On 27th October 2018, we hosted the first webinar in our fibroids self-care webinar series, Fibroids, Diet and Hormones. If you missed this webinar, we’re happy to say that the recording is now available.

In this first webinar we were delighted to have guest speaker, Le’Nise Brothers who is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and the Founder of Eat Love Move.  Le’Nise delivered a comprehensive, in-depth, informative presentation which you can download here. This 1-hour presentation includes:

• An introduction to fibroids including the types of fibroids, symptoms, risk factors and how fibroids are diagnosed as well as advice on getting the most out of your doctor’s appointment
• The causes of the continual growth of fibroids
• Balancing your hormones as an effective way of managing fibroids
• How you can take control and balance your hormones through diet and nutrition, lifestyle changes, physical support, stress management and emotional support

This is an excellent, empowering webinar that provides practical information that you can easily apply to your day-to-day routine to alleviate your symptoms and  successfully manage fibroids.

How to Access the Recording

To purchase and download this webinar, please do the following:

1.  Visit the webinar product page here
2. Click ‘Add to cart’
3. Follow all the instructions
4. Once you click ‘Place order’ you will have unlimited download access to the webinar.
5. After you make payment ($15), you simply click the blue button under “Download” and you’ll be taken to DropBox where you can watch the recording directly or you can click ‘Download’ at the top right of the screen to save the file to your computer or your DropBox to watch later.

If you have any problems downloading the recording, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by email events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com 

What  Attendees Had to Say About this Session

“I enjoyed the webinar today. Learned a lot. Thank you Le’nise for sharing your wisdom, it was very informative.”

“Great Webinar. Thanks very much Le’Nise and Abi.”

“This was a great webinar!”

“I didn’t want it to end!”

Upcoming Webinar

You may also be interested in the next webinar in our series which is on fibroids treatment. We’re delighted to have Consultant Gynaecologist, Apryll Chase, discussing all the treatment options for fibroids, their pros and cons and how to make the sometimes difficult decision of selecting the best treatment for you. You can find out more about this webinar here

Further Information

If you’d like more information or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send us an email, we’d love to hear from you.

On 1^st November, we attended the national consultation on the impact of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs). This event was organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) as an early step towards the development of the nation’s strategy for reducing the public’s consumption of SSBs.

The Ministry’s strategy for SSBs forms just a small part of their non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention plan which outlines actions that are needed to create a healthy environment and promote exercise.

Speakers Set the Scene

During the consultation we heard from an excellent panel of speakers which included:

• Mrs Delores Stapleton-Harris, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health
• Hon Wendy Phipps, Minister of State with Responsibility for Health, Community Development, Social Services and Gender Affairs
• Dr Godrey Xuereb, PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
• Dr Keisha Liddie, District Medical Officer
• Dr Lisa Powell, Professor and Director of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois
• Dr Marissa Carty, NCD Coordinator, Ministry of Health

Together the panel outlined the need for the development of a strategy on SSBs, reminding the audience that in St Kitts and Nevis NCDs, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure, are a major health challenge with 83% of deaths in the Federation being attributed to these conditions.

Hon Phipps described how NCDs are not only a threat to the health of the nation but are a significant socio-economic issue. Whilst Dr Xuereb provided information on the need for a SSB policy stating that it is just one of many strategies to improve the health of a nation and help countries achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) on health. He stated that in order to achieve the SDG on health it is important to focus on improving the health of children as currently, in the Caribbean, childhood obesity is very common and is a major factor in children developing NCDs. He explained that what is driving NCDs is the increased consumption of sugar, and the major source of sugar is SSBs – SSBs make up 40% of children’s sugar intake with 70% of children in the Caribbean drinking one or more SSBs per day. He stated that data from Barbados, Mexico and Chile has shown that increasing the cost of SSBs through taxation has reduced the consumption of SSBs and therefore this is an effective strategy in tackling NCDs.

