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Free, Annual Parent Conference: Mental Health 101

Saturday, October 19, 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Thomas A. Stewart SS, Peterborough

8:30 a.m.   Registration, Breakfast, & Information Booths Open

9:00 a.m.   Welcome & Opening Remarks

9:15 a.m.   Keynote Speaker Dr. David Templeman

Understanding Kids’ Behaviour:  What’s “Normal” and What Isn’t

10:15 a.m.  Refreshment Break & Information Booths Open

10:30 a.m.  Workshop #1

11:50 a.m.  Workshop #2

 

Workshop Topics
**Please see workshop descriptions below

 

How to Fix Behaviour Problems in Kids
Anxiety in Children and Youth
Helping Your Child Deal with Depression
Early Warning Signs of Mental Health Issues in Children
Early Warning Signs of Mental Health Issues in Teens
Bullying: Recognizing the Signs & What You Can Do
Building Resiliency – I am + I Have = I Can
Social Media and Cyber-bullying
The ADHD Brain: Helping Children Learn
The Parent-School Partnership: Working Together in Challenging Situations
Free child minding for ages two and older, light breakfast & refreshments.

Registration is required.

All interested parents, guardians, community members and KPR staff are welcome!

Join us to celebrate breastfeeding in a fun “competition” where every child wins because they are breastfed. This event is part of a global challenge to see which community can have the most breastfeeding babies “latched on” at 11:00 am local time.

Saturday, October 5, 10:30 am
Galaxy Cinemas

Family, friends, general public welcome.
No registration required. For more information call (705) 743-1000

After the breastfeeding challenge stay and enjoy a FREE family friendly movie “Rise of the Guardians”. door prizes and refreshments

Join this event on our Facebook page, click here!

September 26, 2013 –  Community Invited to Oct. 1 Children’s Story Corner and Annual Record-Breaking “Latch On” Event on Oct. 5

This year in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week from October 1-7, 2013, Peterborough Public Health and its partners have planned two community events to promote the unparalleled health benefits of breast milk for babies.

Firstly, Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health, will be the special guest in the Children’s Story Corner at the Peterborough Public Library on Tuesday, October 1 at 10:45 a.m.  Dr. Salvaterra will read the first story of the day, entitled Best Milk, to all children in attendance.  No registration is required, and all parents and caregivers and their children are invited to join in the fun.

Next on Saturday, October 5 at 10:30 a.m., Public Health together with the Peterborough Breastfeeding Coalition, is calling on all breastfeeding mothers in the area to set a new world record for simultaneous breastfeeding at the 2013 Breastfeeding Challenge event at Galaxy Theatres.

This event rallies nursing women to “latch on” at 11:00 a.m. local time and be counted toward two new world records, including the most mothers breastfeeding simultaneously at one location, and the most mothers breastfeeding at the same time in a province, territory or state.  Following this, families will be treated to a free movie entitled the ‘Rise of the Guardians’.  This endeavour is part of the 2013 Global Breastfeeding Challenge, an annual international event led by the Quintessence Foundation who will post the results on their website www.babyfriendly.ca .

“It’s important that nursing mothers and their families gather together and celebrate the importance of breastfeeding, and that they are supported by their community,” said Dr. Salvaterra.  “Breastfeeding provides children with nutritional, emotional, immunological, anti-allergenic, and developmental benefits for as long as a child is breastfed, and has lasting effects even into adulthood.”

The 2013 Breastfeeding Challenge is just one way Public Health encourages breastfeeding in the community as part of its commitment to being Baby Friendly.  The Baby Friendly Initiative is a global strategy that encourages health care facilities to implement specific practices which protect, promote and support breastfeeding.  The Public Health was designated Baby Friendly in July 2008, becoming the second one in the province to receive this designation, and is in the process of re-designation.  All public health units in Ontario are required to have BFI designation according to provincial accountability agreements.

For more information about the health benefits of breastfeeding and local breastfeeding supports, visit www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca and under the “My Life & Health” section for Parents and Caregivers, click on “Breastfeeding”.

 

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For further information, please contact:

Dawn Hanes
Public Health Nurse
(705) 743-1000, ext. 289
dhanes@peterboroughpublichealth.ca

 

September 24, 2013 – The 2013 Peterborough and Kawarthas Cycling Summit will be held on Thursday October 24th and this year’s theme is “Dollars and Sense: The health and economic benefits of a bicycle friendly community”.  The keynote presentation will be delivered by Dr. Karen Lee, Director of the Built Environment and Active Design Division of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  Dr. Lee’s presentation is titled “The Role of Design, Infrastructure and Cycling in Addressing Health”.

