{"id":99305,"date":"2025-02-13T09:19:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=99305"},"modified":"2025-02-13T17:40:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T22:40:31","slug":"wellness-initiatives-support-a-heart-healthy-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2025\/02\/wellness-initiatives-support-a-heart-healthy-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Wellness initiatives support a heart-healthy campus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for a heart-to-heart.<\/p>\n<p>With Heart Health Awareness Month underway, Brock&#8217;s Health, Safety and Wellness team is reminding the University community of the importance of prioritizing heart health year round through physical activity, healthy eating, stress management and preventative care.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/public-health\/services\/publications\/diseases-conditions\/heart-disease-canada.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Government of Canada<\/a>, more than 2.6 million Canadian adults live with heart disease or the effects of stroke. While factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity and high stress levels increase risk, adopting a heart-healthy lifestyle can make a significant difference in improving cardiovascular well-being.<\/p>\n<p>The University offers several programs and services to support heart health on campus.<\/p>\n<p>Brock\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/recreation\/directions-and-hours\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recreational facilities<\/a> offer a variety of fitness programs, group exercise classes and intramural sports to encourage physical activity.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to nutritious on-campus dining options that help diners make informed food choices, registered dietitians are also available through <a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/dining-services\/health-and-wellness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dining Services<\/a> to offer guidance on meal planning and heart-healthy nutrition.<\/p>\n<p>Chronic stress can contribute to heart disease, making mental well-being an essential part of overall health. Students can visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/health-wellness-accessibility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Student Wellness and Accessibility Centre website<\/a> to learn more about\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/health-wellness-accessibility\/personal-counselling-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mental health and counselling services<\/a>, urgent and non-urgent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/health-wellness-accessibility\/student-health-services\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">health care<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/health-wellness-accessibility\/sas\/\">accessibility supports<\/a>. To access 24-7 telephone crisis counselling, students in North America can call 1-833-276-2533 (1-833-BROCK33) and students outside of North America can call 001 416 382 3257. Additional crisis resources can be found on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/health-wellness-accessibility\/crisis-resources\/\">SWAC website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Brock faculty and staff have access to a range of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.sharepoint.com\/Health-Safety-and-Wellness-Toolbox\/SitePages\/Brock-benefit-and-community-resources.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">employee<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brocku.sharepoint.com\/Health-Safety-and-Wellness-Toolbox\/SitePages\/Community-resources-for-all-employees.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">community well-being resources.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In addition to these preventative measures, Sheila O&#8217;Keefe-McCarthy, Associate Professor of Nursing and leader of the Heart Innovation Research Program at Brock, also stresses the importance of early detection and screening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPre-emptive screening of early and acute symptoms of developing heart disease is important for early recognition to decrease cardiac-related chronic illness and death,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a cardiovascular nurse scientist, I am dedicated to getting this knowledge into the hands and minds of those who need it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Students, staff and faculty are encouraged to check in with health-care providers about blood pressure monitoring and cardiovascular risk assessments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for a heart-to-heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":99308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[54,7],"tags":[7284,14227,476,666,12387,14226,926,34,1477,4887,5056,7419,5317],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99305"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99305"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99317,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99305\/revisions\/99317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}