We also heard from Dr Keisha Liddie who presented a very in-depth and comprehensive situational analysis of St Kitts and Nevis. Dr Liddie described the data and trends for NCDs in the Federation showing the increase in the incidence of specific NCDs year on year and their impact on the nation. Finally, Dr Powell explored the economics, practicalities and important considerations when introducing a tax on SSBs and provided a number of recommendations which included:

• Implement a 20% SSB tax
• Include all forms of SSBs in the taxation strategy e.g: soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened teas/coffees, sweetened water and beverage powders/syrups). Exclude zero calorie beverages
• Apply the tax to all imported and domestically produced SSBs
• Earmark the tax revenue for public health initiatives with an emphasis on nutrition and physical activity
• Carry out public awareness and education to inform the public about the SSB tax and its objectives
• Ban the sale of SSBs in schools
• Ban the sale of SSBs in hospitals and government buildings
• Regulate the marketing of SSBs in and around schools
• Develop a drinking water infrastructure in schools that provide reusable water bottles to school children
• Provide local agricultural products as snacks in schools
• Promote the implementation of school gardens as a learning tool and to improve access to fruits and vegetables
• Explore appropriate sponsors for youth sports that align with the objectives of improving health
• Provide funding to increase activity spaces

St Kitts and Nevis’ Proposed Approach to SSBs 

Dr Marissa Carty outlined the Ministry’s initial ideas on their approach to reducing the consumption of SSBs and gave the audience the opportunity to provide feedback on all the policy areas. The Ministry’s proposed policy imperatives include:

• A 40% tax on SSBs (update: the proposed tax is now 32%)
• The tax will apply to calorically sweetened beverages including carbonated drinks (sodas), sweetened carbonated water, sugar sweetened juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, tea and coffee drinks, sweetened milk/milk alternatives, milk powdered blended drinks, powdered drink mixes and drink mix syrups
• Sugar would no longer be zero rated when it comes to tax
• Excluded from the tax would be: fresh fruit juice (no sugar added), unsweetened milk/milk alternatives, infused water, unsweetened carbonated drinks and non-caloric sweetened drinks
• Alternatives to SSBs will be suggested to the public. These would include: fruit/vegetable infused water unsweetened water, plain water, unsweetened carbonated water, unsweetened herbal (bush) tea and artificially non-caloric sweetened beverages
• The tax revenue will be used to provide: a water infrastructure, water fountains in schools, reusable water bottles in schools, healthier school meals, public health campaigns, National Health Insurance, implementing a marketing ban to children and policy development for safe school zones.

Our Thoughts

We 100% support the government’s approach to SSBs as there is a need to tackle childhood obesity in St Kitts and Nevis and by reducing SSB consumption this can be achieved.

We believe a 40% (or 32%) tax is sufficiently high enough to deter consumption of all SSBs, anything lower than this could lead to consumers simply replacing expensive SSBs for more affordable SSBs. There was some evidence of this in Barbados where the tax is 10% and this suggested that this level of taxation wasn’t high enough to deter consumers from buying the lower priced SSBs.

We think it is important that the revenue raised from the SSB tax should fund public health initiatives particularly those that are aimed at childhood obesity and so we applaud the Ministry’s suggestions on the use of the tax revenue. We would also like to see the tax revenue being used to make healthy foods more affordable to ensure that parents and guardians don’t encounter any barriers to adopting healthy eating practices. It is also important for there to be full transparency on the expenditure of the tax revenue so that the public can be confident that the funds have been used to benefit the public’s health.

Next Steps

The Ministry of Health will collate the feedback received from this consultation as well as the consultation conducted in Nevis and continue to engage with key stakeholders to develop their SSB policy. This will then have to be approved by Cabinet.

We look forward to seeing this policy develop and will support the Ministry in any way that we can to see this policy developed, approved and implemented.

We are so pleased to let you know that registration for the second seminar in our Fibroids Self-Care Webinar Series is now open!

This second webinar will focus on treatment with the topic being ‘Deciding on the best treatment for you’ and  will be held on Saturday 1st December from 11am -1pm AST (that’s 3pm-5pm GMT or  10am-12pm US Eastern Time).

In this second webinar we are delighted to have as a guest speaker award-winning Consultant Gynaecologist Apryll Chase who will take participants through the treatment options for fibroids, the pros and cons of each treatment and how to make the sometimes difficult decision of selecting the best treatment for you.

Discounted Early Bird Tickets Are Now Available

Early bird tickets for this webinar are now available and are just $10 (about £8) and you can book your tickets on our website here

We Have A Special Giveaway Just For You

We’re pleased to let you know that all those who register for this webinar will be entered into a giveaway and one lucky person will win a copy of the book ‘Flow Fighter – How I Kicked My Fibroids and Heavy Periods to the Curb’ by Holly Bridges.

