Heart at Work

The List of Tools

When you register for the Heart at Work program, you will have access to turnkey tools that meet your company’s essential prevention and health promotion needs!

Here are some of the many tools at your disposal:

The Heart at Work Bulletin

The Heart at Work bulletin is addressed to corporate management. This bulletin is sent to registered companies four times a year. We strongly urge management to distribute it in its entirety or to select articles that are more relevant to their specific workplace and to add them to the company’s health bulletin.

It contains

Health Capsules

The Heart at Work health capsules address all employees. They are sent once a month to the management of registered companies.

These short quotations, in line with the month’s theme, will pique your employees’ curiosity with matters pertaining to cardiovascular disease risk factors. Employee reactions will help guide you when planning future promotional activities. We strongly urge management to distribute the capsules via email, intranet, bulletin boards, pay envelopes…

Here is an example of a capsule:

Health Capsule

 

Another addiction: endorphin!

The body naturally releases endorphin. This neurotransmitter strengthens the immune system and helps you manage stress, but what’s even more important, it gives you a feeling of well-being.

You’re a smoker? Be careful! Harmful chemicals found in tobacco reduce the benefits of endorphins. Therefore, you can’t fully enjoy their benefits.

How can you increase the quantity of endorphins your body releases? It’s quite simple! All you need to do is move! Moderate to high intensity physical activities that last at least 20 minutes will increase the level of endorphins in your blood. The longer you exercise, the higher the endorphin level and the greater the health benefits.

Put out your cigarette and lace up your running shoes, it’s time to get going!

Subscribe to He@lthline, the the Heart and Stroke Foundation's free monthly e-newsletter

Awareness Contest

The Heart Health Contest is a tool that allows companies who are interested in promoting health to raise their employees’ awareness of risk factors associated with heart disease. This tool is presented in the form of a contest-survey earch year in February which invites employees to answer a questionnaire and act in concrete ways to improve their health.

2011 will mark the contest's 18th edition. Some 100 companies participate every year. The contest is open to all businesses in Québec, so do not hesitate to register.

Conferences

Our conferences, which are offered in English and French, are easy to use given our turnkey approach. When you register for the Heart at Work program, we give you access to the speaker’s notes and to the PowerPoint presentations. The turnkey tool is interesting as it gives you the option of having your own health professional do the presentation or you may choose to use ours. What’s more, as a Heart at Work member, you can take advantage of reduced conference rates.

• Strategies for Increasing Energy*

  Inform employees of different nutritional strategies to avoid running out of energy or suffering from fatigue during the work day.

  
  • Raise the awareness of the importance of eating well-balanced meals, three times a day.
  • Give employees simple and nutritious meal and snack ideas that will provide an energy boost at work.
  • Give tips to maintain good eating habits during stressful times.
  • Discuss the importance of staying well hydrated throughout the day.

  ^* A thematic poster advertizing the conference is available.

• Help Yourself to a Healthy Weight*

  Raise employee awareness of the importance of maintaining a healthy weight to prevent chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

  
  • Establish the link between obesity and an increase in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
  • Get people to take a hard look at fad diets.
  • Identify a winning formula for maintaining a healthy weight or shedding pounds.
  • Propose tips for eating healthy, engaging in physical activity and recognizing the signs of hunger or satiation.

  ^* A thematic poster advertizing the conference is available.

• Good fats? Get to know them…*

  Raise employee awareness of the importance of choosing good fats in order to prevent chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease.

  
  • Show the role of fat reserves in the body.
  • Discuss the impact of abdominal fat on heart health.
  • Show the link between dietary fat, blood lipids and cardiovascular health.
  • Discuss nutrition recommendations that have a positive impact on the blood lipid profile.
  • Introduce omega-3 fatty acids, their sources and recommendations.
  • Discuss other factors that have an impact on cardiovascular health.

  ^* A thematic poster advertizing the conference is available.

• Hypertension. Checkmate!*

  Raise employee awareness of hypertension, and specifically emphasize means of preventing and controlling hypertension through the use of nutritional strategies.

  
  • Define and classify hypertension.
  • Discuss the consequences of hypertension.
  • Discuss controllable and uncontrollable risk factors.
  • Further discuss the controllable risk factors and present strategies for preventing and controlling hypertension.

  ^* This conference may be presented with or without a speaker, as a narrated option is available.

• The basics of physical activity*

  Raise employee awareness of the importance of an active lifestyle and the different alternatives available by emphasizing its benefits, particularly the reduction in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

  
  • Explain the role of physical activity in preventing cardiovascular disease.
  • Present the different types and levels of physical activity.
  • Know the recommendations for physical activity.
  • Implement strategies to sidestep the main obstacles to engaging in physical activity.
  • Eliminate the usual arguments: lack of energy, motivation and time.
  • Dispel the myths and emphasize the facts regarding physical activity.

  ^* This conference includes a workshop: simple exercises to do at work or at home (cardiovascular, muscle building, flexibility), demonstrations, active participation and guidelines.

• Protect your health

  Raise employee awareness of the importance of prevention and the recognition of precursor signs of heart attacks and stroke (CVA).

  
  • Understand how the heart works and the potential problems that may arise.
  • Know and recognize the precursor signs of heart attacks and stroke.
  • Share information about the after-effects of a heart attack.
  • Know how to control risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

• What you should put on your plate… for healthy eating

  Raise employee awareness of the importance of healthy eating in preventing cardiovascular disease by presenting a summary of Canada Food Guide principles.

  
  • Propose concrete ways to improve nutrition and to adopt healthy eating habits in order to prevent cardiovascular disease.
  • Give information about reading food labels, the principles of a balanced meal, fat, salt (sodium), hydration and alcohol.

• I add. You add. We all add. For a healthy heart, add some fibre in your everyday life!

  Make people aware of the importance of a fibre-rich diet in preventing cardiovascular disease.

  
  • Define what dietary fiber is and identify its various roles in maintaining a good heart health.
  • Propose concrete ways of increasing the daily intake of dietary fibre.