Press Release
Have you been newly-diagnosed with a chronic illness? Have you been coping with chronic illness for a long time?
Do you provide care for someone living with a long-term illness?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, the Chronic Disease Management Network may be able to help.
It is presenting a six-week chronic disease self-management program, entitled “Surviving & Thriving,” starting this Monday (Jan. 11).
The workshop is aimed at individuals, family members, friends, and caregivers of people with long-term illness.
Workshop participants will learn about living with chronic conditions such as arthritis, heart problems, diabetes, and pain. They also will be given the tools for self-management of long-term conditions.
Bev Thomson, the Health Systems Navigator for the Fort Frances Community Clinic and a co-facilitator of the program, said it’s designed to help people live well and is a great way to start the new year.
“We hope that participants will improve their healthful behaviours,” Thomson said.
“Studies have shown that people who have attended this program improved in areas such as exercise and coping skills,” she noted. “They also had increased energy and there was a decrease in their days spent in the hospital.”
Wendy Derendorf, a case manager with the Northwest Community Care Access Centre and co-facilitator, said the feedback from their previous sessions has been positive.
“We have had very good response from the participants who attended our previous two sessions,” she remarked.
“It’s a great opportunity for people to learn to use some new tools for living day-to-day with chronic disease.”
There is no charge for the workshop, with sessions to be held every Monday from 1:30-3:30 p.m. upstairs at the ’52 Canadians Arena boardroom.
For more information or to register, call Thomson at 274-3287 ext. 271.