There is more!  We’re happy to say that all registered attendees will be eligible for a 20% discount when they order hair or body products from  Almocado and will also receive a  free shipping code from  Afrocenchix on any orders of over £20.

Other Webinars in this Series

Other webinars in the series will include:

Session 3: The Importance of Exercise, Relaxation and Me-Time, Candice Bryan, Founder and CEO, Noire Wellness, 23rd February 2019

Session 4: Hair and Body Care for Women With Fibroids, Rachael and Jocelyn, Founders of Afrocenchix, April 2019 (To be confirmed)

Session 5: Dealing with the Emotional Impact of Fibroids, Olivia Haltman, Founder, OH Services, June 2019

Session 6: Our Fibroids Stories – A Time to Share, August 2019

More Information 

We hope that you’ll join us on 1st Decemeber for this really interesting online event and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com and you can book your place here

Did you miss the first webinar in our series: Fibroids, Diet and Hormones with guest speaker Le’Nise Brothers,  Registered Nutritional Therapist and the Founder of Eat Love Move?

Have no fear, you can download and purchase the recording of this webinar for just $15 and you’ll have on-demand access to this in-depth session on fibroids, diet and hormones which guides you through the changes that you can make to improve your hormonal health and therefore alleviate the symptoms associated with fibroids. Find out more and download this webinar here

Following the launch of Caribbean Moves, a new initiative based on the successful Jamaica Moves campaign, the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Barbados launched their Barbados Moves campaign.

The launch took place on 20^th October 2018 and was led by Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, Barbados’ Minister of Health and Wellness. In attendance was Dr Christopher Tufton Jamaica’s health minister, who said:

‘Caribbean Moves’ is an attempt to mobilise the region one country at a time, and one person at a time through taking personal responsibility for your health and by doing the things that are responsible for a healthy life.

“Finally, it’s about uniting the Caribbean through one message, one method, one approach and by extension strengthening us as a people.”

Barbados Moves will form the island’s national approach to tackling non-communicable diseases and will focus on three key areas, similar to Jamaica Moves,  which are physical activity, healthy eating and knowing your health status.

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Image Credit: Barbados Moves (Instagram)

Hey everyone, we’re just stopping by the blog quickly to say a big big thank you to everyone who supported our My Haircare Nightmare crowdfunding campaign. We really appreciate all your support and although we didn’t meet our target we were overwhelmed by all your kind words and encouragement – thank you!

Not only did we get some lovely emails and messages on social media, the media also picked up on our campaign and really got behind it. You can view some of the media coverage below:

• African Voice: Documentary to reveal effects of hair products in black women
• Black Hair Magazine:  Author Tola Okogwu launches campaign to kickstart black haircare documentary
• Natural Hair Weekly: My Haircare Nightmare
• Ariatu Public Relations:  Are Hair Products for Black Women Safe
• FabAfriq: Are Hair Products for Black Women Safe?
• The Voice Newspaper:  Support This Documentary
• Afrocks: Interview Of Blogger, Writer And Hair Coach Tola Okogwu Who Is Crowdfunding To create Documentary About Hair Products For Black Women

In case you missed our crowd funding campaign, we’ve teamed up with Tola Okogwu of My Long Hair Journey and filmmaker Sheila Marshall to answer the question: Are Black Hair Care Products Safe? Through a documentary we aim to highlight the recent research which showed that 80% of black hair products tested contain endocrine disrupting chemicals and ingredients linked to asthma. Although we haven’t raised all the funds we need just yet, we’re still fired up and ready to turn our dream into reality and are exploring other funding opportunities.

We’ll keep you informed of our next steps and for those of you who donated, your perks will be with you in due course.

Have a great week!

On 27^th September 2018, Caribbean leaders hosted a breakfast meeting at the UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. The theme for this meeting was “Moving the Caribbean Towards Healthier Lives – Step It Up!”

Chaired by Dr Timothy Harris,  the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, leaders used this meeting to announce the launch of Caribbean Moves, an initiative that aims to re-energise health promotion efforts across the Caribbean through creative  and innovative partnerships.

Caribbean leaders recognised that progress has been made in tackling NCDs but with the Caribbean’s mortality rate for NCDs being the highest in the Americas, a more coordinated approach is needed. Caribbean Moves aims to achieve this.

