Health Information Week (HIW) is a multi-sector campaign to promote the good quality health resources that are available to the public. Here at the Christie we have the Cancer Information Centre which is situated opposite M&S at the Oak Road Entrance.
Take a few minutes to look around and see the range of leaflets you can trust. Notice the book shelf with books that you can borrow (no fines, no restrictions on length of borrowing)
Day 5: Mindfulness and Relaxation
There are some great descriptions of mindfulness on the NHS website,
“Reminding yourself to take notice of your thoughts, feelings, body sensations and the world around you is the first step to mindfulness.” (NHS, 2018)
Mind have some step by step guides on various relaxation techniques
The NHS has a mood self assessment tool online here
Living life to the Full website – peer reviewed and recommended by NHS Staff
MoodGym – peer reviewed and recommended by NHS Staff
Stop, Breathe and Think is a friendly app which guides you through mindfulness and compassion, available on your phones application provider
There are lots of free fitness videos on Youtube, and one we recommend is Yoga with Adrienne, why not try one of her 30 day challenges! Here is a link to her channel
IN THE LIBRARY
Remember Christie Staff have access to an Employee Assistance Programme, if they need to access counselling and guidance on a variety of issues that might arise from work or home – the library has leaflets about this, contact us fo
r details.
We have a health and wellbeing book collection, and are happy to take recommendations for books for this area too. All staff can join and borrow books, we have fiction too if you want a lunch break distraction!
New to the library:
A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled
by Ruby Wax
In the library we also have a colouring wall! Colouring in is said to alleviate stress, and it’s very fun!
Day 4: Long-term Conditions
Long-term conditions can be things such as diabetes, COPD or arthritis, which people may have alongside their cancer diagnosis.
Some facts:
Amount of people in England with a Long-term condition: 15 million
they account for 64% of outpatient appointments
Click here to read the Macmillan report on Cancer and Long-term conditions
Here are some links to information on the following topics:
Diabetes and Cancer – about 20% of cancer patients also have diabetes
Macmillan on experiencing cancer with diabetes
The library can set up a literature search for Christie Staff on these areas or any other, to keep you up to date with advances and research into topics on cancer and Long-term conditions.
Day 3: Health and Digital Literacy
To make good decisions about our health, we need to find, understand, appraise and apply health information. This is the essence of good health literacy.
Some facts:
43% of adults cannot understand textual health information (article here)
61% cannot understand it if it has a numeracy element
43% cannot calculate a paracetamol dosage for a child based on age and weight (article here)
Some tools are available for professional helping others to understand, including DISCERN: a brief questionnaire that enables people to reliably assess the quality of written information on treatment choices for a health problem
Day 2: Mental Health
A cancer diagnosis is a life changing and challenging experience for anyone. It brings many challenges for wellbeing with fear, isolation, loss of self-esteem and of independence all having an impact. It is no wonder that people with cancer are at increased risk of developing mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.
There are many good sources of information including Macmillan, NHS Choices Moodzone and our own Psycho-oncology service
Day 1: Healthy lifestyles
So why is this important? See what Cancer Research have to say about it.
What can I do to help myself? The Live Well section of NHS Choices has advice and tips but best of all it has many tools to help you. It has a BMI healthy weight calculator and programmes to help get you moving whatever your age