How can we help you?
Close
Let us help you search:
Common topics:
Information Type:
Series Titles:
Common topics:
Physical activity can help you feel better, reduce stress and maintain health. It helps to prevent muscle weakness and health complications associated with inactivity.
Physical activity also promotes a normal day-and-night routine and may help to improve mood. The type of activity that works best for you will depend on your fitness level, present activity level and overall health.
Take the Be Active! Quiz to learn more about the role of physical activity in the health, well-being and quality of life of Canadians. It's a short quiz with ten questions - made available by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
,
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
Being physically active is one practical action you can take to improve your brain health. It is a lifestyle choice!
By making healthy lifestyle choices, you may be able to reduce your risk and improve your brain's ability to sustain long-term health.
Will healthy lifestyle choices prevent Alzheimer's disease? There are no guarantees, but evidence suggests that healthy lifestyles help the brain maintain connections and even build new ones. That means that a healthy brain can withstand illness better. So take action today.
Sessions 5 to 8 of this program touch on the following four important lifestyle choices:
Watch this video and listen to host Liana Shannon, as she provides a brief overview of these four topics. When you complete this session, take some time to work through sessions 6, 7 and 8.
,
,
,
Completing a personal action plan can greatly enhance your motivation and keep you focused on what you can confidently achieve. It's important that you succeed!
Take some time to think about what you will do to continue to maintain or improve your brain health.
Download and print a copy of the activity sheet My Personal Action Plan below. Reflect on and answer the statements in both columns. Then circle the number between 0 and 10 that represents your confidence level.
You may have printed this activity sheet after completing another session. Feel free to use the one sheet to track all of your actions in one place as you move through this program.
If you rate your confidence below a 7, you might want to look at the barriers and consider reworking your action plan so that it's something you are confident that you can accomplish.
,
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
As you progress through Sessions 2 to 8 of this program you will learn more about the personal actions you can take to improve your brain health:
Take a few minutes to complete the Your Brain Matters quiz. It will help you to think about what you already know about brain health and make a decision around which session(s) to complete next!
This quiz is made available by Alzheimer's Australia.
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
Alzheimer's disease develops when the risk factors for the disease combine and reach a level that overwhelms the brain's ability to maintain and repair itself. So reducing as many of the risk factors as you can makes good sense.
Some risk factors you can't control, such as your genetic makeup and growing older, but there is a lot you can do that may help reduce your risk of getting the disease.
Here are some practical actions you can take to improve your brain health:
Sessions 2 to 8 of this program explore these actions in further depth.
,
By making healthy lifestyle choices, you may be able to reduce your risk and improve your brain's ability to sustain long-term health.
Will healthy lifestyle choices prevent Alzheimer's disease? There are no guarantees, but evidence suggests that healthy lifestyles help the brain maintain connections and even build new ones. That means that a healthy brain can withstand illness better. So take action today.
,
Two risk factors cannot be controlled:
The most important risk factor is aging. A minimum age needs to be reached for Alzheimer's disease to develop. People do not get the disease in their teenage years or even in their 20s. It is well-established that aging can impair the body's self-repair mechanisms. And of course, many of the risk factors increase as you age, such as blood pressure, stress, and obesity.
There is no doubt that genetics play a role in the Alzheimer's disease. Yet, only a small percentage of cases are associated with the specific genes that cause the inherited form of the disease. Risk genes increase the likelihood of developing a disease, but do not guarantee it will happen.
,
,
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
It's never too soon, or too late to make the lifestyle changes necessary to help improve your brain health OR to make changes that may also help to reduce your risk for Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.
And if you are living with dementia, taking care of your brain health may also improve your quality of life and even help slow the progression of the disease.
Host Liana Shannon speaks with Dr. Duncan Robertson about being brain healthy. Dr. Robertson is a senior medical director with Alberta Health Services specializing in seniors' health.
In this video Dr. Robertson explains what the latest research tells us about the possibility of reducing our chances of getting Alzheimer's disease and the variety of risk factors for developing Alzheimer's disease. He also shares examples of how we can start working to keep our brains healthy.
,
,
,
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
How much do you know about your amazing brain?
Take the Your Amazing Brain quiz to check your knowledge about your brain and how it works. It's a short quiz with ten questions - made available by the US Alzheimer's Association.
,
,
The brain is one of your most vital organs, playing a role in every action and every thought. Just like the rest of your body it needs looking after. It's never too soon, or too late to make changes that will maintain or improve your brain health, changes that may also help reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.
Many people are unaware of the connection between heart health and brain health, which is why we like to say "what's good for your heart is good for your brain."
In this session we'll reinforce the importance of taking care of your general health. And that includes tracking and knowing your health numbers.
Learning Objectives
When you have completed this session, you will be able to:
Session 7 includes the following parts:
Part 1: Choose a Healthy Lifestyle
Part 2: Brain Health and Heart Health
Part 3: Blood Pressure
Part 4: Blood Cholesterol
Part 5: Healthy Weight
Part 6: My Personal Action Plan
Session Summary
Work through the various parts of the session at your leisure. Move from one part to another at your own pace and in the order that makes sense to you, based on your own needs and interests.
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
How are you sleeping at night? How are you managing your day to day stressors? And if you are providing care for someone with Alzheimer's disease, what toll is it taking on your physical and emotional health?
Stress, when it persists over time, causes vascular changes and chemical imbalances that are damaging to the brain and other cells in your body.
In this session we'll help you understand stress and how it affects your body. You will develop coping strategies to deal with the stress and you will learn about the impact of attitude and self-esteem on stress and how important it is to ask for help.
If you are a care partner for a person living with Alzheimer's disease, go to Session 9: Managing Stress of the Seeds of Hope Family Learning series here in HelpForDementia. It has more specific information for care partners.
Learning Objectives
When you have completed this session, you will be able to:
Session 8 includes the following parts:
Part 1: What is Stress?
Part 2: Symptoms of Stress
Part 3: Signs of Caregiver Stress
Part 4: Reducing Your Stress
Part 5: Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief
Part 6: Make a Healthy Lifestyle Choice
Part 7: My Personal Action Plan
Session Summary
Work through the various parts of the session at your leisure. Move from one part to another at your own pace and in the order that makes sense to you, based on your own needs and interests.
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
Healthy eating can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. But did you know that these conditions also increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease?
Healthy food choices not only improve your general health, in the long-term nutritious food helps maintain brain function and slows memory decline.
Learning Objectives
When you have completed this session, you will be able to:
Session 6 includes the following parts:
Part 1: Choose a Healthy Lifestyle
Part 2: Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide
Part 3: Using Canada's Food Guide
Part 4: Smart Choices Checklist
Part 5: Tips for Making Healthy Food Choices
Part 6: My Food Journal
Part 7: My Personal Action Plan
Session Summary
At any time, you may scroll to the Search bar at the top of the page and type a specific question or topic.