Caribbean Moves will build on the very successful Jamaica Moves campaign which focuses on physical activity, healthy eating and age appropriate health checks.  The Jamaica Moves campaign is led by Dr Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Minister of Health, who is a very active participant in the Jamaica Moves campaign. He said of Caribbean Moves:

“This programme is intended to scale up the efforts of ongoing national programmes for increasing physical activity and healthy eating across the Caribbean. Among other things, Caribbean Moves will galvanise countries under one vision but each countries project will be unique fostering a cultural and social movement for regular physical activity within the Caribbean.”

Over the next few months a secretariat will be established for the Caribbean Moves initiative and their remit will be to develop an implementation schedule, coordinate activities and strengthen existing work in the Caribbean Region.

We look forward to seeing the Caribbean Moves initiative develop and are currently working on our own efforts to tackle NCDs in St Kitts and Nevis through a new piece of work  we are undertaking with the FIT Wellness Centre in Nevis. More information about this project will be available soon.

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Picture Credit: CARICOM

After the success of their first Fibroids Wellness Hub in November 2017, Noire Wellness will be back on Sunday 25^th November at Brent Hub in North London from 11am to 6pm for their second annual Fibroids Series Wellness Hub.

This will be an empowering and informative day that aims to support women living with fibroids. Atttendees will be able to attend a variety of workshops and live demonstrations that all aim to provide women with fibroids with information and practical advice on how to manage their symptoms and thus reduce the effects of fibroids.

The event will feature the following:

Wisdom Wonders where you can gain valuable insight into areas often ignored when living with health conditions. Explore the use of yoni eggs as part of womb health; discuss the emotional impacts of fibroids with the support of sisters. Here you will get the opportunity to explore more with speakers during a special drop-in clinic and a panel discussion at the end of the day.

Nature’s Lab. Here attendees can learn about a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good and have energy whilst living with fibroids.

A Mindful Zone. This will help you focus your awareness on the present moment, through a series of gentle activities. Here you’ll discover workshops centred on breathing to eliminate stress; sound healing and meditation for practical lessons to use at home; and a yoga session focussed on movement to help reduce pain and increase energy flow.

A Rejuvenation Lounge.  Where you can take some time out during the day and indulge in treatments offered by Tanya Kay Beauty Lifestyle including a back massage and a foot and leg massage.

If you have been affected by fibroids, this event is not to be missed. For more information please visit the event web page here

On  Tuesday 8^th October 2018,  the Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization in collaboration with the Ministry of Health organised a workshop at the National ICT Centre in St Kitts. The workshop was part of PAHO’s regional consultation to inform their Strategy and Action Plan on Health Promotion in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals (2019 – 2030).

We were invited to attend this event along with representatives from a diversity of organisations across St Kitts. Similar events have been held across the Caribbean and the Americas, and the data collected will allow PAHO to recover information, lessons learnt and gain perspectives that will contribute to the construction of their new strategy.  The aim is to renew health promotion through a social, political and technical movement, addressing the determinants of health as a path towards sustainable development and towards reducing health inequities.

The objectives of the national consultation are:

• To involve the countries in the construction of the Strategy and Plan of Action on Health Promotion for the revitalization of the movement in the Region.
• To identify key elements that the Strategy and Plan of Action must include to support the countries on the positioning of Health Promotion.
• To collect the Health Promotion experiences in the countries that contribute to the Strategy and Plan of Action.
• To identify the role of actors involved for the implementation of the Strategy and Plan of Action.
• To support the countries in the renewal of the Health Promotion movement with the identification of a lead group at the national level.

Those attending the workshops participated in discussions on four key areas:
1. Settings and local action
2. Intersectoral work, social determinants of health, Health in all policies, and public policies
3. Community participation and social participation for Health
4. Health systems and services

The above discussion points were based on important health promotion concepts as outlined by the Ottawa Charter of 1986 for Health Promotion.

Going forward the Ministry of Health in St Kitts will summarise the information from this event and PAHO will add this to the data collected from all countries taking part in the consultation. They will then analyse the data, identity common themes and important approaches and include these in the draft strategy which will be circulated for comment before a final strategy is published in September 2019.

We would like to thank the Ministry of Health in St Kitts for inviting us to take part in this consultation and look forward to seeing the draft and final strategy when they are made available in 2019.

We do hope that the information collected as part of this consultation will provide PAHO with the information required to develop an effective strategy that supports the needs of each country in the Americas.

In today’s blog we’re absolutely delighted to hear from Kerthy Sugunathevan and Ashley Carter, two very enthusiastic medical students from the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St Kitts.