This year the Summit Planning Committee has partnered with the Ontario Provincial Planners Institute Lakelands Division to bring an afternoon workshop titled: Implementing Active Transportation in Design: Successes and Challenges.  The workshop will feature case studies from three municipalities from across Ontario where planning and health departments have worked together to address the built environment, active transportation and health.

This is the premier Cycling event of the Kawarthas and one that you will not want to miss!!! Go to http://p-bac.org/cycling-summit for more information and to register. Registration closes October 18, 2013.

September 20, 2013 – Know the Risks and How to Protect Yourself 

The Peterborough Public Health is advising local residents to protect themselves from blue-green algae which continue to bloom on area lakes.

The Public Health with the assistance of the Ministry of the Environment have received reports of the presence or confirmation of blue-green algae in Peterborough County in the areas of:  Mill Line Road, Crowes Line Road, Fire Route 94 (off of Nichols Cove Road), Kennedy Drive and Tait’s Bay off of Pirate’s Glen Road near Alpine Village.

“Residents should visit Public Health’s website or call us for information about what to look for before swimming or consuming water if they suspect a bloom in their area,” said Atul Jain, Manager of Inspection Services Programs at Public Health.  “Just as we’ve all learned how to avoid poison ivy and sunburns, it’s important to know how to protect ourselves from blue-green algae so everyone can still safely enjoy the outdoors.”

Blue-green algae are a type of bacteria, called cyanobacteria that are known for rapidly reproducing and collecting to form large, highly visible blooms throughout the water column, on the surface of water as a scum, or on the lake bottom as a mat.  These blooms are not only unsightly and smelly:  some species of cyanobacteria can also release poisons, called cyanobacterial toxins, when the cells that make up the bloom rupture or die.

To report a blue-green algae bloom, residents are advised to contact the Ministry of the Environment at 1-800-268-6060

The risk to humans is primarily from drinking water that has been contaminated with toxins from a dense algae bloom.  Fortunately, there have been no human deaths attributed to drinking water containing cyanobacterial toxins, but the toxins may cause headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhea.  Long-term consumption of water containing high levels of cyanobacterial toxins may cause neurological or liver problems.  If allowed, farm animals and pets may consume large quantities of heavily contaminated water, resulting in sickness or death.

Some individuals are sensitive to blue-green algae, and may develop a mild skin rash or eye irritation even if there is no toxin produced by the bloom.  Some individuals will have no reaction.                                                                                                                                   

For more information on blue-green algae, and precautions to be taken before swimming in or consuming water where there has been an algae bloom, go to www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca, click on “My Home & Environment” and visit the webpage dedicated to blue-green algae.

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For further information, please contact:
Inspection Services
705-743-1000

September 19, 2013 – Expert Prenatal Advice and Newborn Parenting Tips!

Expectant parents and their families are invited to a fun and informative night out by attending the Prenatal Health Fair hosted by Peterborough Public Health at the Holiday Inn on Monday, September 30, 2013 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

This event is free and open to everyone with an interest in learning how best to prepare for having a baby, and about the supports available in the Peterborough area.  The Prenatal Health Fair features interactive displays and demonstrations on a wide variety of topics such as nutrition for baby and Mom, becoming a parent, baby’s development, and much more.

Car seat experts from Smith-Ennismore OPP Community Policing will share tips and answer questions about how to safely buckle up your baby, a massage therapist will be on hand to demonstrate infant massage techniques, a children’s librarian will recommend books you can read to your newborn and hospital staff will share the many ways they provide support to get breastfeeding off to a good start.  Fathers-to-be won’t want to miss trying on the

“Empathy Belly” and visiting the fathering display.  You might even win a beautiful door prize!

For more details, please call Kris Hazlitt at Peterborough Public Health at (705) 743-1000, ext. 254.

For further information, please contact:

Helen Ames, Public Health Nurse
Peterborough Public Health
(705) 743-1000, ext. 214

September 17, 2013 – 11,000 Local Residents Required to Sign Up to Make Peterborough Count!

Surrounded by scores of people at Fleming College today, Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health of Peterborough Public Health announced the launch of the new Peterborough Counts: Ontario Health Study campaign to rally 11,000 residents to sign up with this world-leading health study.

“The Ontario Health Study is a massive effort to get as many residents as possible to complete an online health questionnaire at www.ontariohealthstudy.ca and help us create one of the largest health databanks in the world,” said Dr. Salvaterra who is leading the charge together with honorary co-chairs County Warden J. Murray Jones and Mayor Daryl Bennett.  “It will help us answer all sorts of pressing health questions related to the causes of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and many other chronic illnesses.”

