Alberta Health Services Workshops Coming Up: Cannabis & Youth, Digital Dangers, Nutrition & ADHD /Mental Health, Managing Anxiety / Stress, Sleep Hygiene

To register for the following workshops, link here: 
​community.hmhc.ca/sessions/

Cannabis and Calgary's Youth: How to help young people make an informed and responsible choice
April 30, 2019 @ 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Hull Services - Social Room
The legalization of marijuana is here. As adults, we play an important role in supporting our City's youth in making smart decisions surrounding its use. To help you play this role successfully, we're inviting parents and mentors to learn more about its use, the effects on the young brain and changes in Federal and Provincial laws. This informative and engaging presentation focuses on facts and helpful strategies to help you start supportive conversations surrounding cannabis and its use with the young people in your life.

Digital Dangers
April 30, 2019 @ 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Chestermere Municipal Office
With the rapid growth of technology and innovative new methods for communication, it has become an increasing challenge for parents and professionals to implement preventative strategies and effective intervention methods. In this session learn about cyberbullying and the law, dangers of social media, digital safety, sexting and internet luring and netiquette.

Nutrition and ADHD
May 1, 2019 @ 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Alberta Children's Hospital - B2-200
Parents of children and teens with ADHD are often concerned about their eating habits - are they eating enough, too much or the right type of foods? In this presentation, parents can expect to learn the fundamentals of nutrition, nutrition related to ADHD and practical strategies to make mealtimes more enjoyable!

Talking to Teens and Young Adults About Cannabis: What Parents Need to Know
May 2, 2019 @ 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM
Drawing from the research on cannabis use and youth, Dr. Goldstein will: 
1) Highlight key issues for understanding the impact of cannabis use on teen mental health and development; and 
2) Provide practical recommendations for how parents can navigate conversations about cannabis use with their teens.

Nutrition and Mental Health: An overview of what the science says
May 6, 2019 @ 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Alberta Children's Hospital - Theatre
The key to understanding the importance of nutrition for our mental health is having some basic knowledge about what exactly it is that nutrients do in our brains. This workshop will provide an overview of nutrition in brain health, as well as a summary of some of the clinical studies showing how dietary education and supplementation are being used to improve mental health. The talk will end with practical ideas for fostering better eating habits, even in our pickiest eaters such as those on the autism spectrum.

Advancing Care Transitions: ACH Patient/Family Perspectives and Emerging Practices
May 8, 2019 @ Noon - 1:30 PM
Alberta Children's Hospital - Theatre
Objectives:
1. Understand impact of transitions to adult care from the patient/family perspective.
2. Learn about emerging practices in care coordination aimed at creating more seamless transitions across health, education and community services. 
3. Learn about ACH specific resources helping patients/families and care teams navigate care transitions across life's trajectory.

I'm so Stressed! Understanding and Managing Anxiety and Mental Health Issues *Also Availalbe as a Webinar*
May 9, 2019 @ 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
The Ability Hub
This presentation will address anxiety and how it arises in our brains, mind and heart. We will learn that anxiety does a good job of pretending to be our friend, when in reality it robs us of the very things we are looking for. We will use a simple Mindfulness process to look at daily worries (friends, academics, transition to adulthood) and how to ensure that anxiety does not get in the way of progress and growth. This presentation will include lots of time for questions as we go along. It will be practical and solution focused. 

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe how and why anxiety arises in the Mind.
2. Describe how our usual ways of reacting to anxiety are not useful.
3. Describe a simple Mindfulness process for responding to anxiety in helpful ways. 
4. Learn practical strategies for immediate use in responding rather than reacting to anxiety. 
5. Understanding the role of Medications in ASD and related diagnoses.

Sleep Hygiene and your Teens
May 9, 2019 @ 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Calgary Academy
Are you and your family members getting enough sleep? Do you:
• Feel sleepy at the wrong times
• Have trouble paying attention
• Fall asleep quickly
• Feeling wired at the wrong time of day
• Feel frustrated and irritable
• Have trouble controlling impulses
• Have difficulties with attention and concentration
• Have memory problems
Approximately 30% of adolescents between 12-18 do not meet 
minimum sleep requirements (8-10 hours/ night), and about 60% report feeling tired when going to school.

This presentation will focus on why sleep is so necessary and will provide parents with practical strategies to help develop healthy sleeping habits for everyone, parents included!