New national research report on menopause reveals the steep toll of silence and stigma on Canadian women
Menopause Foundation of Canada report shows women in the prime of their lives facing inequity in the healthcare system and at work; calls for action
TORONTO, Oct. 6, 2022 /CNW/ - Landmark new research of Canadian women going through the universal experience of perimenopause / menopause reveals the real-life impact and inequities women face in a stage of life long shrouded by secrecy. A shocking one in two (46%) feel unprepared for this stage of life and, in a world where no topic is off limits, more than half (54%) believe menopause is still a taboo subject. Despite menopause affecting 50% of the population, a remarkable four in 10 women in the national survey by the Menopause Foundation of Canada (MFC) reported feeling alone through their menopause experience.
The Menopause Knowledge Gap
The silence around menopause leaves too many of the estimated 10 million women in Canada over the age of 40i - those in perimenopause/menopause/postmenopause - searching for answers. They are trying to understand what is happening to their bodies, why they may be feeling the way they do, and whether treatment and support is available. It also leaves women unaware of the potential long-term health impacts of menopause.
Most women – 95% in MFC's survey – experience menopausal symptoms. While the majority of women were aware of hot flashes (84%) and night sweats (77%), two-thirds or more were not aware that urinary tract infections (82%) and heart palpitations (75%) were symptoms. Six in 10 did not know that headaches/migraines (58%), anxiety (58%), depression (56%) and memory issues (58%) were symptoms. Complicating the issue is determining whether these symptoms are the result of another condition.
"I have been treating menopausal women for decades and know the serious toll symptoms can have on their health and quality of life," said Dr. Wendy Wolfman, MD, FRCS(C), FACOG, NCMP, president of the Canadian Menopause Society and a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Menopause Foundation of Canada. "Menopause is seen as something women must endure, like a woman's burden. This is unacceptable. Women deserve to feel healthy and they should not suffer in silence. There is preventative care, lifestyle choices, and safe and effective treatment options to help women thrive during their menopausal years."
Health Equity
The average Canadian women will spend up to half of her life in a menopausal state. While women report their family physicians are their most trusted source for information and advice about menopause, fewer than one-quarter said their family physician proactively discussed menopause with them. Of the 41% who decided to seek out medical advice themselves, 72% found that advice to be not helpful or only somewhat helpful, and four in 10 women felt their symptoms were undertreated.
"The hormonal changes associated with the onset of menopause can increase the risk for osteoporosis, heart disease and many genitourinary issues that can get worse over time if not managed appropriately," said Dr. Shafeena Premji, CCFP, MHA, BSc, MCMP, who operates menopause and women's health clinics in Alberta. "It is critical that family physicians deepen their understanding of menopause, including learning about the latest clinical practice guidelines, and proactively starting the menopause conversation with their patients."
Menopause Inclusive Workplaces
An estimated one-quarter – five million – of Canada's 19-million-person labour force are women over the age of 40ii. MFC's new research reveals that three-quarters of working women feel their employer is not supportive or do not know if they have support to help them manage this stage of life. Eighty-seven per cent of survey respondents believe working women need support through all stages of life, including menopause. Working women going through menopause are also dealing with the reality of ageism, with 3 in 10 fearing that their colleagues may see them as weak, old, or past their prime.
"Women in the prime of their lives should not be blindsided by menopause," said Janet Ko, president and co-founder of The Menopause Foundation of Canada. "Normalizing this natural part of life is long overdue and everyone has a role to play. Our hope is that by talking about menopause we break the taboo and empower women with evidence-based information. Improving health equity for women during this time of life and making sure that our workplaces are age and gender inclusive will go a long way towards ending the silence and the stigma of menopause."
The survey was conducted by Leger Canada between August 2 and August 11, 2022, using Leger's online panel. The survey of 1,023 Canadian women aged 40-60 is representative by region, education, income, and ethnicity among women that fall into this age range. This independent research report was made possible by supporters and volunteers, including educational funding from Lupin Pharma Canada, Organon, Astellas Pharma and Searchlight Pharma.
About the Menopause Foundation of Canada
The Menopause Foundation of Canada (MFC) is a national non-profit advocacy organization created to raise awareness of the impact of menopause on women and society. MFC's mission is to eliminate the social stigma and taboos associated with menopause and to ensure that this important women's health issue is fully supported by our health care system, government, business and the broader community. Learn more at MenopauseFoundationCanada.ca
What Does Your Daddy Do? Shows Kids the Cool Side of the Trades
Boston, October 5, 2022 — Career training opportunities and certifications offered in high school may not come soon enough for some students, posits Joshua Page, an electrician and author of the engaging new children’s book, What Does Your Daddy Do?
“For about the last five or six years, I was being asked to go to career days at high schools and speak about becoming an electrician,” Page said in a recent interview. “But I didn’t think I was making a big enough impact. I thought those kids were a little too old; they had already made up their minds; maybe they’re going to college.”
