Community members interested in preventative health are encouraged to attend an upcoming forum seeing a range of local doctors and healthcare professionals team up with a goal of informing and empowering those in attendance to live their best lives.
The second annual Health Matters Patient Health Forum is being presented Saturday, Oct. 31 at North Vancouver's Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier. "Patient education is so important," says event co-ordinator Matthew Conway. "The biggest thing that we're trying to do is. .. build up community resources for individuals so they can understand, OK look, here are some chronic disease issues - so we have diabetes, we have heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer - (and) some of these things are preventable."
The forum is being presented by North Vancouver's Liberation Fitness Health Management Clinic, which takes a team-based approach and integrates medicine, lifestyle and fitness as a means of improving health, well-being and longevity. Conway works as a clinical exercise physiologist with the clinic, operated out of the office of Dr. Kevin Mcleod, an internal medicine specialist.
Mcleod is among the presenters and will speak on osteoporosis and bone health, as well as the economics of chronic disease.
Conway is also set to speak and will give two presentations over the course of the day. His first will address exercise and cardio-metabolic disease. For the second, he'll be joined by his wife, Rose. Their presentation is titled Surviving to Thriving: A Couple's Journey Through Cancer. They'll reflect on their own experiences, which saw Rose undergo a bone marrow transplant when they first got married in light of a second-time diagnosis with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rose now has a clean bill of health and they're the proud parents of two children.
"How many people's lives are touched by cancer? It's a big thing. How many people are touched by illness? It affects families, it affects relationships, spouses. I see both, I see caregivers all the time needing a support network as well as the individuals going through the illness.. .. We just wanted to give a little bit of a different take on what that looks like and try and help out that way," says Conway.
Other forum speakers volunteering their time include internal medicine specialists Dr. Jennifer Montis and Dr. Naveen Sandhu, cardiologist Dr. Annie Chou and clinical exercise physiologist Ling Pai.
A number of community organizations will also be in attendance showcasing their health and wellness offerings, including the North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission, West Vancouver Community Centre and Vancouver Coastal Health. Event proceeds will support local patients who are unable to afford needed rehabilitation programs through the Lions Gate Cardiac Rehab and Cardiometabolic Program, also offered out of Mcleod's office (vancouverhearthealth.com).
Liberation Fitness offers a free lecture series under the same moniker.
Upcoming Health Matters Lecture Series events are scheduled for Oct. 27 and Nov. 23. Visit liberationfitness.ca/healthmatterslectureseries for details.
Health Matters Patient Health Forum: Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier, North Vancouver. Tickets ($15), phone 604-904-0810 x4 or visit liberationfitness.ca/healthmatters.
