs of poles to lend out for those curious about how the poles work, and they can be borrowed for the walk. You can join Mosaic’s Pole Walking Club by emailing Kevin at kevin@mosaichomecare.com or calling Mosaic at 905 – 597 – 7000. Mosaic looks forward to helping the community get exercise and make new friends this summer!
June Is Senior’s Month–We would like to raise awareness of Elder Abuse
With June being Seniors’ Month, a month dedicated to celebrating all the contributions seniors make to our society, all of us at Mosaic Home Care Services would like to bring awareness and attention to elder abuse in our society and the community.
Mosaic is a proud member of the North York Elder Abuse Network, with Jane Teasdale being one of the chairs of the group. Preventing elder abuse is important to all the members at Mosaic to ensure seniors in the community are safe and not being exploited. Elder abuse can come in many forms and it is important for seniors, their family members, friends and caregivers to understand when someone they know is a victim of elder abuse. Identifying the abuse, whether it is financial exploitation, physical abuse, neglect or emotional abuse, can help to prevent elder abuse from happening. For more information on elder abuse, visit Elder Abuse Ontario for more information and resources on elder abuse.
This June 15th was also World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, a day recognized by the UN. The UN recognizes elder abuse as:
“Elder abuse can be defined as “a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within any relationship where there is an expectation of trust which causes harm or distress to an older person”. Elder abuse can take various forms such as physical, psychological or emotional, sexual and financial abuse. It can also be the result of intentional or unintentional neglect.” From the UN Website.
According to the UN, elder abuse is underreported, with their estimates ranging from 1 – 10% of cases being reported.
As vulnerable members of our community and our society, we have to do better to protect seniors from elder abuse! This year, look to raise awareness about elder abuse in your community, in community centers, libraries and other places where people meet through education. If a senior you know is suffering from elder abuse, show them or their caregivers where they can find information and resources to help them in their situation. As important members of our community that have been making contribution their whole lives, let’s help those seniors that are suffering from elder abuse by raising awareness, educating, and providing them with resources!
Walk With Your Doc!!
In May, Mosaic Home Care Services was excited to host one of the most well received events in recent memory:
Dr. Scott Levine, a brain based chiropractor, from the Vita Health Clinic came to Mosaic. Dr. Scott Levine took his “Walk with Your Doc!” talk to both our Markham and Toronto Community Resource Centre’s to re-teach the community how to walk properly.
Dr. Scott Levine’s talk taught the community about the power of proper walking on stimulating the brain and the spine to promote a healthy posture, avoid degeneration and pain in the body and retrain the brain.
The “Walk with Your Doc!” event provided the community with useful information on proper walking techniques and three simple exercises to improve walking.
Dr. Scott Levine started the talk by informing attendees about the relationship between walking, the brain and the spine.
Walking is the best way to activate the brain and activating the brain is good for health while reducing stress.
According the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other health institutions, 90% of disease are caused by stress and is one of the world’s largest health problems.
Stress affects us in three different ways: chemical stress, physical stress, and emotional stress.
Managing each of these three types of stress is important to our well-being. Another great way to promote health that Dr. Scott Levine mentioned was drinking lots of water.
Only 1 in 20 people drink the recommended eight glasses of water a day.
After describing the importance of stress management and drinking the right amount of water daily, Dr. Scott Levine went into greater detail on how to walk.
Dr. Scott Levine talking about proper walking techniques at the Mosaic Toronto Office at the CNIB.
To learn how to properly walk, Dr. Scott Levine took everyone back to the basics.
He described how babies had to crawl before they could walk, and that the motion they make activates the brain.
Activating the brain helps to create “super highways” in the brain that are good for our health, and these can be created by changing the stimulus to the brain by walking.
Dr. Scott Levine told the community that a proper walking technique involves a cross action pattern, similar to when we crawl, that engages our spines as we walk.
Moving our spine in this fashion is also good for our brain helping to reorganize the brain and activate, stimulate and build those “super highways” in the brain.
To start walking properly, Dr. Scott Levine mentioned to move your shoulders as you walk, as this helps to create that cross action pattern that is good for our spine, and to not hold things in your hands as this restricts our shoulders from moving freely.