A children’s book seemed like the ideal way to reach an elementary school-aged audience.
What Does Your Daddy Do? introduces young readers to Ashton, whose fifth grade class is having career week. Ashton isn’t sure exactly what his dad does, so he goes home and asks him. Ashton then gets to learn about all the cool work his dad does as an electrician and all the interesting tools he gets to use. As career week continues, all the students get to share stories about what their parents do.
“I wrote this book to plant a seed in a younger generation’s mind about how ‘cool’ the trades are and to start the conversation young,” Page added.
About the Author
Joshua Page is a husband, father, electrician, entrepreneur and TEDx Speaker. With the release of his first book, What Does Your Daddy Do?, Page has also added “author” to his many titles.
An electrician by trade, Page is passionate about informing the younger generation of all the career options they have in addition to college. Page believes that choosing a trade and working with his hands saved his life and allowed him to have the life he loves. As a father of two, his mission is to teach his children and their generation about how fulfilling a career in the trades can be and to encourage them to follow their own path in life.
Launch of first-ever Canadian youth mental health platform will transform research and treatments
MONTREAL, Oct. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A pioneering youth mental health project will enhance Canada’s overall understanding of youth mental health needs and advance new assessment and treatment approaches. Each year, one of out every four youth in Canada needs mental health services, making an initiative such as this urgent and critical for the well-being of our young people. The “Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight (CYMHI) Platform” powered by RBC Future Launch, will use open data, machine learning and other methods to improve communication between youth and families, researchers, clinicians and other service providers with diverse mental health experiences and specializations.
A specialized research team has been awarded a $5.13-million grant to create this platform to optimize mental health with and for youth across Canada. Generous funding has been provided from RBC Future Launch, Power Corporation of Canada, and the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada, through Health Canada, and Brain Canada.
Led by Dr. Sean Hill, Director of the Krembil Centre of Neuroinformatics, and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the team brings together diverse organizations across the country including academic institutions, community-based mental health services, hospitals, and youth and family advisories from Foundry, Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario, and other integrated youth services.
The Insight platform will provide an interactive web portal for youth, family members, clinicians, service providers, researchers, and policy makers to access shared data, analytics, and AI tools for optimizing mental health care. The portal will enable users to find data and connect insights from community and school prevention programs, youth mental health services, and clinical research studies. The portal will also provide access to AI-based services to help users navigate mental health services, personalized tools for monitoring mental health, identifying risks, and recommending services, and an interactive atlas of youth mental health service demand and availability to guide service providers and policymakers.
“Through this project, we are providing a state-of-the-art informatics platform that serves as a foundation to improve mental health for, and importantly, with youth across the country,” notes Hill. “It will facilitate high impact research and the development of youth mental health approaches that would otherwise not be possible.”
“The CYMHI is a fantastic development to empower youth and youth-involved initiatives to take ownership in paving the way for future mental health service implementation,” says Suchayte Bali, Youth Engagement Coordinator at Foundry. “At a grassroots level, this can allow for many youth-led not-for-profit organizations to garner an understanding for which supports are needed in their communities, now backed by machine learning data from across Canada.”
“Right now, 9 out of 10 provinces are funding services with research components, British Columbia can’t learn from New Brunswick, and Ontario is missing evidence from Saskatchewan and so on,” says CYMHI leadership team member Steve Mathias, Executive Director at Providence Health Care and leader of Foundry, a British Columbia network of centres that offer young people health and wellness resources, services and supports both in person and virtually. “It is about bringing everyone together to share and exchange what we are living, and learning.”
Mental illness disproportionately affects young people between the ages of 15 and 29 worldwide. It accounts for approximately half of the overall burden of disease in this age group, making it the leading cause of disability in Canada.
“More than ever, brain research is critical in helping us, as a community, recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its effects on the brain and our mental health,” says Dr. Viviane Poupon, Brain Canada President, and CEO. “We must invest in projects like these that will lead to concrete impacts on brain health for youth in Canada.”
“The stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionally impacted the mental health of young people in Canada. With so many children and youth still struggling, it is essential that we accelerate our efforts to ensure that young people have access to appropriate supports when and where they need them,” says The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health. “This ground-breaking mental health platform will continue to improve youth mental health services by listening to youth in order to base our response on a much better understanding of youth priorities, needs and treatment approaches.”
“It’s important to us that youth across Canada have the best opportunities to thrive and reach their fullest potential,” says Mark Beckles, Vice-President, Social Impact and Innovation, RBC. “Through our partnership with Brain Canada, we’re focused on increasing and accelerating access to services for youth who are facing mental health concerns, while facilitating digital solutions for practitioners and researchers.”