 Ashley and Kerthy are passionate about making a difference and developing the skills required to be the best health practitioners they can be and as such they are the co-founders of a new campus club called ‘Because We Care’

 Kerthy and Ashley tell us about their club, its mission and why they started it. Please support this new initiative by liking their Facebook page and if you have any questions, please do leave them in the comments section below.

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Because We Care (BWeC) is a new club to UMHS this semester.  Our club centres on three main pillars: Build – Widen – Connect

• Build a relationship between the UMHS community and St. Kitts
• Widen the impact of UMHS in St. Kitts by promoting healthy living and providing education on high risk health topics
• Connect UMHS Students to volunteer opportunities to allow them to improve interpersonal skills while making a difference in the community

Our mission is to conduct events that promote health education and awareness in St. Kitts by engaging the community in outreach events. Our goal is to provide students with various opportunities to take part, while creating a positive impact in the community.  We hope to help students build upon their interpersonal skills. We will also be promoting various events surrounding healthy living for students physically and mentally (i.e. 3vs3 basketball, boot camps and stress relief events).

We are looking forward to creating a positive impact while on our journey to becoming great doctors alongside our peers.  Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any events you would like to see in the future!

Please like our facebook page and follow us for events and weekly posts.

Welcome back to our blog! Today, we’re delighted to have a guest blog submitted by Nina Johnson-Campbell of the NJC Therapy Practice.

Nina discusses how we can manage stress through emotional intelligence and provides some really useful tips that just require 10 minutes of your day. 

This is the second blog from Nina Johnson-Campbell, in her first blog Nina explored a new tool to support the wellbeing of children and adults. You can read her first post here

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What Exactly is Stress?

Stress is a necessary, innate/natural part of our survival instinct and physiological make up; it motivates us to take action to keep us safe or to keep reaching just that bit further to achieve our dreams and aspirations; it’s the ‘fuel’ that propels us.

Stress only becomes a problem when the physiological and physical symptoms build up in our body without being released and as a result starts to negatively impact our: memory, concentration, emotions, thinking abilities, health, our overall wellbeing and eventually our mental health.

What is Emotional Intelligence(EI*)?

EI is the ability to recognise and understand your emotions and those of others; the ability to use that information to guide your thoughts and actions; the ability to empathise (and therefore build better, successful relationships).

How can Emotional Intelligence (EI) help to manage stress effectively?

• Helps you to reduce excess stress as you better understand your emotions (becoming more self-aware);
• Use that information to guide your thoughts and actions;
• Increase your empathy through better understanding of others’ emotions, which in turn
• Improves your relationships, at school, at home, in the work place** and socially.
• Improving your emotional intelligence will help you to discover your inner strengths, remain calmer and in control in any situation.

Start to improve your Emotional Intelligence right now, today, by doing this simple exercise:

Set aside just 10  mins.

1. Think of the last time you had a strong negative feeling towards someone, it may be a friend, partner, work colleague or even a stranger.
2. Name the exact emotion you were experiencing in that moment (maybe anger, resentment, frustration, disappointment etc)
3. Next take a few moments to explore why you were feeling that emotion (for example you may have felt mistreated, undervalued, ignored, inadequate, unloved).
4. Now consider how the other person may have felt in that moment too, could they have been experiencing similar emotions? How do you know for sure how or what they were really thinking?
5. As you’re now aware, you cannot be sure without further information what they were feeling/thinking. In light of this new awareness,
6. Consider how you could have responded in a better/constructive way for you.
7. What did you learn from that situation, good or bad?
8. What will you do differently next time?

As it’s your response and not the situation that determines your outcome, take time to pause and by practising the few simple steps outlined above, I guarantee you will start to see better results as you  reduce your stress by taking control of your emotions, instead of them controlling you and allow space for you to think more clearly.

Remember as Confucius said:

‘Mighty is the man who can command an army of thousands, Mightier still is the man who can command himself’.

If you would like to discover how managing stress through EI could improve other areas of your life, please contact me at: Johnsm2643@gmail.com or visit my website www.life-njctherapy.co.uk

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Notes

*M. Beldoch c.1964

** Some studies have shown that job candidates with higher levels of EI are often more successful; perform better once employed; make great managers and business owners ( Forbes.com; Times on Sunday; Harvard Business School)

The above article was  published in  2016: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/health/20161116/stress-management-through-emotional-intelligence

Copyright N.Johnson-Campbell (2016)