After an informative talk on the brain, the spine and proper walking techniques, Dr. Scott Levine made attendees put to practice what they learned and showed everyone 3 simple exercises to help promote proper walking techniques that are good for our brain and spine.
Let’s get moving! Attendees at the Toronto Office learning how to walk properly with Dr. Scott Levine.
Dr. Scott Levine showed attendees three simple exercises to help promote proper walking techniques for better posture and brain health.
These simple techniques can be down for 10 minutes a day, with the hope that they will spill over into everyday walking to get individuals to walk properly all the time.
The first technique looks to get the spine more involved in walking by engaging the shoulders and the hips to create the “cross pattern”.
This exercise is great to engage the spine when walking.
The second technique looks to improve push through our feet when we walk and to get the butt engaged when we walk.
Start by sticking your foot out as if an airplane were to land, then following through and then pushing off with your big toe. This exercise looks to engage the butt and get a better walking stride
The third and final technique looks to improve strength in the legs and calves by introducing a bounce in your step.
Dr. Scott Levine recommended doing these exercises for about 10 minutes a day to develop proper walking techniques. These three exercises are a simple way to improve your walking to ensure you are engaging your brain and spine while you move!
This summer is a great time to commit yourself to becoming healthier through walking. Dr. Scott Levine and other members at the Vita Health Clinic will be hosting summer walks.
Walks at Vita are every Tuesday at 12:10 and will focus on different health topics, just meet right in front on the sidewalk.
Mosaic will also be hosting pole walking this summer at both Markham and Toronto locations.
These are great opportunities to learn and get healthy at the same time! For more information on the Vita Health Clinic summer walks contact Dr. Scott Levine at 416 – 962 – 2000 or drscottlevine@vitahealthclinic.com. For more information on Mosaic’s Pole Walking Club this summer contact Mosaic at 905 – 597 – 7000 or email Kevin at kevin@mosaichomecare.com. This summer make a commitment to get yourself moving!
Today is Personal Support Worker Appreciation Day in Ontario!!
It’s a day to recognize all of your very hard work, your dedication and your care that you provide everyday to those in need. We recognize that your role can be very demanding but also very rewarding.
Each and every one of you make a difference in the lives of those that you help as well as their families. Because of you, families can worry a little less knowing that you are there when they cannot be…that you have all of the training, skills, patience & compassion to provide the best care for their loved ones. .
You are there on many special occasions…helping Mom’s, Grandmothers, Sisters & Aunts on Mother’s Day…helping Dad’s, Grandfathers, Brothers & Uncles on Father’s Day…for long weekends, over nights and holidays. You are there with their first smile and greeting in the morning to wishing them a restful sleep at night. You are there.
On behalf of our entire Mosaic Team, we want to thank you for all that you do.
Happy Personal Support Worker Appreciation Day!
May 19/2016
Kimberly Davies
A trip down memory lane with the North York Historical Society (NYHS).
In late April Mosaic took a trip down memory lane with the North York Historical Society (NYHS). Mosaic and the community was excited to have long-time North York resident and former president of the NYHS Bill Aird come into our community resource center for a nostalgic presentation. His presentation titled “Memories of North York” focused on the places and people of our North York community throughout our history. Attendees were treated to a guided trip back in time in the North York community thanks to Bill!
Bill’s presentation focused on the history of the people of North York. He started his presentation by talking about the history of the Golden Lion, the symbol of North York. The Golden Lion was carved from oak for a local North York Inn, going as far back as 1834. The Golden Lion currently sits in a glass case at the North York Library. After describing the history of the Golden Lion, Bill went on to look at discuss pictures throughout the history of North York.
Picture of the Golden Lion at the North York Library.
Bill from the NYHS took attendees on a trip through the history of North York. The presentation was filled with vintage photos of farmers, harvests, radio cars, old classrooms, and famous North York residents like Canadian illustrator C.W. Jeffries. Bill went into the history of each photo, like the importance of farming, how communities were arranged, how the community evolved, how public transportation evolved, and the importance of education in the area. Sharing his vast knowledge on the history of North York community, attendees were glued to Bill as he informed everyone about the history of their community. This was one of Mosaic’s most well received events in recent memories, with all the attendees wishing for Bill to return with another history lesson!