“At Power Corporation we recognize how critical it is to strengthen access to mental health services and supports for young Canadians and their families, wherever they live. We are proud to be able to support the Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight (CYMHI) Platform. This advanced digital platform and pan-Canadian partnership between researchers and practitioners promises to fill gaps in support and ultimately enhance the quality of youth mental health care in every region of the country,” says Paul Genest, Senior Vice President, Power Corporation of Canada.
This project was awarded funding through the 2021 open call for applications to the Brain Canada Youth Mental Health Platform, powered by RBC Future Launch, with generous support from Power Corporation of Canada.
Funding for the Brain Canada Youth Mental Health Platform has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation.
From Making Mistakes to Making It Big: The Pitch Queen Unveils Imperfect Journey to the Top
Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 5, 2022 — Precious Williams is a self-described “full-figured diva from St. Louis” who admits she made every mistake in the book before making it big as a bestselling author and CEO of Perfect Pitches By Precious. Today, she shares the power of creating the perfect pitch with audiences that number in the thousands, but she climbed a higher mountain than most people realize to get there.
“You can make every mistake in the world. You can fail a lot of times and still wind up on top because persistence beats resistance,” Williams said in a recent interview. “There’s no way I should be where I am today.”
As recently as 2018, Williams was living in a women’s center in New York City, battling depression and addiction. She shares her profound transformation — and her empowering philosophy — in her latest book, The Pitch Queen: A Woman’s Journey From Poverty To Purpose & Profits. In it, she paves the way for others who are struggling by proving there is power in embracing one’s authentic self — flaws and all.
“My journey has been about showing others how to give birth to their next beautiful now, right now,” Williams said. “I want you to take the things that people say are your flaws and make them your secret weapons.”
In ThePitch Queen, Williams takes readers inside the biggest challenges of her life, revealing that she once dated a former drug kingpin, battled with her sexuality, lost her mind, got evicted twice and was kicked out of law school. She refused to give up, and she rebuilt her business empire with the very bricks that once blocked her path.
Key takeaways from ThePitch Queen include:
-The importance of resilience and how to overcome adversity
- How to develop a winning mindset
-The power of focus and consistency
- How to take control of your life and create the future you want
“The Pitch Queen is more than just a story; it’s a call to action,” Williams said. “It's time for you to take control of your life and create the future you want.”
About the Author
Precious L. Williams is a 13-time national elevator pitch champion. She has also been featured on Shark Tank, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence and the movie LEAP. Her current clients include Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google, NBCUniversal, Federal Reserve Bank, Intuit QuickBooks, Yelp, Harvard University and more. Williams is an international professional speaker, corporate trainer and bestselling author. Her other books include Pitching for Profit and Bad Bitches and Power Pitches.
The Happy Clam Treads New Waters in Search of Harmonious Life
Boston, October 5, 2022 — Like clams finding nourishment from filter feeding, Rosemary Schmidt derives strength from taking in the bits and bytes of information swirling all around her and weaving it into a cohesive mosaic. Putting thoughts and ideas into a logical sequence that tells a story helps her make sense of a sometimes senseless world.
“It’s as satisfying as kneading and shaping a bread dough,” she writes in the introduction to her latest book, The Happy Clam. “It’s both an itch and a need. What’s inside needs to be put in order.”
The Happy Clam is a direct reflection of how Schmidt approaches life — by using the parts and pieces to form a cohesive whole. And it’s in that wholeness where harmony is possible, Schmidt posits.
Weaving research from the fields of sociology, psychology and neurology with deeply personal, relatable anecdotes, Schmidt contemplates what brings people joy, how change happens and what makes people tick.
The first half of the book lays the groundwork, ruminating on the benefits of being happier and why it is a worthwhile goal, and the myriad subtle but deliberate changes people can make to move the needle a tick or two.
The second half pivots to a more narrative style, as Schmidt shares stories related to her time as a supervisor, the sudden loss of her sister, and her mother’s gradual decline and eventual passing. In its final chapters, the book takes a more philosophical and theological turn, getting at the heart of human relationships and how to make change happen.
“Without telling you what to do, The Happy Clam offers a roadmap and allows you to chart your own course,” Schmidt adds. “It will make you think and leave you smiling.”
About the Author
Rosemary A. Schmidt is a Boston-area author, blogger and geologist. She published her first book, Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life, in 2003, which explores life lessons drawn from the sport of rugby.
Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the University of Dayton and a Master of Science in geology from the University of Illinois. She works as a professional geologist. Originally from the Chicago area, Schmidt now resides near Boston with her spouse, Susan.
Visit her blog at www.happyclam.net, or follow her on Twitter at @GainlineRS.
The Happy Clam
Publisher: Gainline Press
ISBN-10: 0970852827
ISBN-13: 978-0970852823
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com, and many other online sellers and independent bookstores
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What Does Your Daddy Do? Shows Kids the Cool Side of the Trades
Boston, October 5, 2022 — Career training opportunities and certifications offered in high school may not come soon enough for some students, posits Joshua Page, an electrician and author of the engaging new children’s book, What Does Your Daddy Do?
