According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, health literacy is “…the ability to access, comprehend, evaluate and communicate information as a way to promote, maintain and improve health in a variety of settings across the life-course.” [1]
In short, health literacy is our ability to take in and understand information in ways that enhance our health-related decisions and behaviours. This process sounds straightforward, but in the age of open and on-demand access to information, becoming health literate can be a challenge. The overwhelming amount of information that we’re exposed to can make it difficult to find both the time, and mental capacity, to sort through it all.
Remember when the media reported that chocolate could help you lose weight? Turns out it was all an elaborate prank by a group of researchers to demonstrate how easy it was to manipulate study results into ‘evidence’. (Read all about it here.) This is perhaps an extreme example, but it shows how easily health information can be misrepresented and how this in turn influences our behaviour.
This month, I’m sharing ways to help you build and flex your muscles in an effort to become savvier at discerning facts from fads (or falsehoods).
Start with the domain name and URL. Look for sites that end in .ca, .com, or .org. Next, try to find the original source of the claim/information. In this era of content convergence and integration, many articles tend to reference another source. Check that the information is from a peer-reviewed article in an academic journal.
Try: UBC Library support for examining scholarly vs. popular sources.
Even if a study is reporting significant findings, things like sample size, population demographics and researcher bias can lead to inaccurate information translation.
Try: UBC Library support for evaluating information sources.
We are in the midst of a ‘wellness revolution’ with companies trying to sell wellbeing in a variety of ways (e.g. supplements, services, products, workouts). Before buying into a product or claim, find out if the author is affiliated with the company in any way or even receiving payment/sponsorship for their endorsement. Many magazine and online advertisements are commonly disguised as research-based articles.
Try: How to Fact Check Your Favourite Wellness and Health Blog (Healthline.com)
You may not realize it, but people in your professional, social and family circles might look to you as an expert on health and wellbeing. In an effort to ensure we are passing along accurate health information, be mindful of where, and with whom, you are sharing.
This month, I encourage you to delve a little deeper when the next great health claim comes along. Put your newfound skills to the test and be sure to act or react based on solid evidence.
Wishing you a wonderful start to the summer season!
All my best,
Miranda
References:
[1] https://www.cpha.ca/vision-health-literate-canada-report-expert-panel-health-literacy
June 21: UBC Staff Pension Fair
Now-June 13: Call for QPR Instructors – Applications Open
Now-July 4: Yoga on the Mall
June 6: Doughgirls Summer Harvest Baking
June 7: Happy How-To: From Happiness Research to Happier Cities
June 12: Leading with Emotional Intelligence (for Postdocs and Grad students)
June 16: Garden Days Grow Green Guide Tour (UBC Botanical Garden)
June 21: Special Solstice Opening – Beginning with the Seventies Radial Change (Belkin Art Gallery)
June 22: In a Different Light Opening – Gallery of Northwest Coast Masterworks (MOA)
Photo Credit: Community Development (UBC Campus and Community Planning)
This month we feature Janet Gannon from UBC’s Sauder School of Business as our Thriving Campus profile.
I am in awe of the physical beauty of our workplace: forest, ocean, mountain views, and the perfume of spring flowers. When I make my way to the office, with each step, I take it all in and this helps me prepare for my workday.
In my job, every day is a learning day and I thrive on the variety and challenges that each workday brings. Creating positive relationships with colleagues, faculty members and students across campus is a top priority. I am truly grateful to be surrounded by highly supportive individuals.
I am also very lucky to have an office with a window that opens (so important) with great views of the mountains and English Bay. My lunch hour is sacred. It is my time to reset, re-energize, refuel: walking lunches to the Nitobe and Botanical Gardens, visits to the Museum of Anthropology and Belkin Art Gallery, concerts at the Faculty of Music, ocean swims…Lunch hour “away time” from my desk is an investment in my wellbeing.
I choose to have a simple lifestyle and consecrate my spare time to my favourite activities. My passion for travel gets me out of my comfort zone and helps cultivate resilience and creativity. Going on weekend solo trips to Asia and Europe with no set itinerary is my oxygen: to simply wander different neighbourhoods and be immersed in a different language, culture, and cuisine. Ocean swimming with seals and cormorants, herons and bald eagles overhead and mountains as backdrop at sunset is simply amazing — another great investment in my wellbeing. Going for long walks enables me to slow down and quiet the mind. Exploring neighbourhoods with family and friends is a great bonding experience and something I truly enjoy.