Looking for more fantastic Mosaic events?
Stop by the Mosaic events page to find out what other fantastic events Mosaic will be hosting at both our Markham and Toronto locations. Be sure to attend Mosaic’s “Roaring 20’s” event on June 3rd, 2016 where we will celebrate Senior’s Month with a spectacular event that will be a lot of fun for Mosaic and the community!
Spring is here and Mosaic’s latest quarterly newsletter is out!
Spring is here and Mosaic’s latest quarterly newsletter is out! Stop by one of our community resource centres to pick one up or view it on our website. As the winter weather slowly fades away and the sun’s warmth begins to heat everything up, Mosaic is excited about the upcoming events that are being hosted at both the Markham Office at The Shops on Steeles and the Toronto Office at the CNIB Centre. This spring and summer join Mosaic for a number of fun, educational, and active events that include pole walking, a history lesson, and a trip back to the 1920s to celebrate Senior’s Month in June.
Mosaic’s Foot Care Clinics and First Link Memory Café’s return. Mosaic’s monthly Foot Care Clinic’s return to both the Markham Office and the Toronto Office. Get your feet pampered and treated by Mosaic’s foot care nurse who will treat calluses, ingrown toenails, corns and fungus. Clinics are held on the third Monday and Wednesday of the month at the Markham Office, and the third Tuesday of the month at the Toronto Office. The Alzheimer’s Society of York Region will be returning this spring to host the First Link Memory Café at Mosaic at the Markham Office yet again. The Memory Café is a great opportunity for individuals with or interested in memory issues to socialize and network with others. The Memory Café will return in September after a summer break.
Mosaic’s Markham Office will be hosting a number of fantastic events during the spring and summer. In late April Mosaic invites Bill Aird from the North York Historical Society to talk about the “Memories of North York” focusing on the history of the North York area during the 20th century. In May Mosaic welcomes Dr. Scott Levine from the Vita Health Clinic who will be hosting a fun and interactive presentation on how to walk properly. In celebration for Senior’s Month in June, Mosaic will be travelling back to the 1920’s with a wonderful celebration that will include food, music and a special presentation by Lianna Harris. Make sure you join Mosaic for this special celebration! Finally, Mosaic will continue its Pole Walking Club this spring and summer. The club will meet on Friday mornings once a month in April, May and June before moving to a weekly schedule in July and August. Join our Pole Walking Club to get fit this summer! A full list of Mosaic’s events at the Markham Office can be found here with more information on each event.#
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Mosaic’s Toronto Office will also be hosting a number of fantastic events for the community over the next few months. Starting in April, Mosaic welcomes back Deborah Maw for an afternoon of flower arranging and design. This will be another hands on event after Deborah hosted the well-received garden plants class a few months ago. In early May, Mosaic welcomes back Kelly James from Delmanor, Tridel-inspired retirement communities & Ranjith of Priya Yoga for an afternoon of chair yoga and relaxation and meditation. This program was well-received in the past, and Mosaic is happy to bring it back to the community. In late May Mosaic will be bringing back Dr. Scott Levine to the Toronto Office for an encore of his presentation on walking properly. Finally Mosaic is excited for the return of the Pole Walking Club to the community around the CNIB Centre. Last summer’s Pole Walking Club was well-received by the community, and Mosaic will be hosting the club once again during Thursday mornings in July, August, September and October. For more information on events at the Toronto Office take a look at our events page here.
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Mosaic is excited to host a number of fantastic events at both Markham and Toronto Office’s this spring and summer. To register for these events please contact Mosaic at 905 – 597 – 7000 or info@mosaichomecare.com. Interested in more information about Mosaic? Register to receive our quarterly newsletter on our website to receive it as soon as it is done. Mosaic’s events fill fast, so contact Mosaic today to make you do not miss out on an opportunity to learn and socialize!
