AHS program helps citizens live well with chronic disease

• Six-week series of free workshops returns to Lethbridge next month

Local residents living with chronic disease have an opportunity to join a free Alberta Health Services (AHS) program designed to help them take control of their health and improve their quality of life.

Better Choices, Better Health is a six-week series of workshops designed to support Albertans living with ongoing health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure, obesity, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, colitis, celiac disease, mental health concerns and others. Better Choices, Better Health workshops are led by AHS health care professionals or trained volunteers, many of whom also live with a chronic disease. This approach ensures a supportive, welcoming environment and an understanding of the challenges faced by participants.

Because those living with chronic conditions often deal with similar day-to-day challenges, the program teaches tools and techniques common to all chronic conditions rather than any one specific disease or condition.

Topics include:

• Solving problems and setting goals.
• Handling pain and fatigue.
• Managing medication.
• Dealing with difficult emotions.
• Eating healthy and increasing activity.
• Communicating with health care providers.

Workshops will be held from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on six consecutive Thursdays starting Feb. 4 in the Friends Place meeting room of the Lethbridge Public Library-Crossings Branch, 255 Britannia Blvd West. Phone 403-388-6654 or toll-free 1-866-506-6654 to register.

For those unable to attend a workshop in person, Better Choices, Better Health - Online workshops are available. Participants can join from any computer with an Internet connection, logging in at their convenience for up to two hours per week. To register visit https://betterchoicesbetterhealth.ca/online/.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than four million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.