About Janet:
Janet Gannon is a staff member at the UBC Sauder School of Business (27 years and counting). She has a degree in French and spent a year at l’Universite d’Aix-Marseille in Provence, France. She is married with two adult children. She and her husband are French car enthusiasts. Janet is continually on the lookout for her next adventure. Nolite timere (be fearless)!
Photo Credit: Erica Hill
There’s still time to apply for UBC’s Healthy Workplace Initiatives Program (HWIP)! If your UBC department or unit is interested in promoting wellbeing in the workplace and just need some start-up funds to get going, apply by April 18.
Full details, including regulations, funding toolkits and application forms can be found on the HWIP page.
Celebrate the end of another school year with some fun! Register now for UBC’s eighth annual Staff & Faculty Sports Day happening on Friday, May 4, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Open to UBC faculty, staff and grad students, this free event is an exciting team-building afternoon that encourages inclusivity, accessibility, mental and physical wellbeing, and fun! Participate in what your time allows.
Spots are filling up fast so be sure to register now! To register or for more event details, visit the UBC Staff & Faculty Sports Day website.
Photo Credit: UBC Recreation
Part 3: Diet, Hormones & Health | April 10 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
In this final session, let’s put superfoods and myths aside and explore the impact of diets on metabolism and health. We will cover the dos and don’ts of dietary changes and learn how diets impact hormones. You will leave with three tangible steps for balancing food choices, metabolism and overall health. Find out more and register now.
Creating a plan to manage your money is a sound way to achieve the goals you want in life, whether it be a house, travel, education or retirement. Sometimes, this comes with a cost and results in financial debt. Join money coach Melanie Buffel to gain power over your money. You will learn how to pay down your consumer debt quicker than you thought possible, manage and control finances, and build good habits. Find out more and register now.
If your department is looking for more efficient response and support with regards to ergonomic issues for staff, consider taking the three-hour Office Ergo Rep Training. Learn basic ergonomic risk factors and assessments, as well as proper computer workstation set-up, and get resources to take back to your unit. Find out more and register now.
The idea that humans are rational and that their relationship with money is simple has been soundly disputed by empirical research. We need to examine financial planning and investment management in a more realistic psychological context if we are to truly take control of our financial decision making and behaviour. You will learn how to develop sound decision-making processes, recognize patterns of conflicting behaviours and be better at creating a more successful financial strategy. Find out more and register now.
Optimize your computer work environment to improve comfort and reduce the risk of injury. This one-hour tutorial combines a presentation and a practical session, giving you hands-on experience adjusting typical office equipment. By the end of the tutorial, you will know how to set up your chair, keyboard/mouse and monitor to promote neutral working postures. Find out more and register now.
This workshop will provide important information about different types of sit-stand desks and platforms available on the market. Understanding the pros and cons of each will assist departments, staff and faculty in deciding which option is most suitable. Product samples will be available for participants to try out in order to get an idea of how the different models impact positioning and workflow. Find out more and register now.
Planning a vacation in Canada or abroad? This information session will be useful for anyone wanting to know more about UBC’s travel benefits and how to be prepared in a medical emergency. Join UBC benefits specialist Stephanie Mah for a one-hour session to deepen your understanding of your travel benefits and ensure that your well-earned vacation is as stress-free as possible. Find out more and register now.
Photo Credit: UBC Communications and Marketing
Registration now open for UBC Recreation Summer Camps
April 3: The Chan Centre Turns 20
April 9: UBC Indian Residential School History & Dialogue Centre Grand Opening
April 19: EDGE Film Festival (UBC School of Nursing)
April 19: UBC Connects with Waneek Horn-Miller
April 19: Emergency: Drug Use and Addiction in the 21st Century (MEDtalks)
April 22: Earth Day Bird Tours and Grow Green Guide Tours (UBC Botanical Gardens)
April 24: Impromptu Rock Choir at UBC
Photo Credit: UBC Communications and Marketing
Spring has sprung, and with it comes a renewed desire to spend more time outside. Take advantage of the fresh air and budding trees by using them as motivation to move more during your breaks on campus. These handy, printable walking maps offer a variety of 30-minute walks around campus. They even include information about distances, steps, terrain and level of difficulty. Bonus: They’re free!
Week 1: Main Mall Trail (Central)
Week 2: Thunderbird Trail (South)
Week 3: Tower Beach Trail (North)
Week 4: Wreck Beach Trail (East)
Bonus: Sword Fern Trail (West)
Photo Credit: UBC Communications and Marketing
There’s no better time to think about food: March is National Nutrition Month! At UBC, food and nutrition are important priorities of UBC Wellbeing, and your UBC benefits offer many services and programs that can support you (and your eligible dependents) in the shift to healthier eating and living. Read on to learn more.