“Our goal is to get 11,000 local adults to sign up so researchers can help us answer important local health questions as well,” explained Dr. Salvaterra.  “For example, melanoma rates are higher in Peterborough City and County than the provincial average, but we don’t know why. The Ontario Health Study is key to helping us figure that out.”

It only takes approximately an hour to complete an online health questionnaire at www.ontariohealthstudy.ca, and it’s absolutely free. Participants will not be asked for any donations; however those between the ages of 35-69 may be invited to submit blood samples at the local Life Labs clinic at Alexander Court.

Once they’re signed up, participants are encouraged to get as many others as possible to fill out the questionnaire as well, especially through social media.

So far, more than 2,200 people already have joined, which means another 8,800 people are needed.  The Public Health will release weekly totals for the next six weeks as part of this major recruitment drive to reach the 11,000 target.

This campaign is being organized and supported by a host of community partners, including Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough YMCA, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, Fleming College, Trent University, Peterborough Family Health Teams, Peterborough Examiner, and the Peterborough and District United Way.

A number of media sponsors have also generously contributed in-kind advertising including as the Peterborough Examiner, CHEX TV, the Wolf and KRUZ FM, Country 105 and 99.7 Energy radio.

For more information about the Ontario Health Study and to sign up, please visit www.ontariohealthstudy.ca or visit www.facebook.com/peterboroughcountsontariohealthstudy for regular updates and current sign totals.

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For further information, please contact:

Brittany Cadence
Communications Supervisor
(705) 743-1000, ext. 391

 

September 13, 2013 – Community Invited to Help Launch Local Campaign for Ontario Health Study on Tuesday, September 17 at Fleming College

A new campaign is about to kick off, and Peterborough Public Health and its many partners want everyone to be a part of it. 

It’s not a fundraising campaign – no donations required – and it’s absolutely free to participate.

All that’s needed is an hour of your time to complete an online health survey at www.ontariohealthstudy.ca.  And once you’re done, get as many others as possible to fill out the survey as well.

On Tuesday, September 17 at 9:45 a.m. in the main foyer of Fleming College (on Brealey Drive), students and community members are invited to attend the official launch of the Peterborough Counts – Ontario Health Study Campaign.  The first 100 people to arrive will receive a free pedometer.  Please bring your laptop or tablet to wirelessly connect to the website (it takes five minutes to register), or paper registrations will also be available.

Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Medical Officer of Health, together with honorary campaign co-chairs Mayor Daryl Bennett and County Warden J. Murray Jones, will be on hand to lead the high-energy, massive group sign up event.

The goal of this campaign is to recruit 11,000 local residents to sign up with the Ontario Health Study.  So far, more than 2,200 people already have joined, which means another 8,800 people are needed to create enough health data so researchers can answer pressing local questions relating to cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, asthma, and much more.

This campaign is being organized and supported by a host of community partners, including Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Peterborough YMCA, Peterborough Chamber of Commerce, Fleming College, Trent University, Peterborough Family Health Teams, Peterborough Examiner, and the Peterborough and District United Way.

A number of media sponsors have also generously contributed in-kind advertising including as the Peterborough Examiner, CHEX TV, the Wolf and KRUZ FM, Country 105 and 99.7 Energy radio.

For more information about the Ontario Health Study and to sign up, please visit www.ontariohealthstudy.ca.

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For further information, please contact:
Brittany Cadence
Communications Supervisor
705-743-1000, ext. 391

September 13, 2013 –  Click here to view the Board of Health Summary, September 11, 2013

September 12, 2013 – Public Health Lifts Heat Alert for Peterborough City and County, Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations

With the return of cooler temperatures and less humid air, Peterborough Public Health is lifting the Heat Alert issued on Monday September 9, 2013 effective today, Thursday, September 12, 2013.

The Public Health has adopted a series of extreme heat thresholds designed to advise the public, health professionals and community service providers on appropriate measures they can take to reduce the health effects of hot, humid and smoggy weather. These advisories, comprised of a Heat Alert, Heat Warning and Heat Emergency, are issued when a hot or humid air mass is forecast and weather related health effects may occur.

While the Heat Alert has been lifted, residents are reminded to take precautions in hot weather, including drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, keeping their homes cool and staying out of the heat whenever possible.  The Public Health will continue to monitor the weather forecasts throughout the summer and issue heat alerts, warnings or emergencies when forecasted.  Further information about staying healthy in extreme heat conditions and Public Health’s Heat Alert and Response System can be found on www.peterboroughpublichealth.ca .

 

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For further information, please contact:

Shawn Telford
Public Health Inspector
(705) 743-1000, ext. 287