Did you know that the UBC Extended Health Benefits plan offers coverage for a wide range of services, including paramedical practitioners such as registered dietitians and naturopaths?
Registered dietitians provide advice and counselling about diet, food and nutrition. They can help you make healthy food choices and manage any special health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, allergies and obesity.
Registered naturopaths use a natural and holistic approach to the maintenance of good health and can help you improve digestion, boost energy levels and make proper nutrition and food choices.
To learn more about coverage and reimbursements for registered dietitian and/or naturopath services, visit our Extended Health page.
UBC’s EFAP provider Shepell offers four services that can help you and your eligible dependants with healthy eating. All services are provided by telephone consultation. To book services or to learn what service is right for you, call the Shepell Care Access Centre at 1-800-387-4765 or visit www.workhealthlife.com.
(Note: Please enter “University of British Columbia” as your organization.)
1. Nutrition Support Services
Make positive changes to your diet or connect with a registered dietitian who can assess your eating habits, identify dietary concerns and answer nutrition-related questions. Through Shepell, access the following support services:
2. Health Coaching
Shepell’s health coaches provide support and motivation to help you reach your lifestyle goals, including creating a risk-reduction action plan that targets:
3. Naturopathic Services
Interested in learning more about naturopathic medicine and how it works? Shepell’s naturopathic services offer everyday lifestyle practices to help you improve digestion, boost energy levels and make proper nutrition and food choices.
4. Healthy Weight Management
With the support of a personal coach, you can manage your weight by learning how to make positive physical activity and nutrition changes. Shepell’s program consists of:
This month we feature Steve Bohnen, UBC Campus Security Crime Prevention & Community Relations Officer as our Thriving Campus feature.
How do you thrive at work?
I love our UBC environment and believe most people who work here strongly desire to establish a ‘higher and better social contract’ within this community. My role at Campus Security allows me to contribute to that mission, and I’m superbly grateful for it. The endless flow and variety of our challenges exercise my talents, skills and training daily. I enjoy a great balance of responding to real-time calls for assistance and assessing/analyzing occurrence patterns to promote better outcomes for both the University and the greater community. It’s a wonderful balance of challenges and creative opportunities.
I couldn’t do this work without respectful, highly supportive and like-minded colleagues who realize that we bring our total selves to the workplace every day, and understand that we must engage fully with one another to be most effective as a workgroup. We share our challenges, use check-ins regularly and maintain ongoing training and certification to stay at the top of our game.
How do you thrive at home?
Music has been a lifelong passion for me (yes, guitar players are actually considered musicians) and playing, whether alone or with others, has provided amazing rewards in relaxation, problem solving, left/right brain balance and just plain joy.
I’ve been playing since 1965, and am regularly privileged to sit in sessions with four or five people who bring 200+ years’ worth of talent and experience to the room. These moments transcend language and are a gift I wish everyone could experience. I encourage everyone to find their creative passion or instrument and get into the flow with it regularly. I play daily and wouldn’t be without it. This is Your Brain on Music is highly recommended reading.
I’ve been blessed with a superb partner in my wife Mary, a social services professional who brings a balance of compassion and deep expertise in her field to our family and our marriage. She’s an absolute champion and my best friend.
In three words or less, what does Wellbeing mean to you?
Fully, peacefully energized.
Steve Bohnen has worked at UBC Campus Security for 23 years. He is a certified BCSSA Security Consultant and Advanced Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) practitioner. Steve studied Arts at UBC from 1966 to 1968, left the Lower Mainland for work on the BC North Coast and later returned to UBC in 1986 after widely varied work and life experiences in several parts of the province, including Vancouver Island and the Okanagan. He has been married for 38 years and has four children, one of whom graduated with a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from UBC. His passions are his family, his work, music and the outdoors.
Photo Credit: Don Erhardt
Back by popular demand, the UBC Travelling Health Fair offers heart health assessments for staff and faculty this year.
The bad news: The fair is fully booked with waitlist in effect.
The good news: There are two ways you can still sign up to receive a screening!
1. From February 26-March 9, the UBC Pharmacists Clinic will offer the same heart health assessment for those who didn’t have a chance to sign up for the fair. To book your free, personalized and confidential heart health screening, call the UBC Pharmacists Clinic at 604-827-2584 and request the Travelling Health Fair assessment.
2. If you prefer to try an online health screening, visit our Virtual Health Fair. With over 20 different screenings, tools and resources, you can assess your current health status from the comfort of your home or office. Learn how to make improvements towards a healthier self or print your results to share with your healthcare professional.