“For about the last five or six years, I was being asked to go to career days at high schools and speak about becoming an electrician,” Page said in a recent interview. “But I didn’t think I was making a big enough impact. I thought those kids were a little too old; they had already made up their minds; maybe they’re going to college.”
A children’s book seemed like the ideal way to reach an elementary school-aged audience.
What Does Your Daddy Do? introduces young readers to Ashton, whose fifth grade class is having career week. Ashton isn’t sure exactly what his dad does, so he goes home and asks him. Ashton then gets to learn about all the cool work his dad does as an electrician and all the interesting tools he gets to use. As career week continues, all the students get to share stories about what their parents do.
“I wrote this book to plant a seed in a younger generation’s mind about how ‘cool’ the trades are and to start the conversation young,” Page added.
About the Author
Joshua Page is a husband, father, electrician, entrepreneur and TEDx Speaker. With the release of his first book, What Does Your Daddy Do?, Page has also added “author” to his many titles.
An electrician by trade, Page is passionate about informing the younger generation of all the career options they have in addition to college. Page believes that choosing a trade and working with his hands saved his life and allowed him to have the life he loves. As a father of two, his mission is to teach his children and their generation about how fulfilling a career in the trades can be and to encourage them to follow their own path in life.
New York, NY, October 5, 2022 — Social media, cell phone cameras and video conferencing apps like Zoom and Teams drove a significant uptick in facial plastic surgeries over the past couple of years. Now, the trend is pivoting back to the body, says top New York City plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Westreich.
“Body contouring is surging and in demand,” said Dr. Westreich. “Now that we're getting a level of normalcy, the boom from Zoom is switching back to focusing on the body.”
Also on trend? Bundling more than one procedure in one surgical appointment — liposuction and rhinoplasty, for example. This approach can save money and time for cosmetic surgery patients.
Whatever procedure a person is considering, due diligence is the best defense against potential post-op problems, Dr. Westreich cautioned.
“My best advice to people is to go back to the mindset before the Zoom boom,” he said, explaining that virtual consults have streamlined the process and tightened the timeline between concept and completion. “Don’t rush into something just because it’s easy or convenient.”
Popular procedures include breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery and facelifts. Less invasive procedures like Botox injections are skyrocketing.
If you’re considering any cosmetic procedure, these safety tips from Dr. Westreich can improve your chances of a better outcome:
Tip 1: Make sure any doctor you schedule through a virtual visit allows you to cancel AFTER an in-person meeting for surgery. There is no substitute for face to face.
Tip 2: Your health doesn’t belong in the bargain bin.
Tip 3: Medical tourism can be dangerous. Laws may differ; regulations may differ; problems with after care may arise.
Tip 4: Understand informed consent. Ask for examples of not only the good outcomes but also the potential bad ones. Ask for data specific to the procedure and the doctor performing it (complication rates, death rates).
Tip 5: Surgery belongs in accredited operating rooms. Ask to see accreditation certificate (AAA, AAAA, JCAHO).
Tip 6: Make sure the board certification of a doctor makes sense for the procedure they are performing.
Tip 7: If significant issues arise after a procedure (surgery or office injection), seek a second opinion on management.
More on Dr. Richard Westreich
Dr. Richard Westreich graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Biological Basis of Behavior, Neuroscience concentration in 1995 from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his medical school training at the New York University School of Medicine in 1999 with an M.D. and Honors in Cell Biology Research. Dr. Westreich then did his post-graduate training in Facial Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology at the prestigious Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
He has been selected multiple times by Castle Connolly and New York magazine as one of the top doctors in facial plastic surgery. He is an assistant professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and is on staff at Lenox Hill and Mount Sinai Hospitals. He is a faculty member and teacher at a fellowship in Facial Plastic Surgery at Mount Sinai. His private practice is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where he specializes in rhinoplasty, septoplasty, secondary and reconstructive rhinoplasty, facelifts, eyelid surgery and nonsurgical procedures.
He can be seen regularly on several national news programs, including ABC, CBS, FOX and Newsmax.
Dr. Westreich is also an accomplished artist and musician. His band, Big Rich Energy, is currently touring, making limited stops across New York City. For more information on his band: https://bigrichenergy.com/.
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How to Bridge the Gap From College to Career: New Book Maps The Next Great Step
New York, October 5, 2022 — Job openings are near record highs, and unemployment is close to a generational low. But recent college grads face their own unique challenges. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released data that the jobless rate for those ages 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree has surpassed the national average every month since January 2021. What does this mean for parents of new grads? What can these young adults do to prove their worth to prospective employers? And will they ever make enough money to move out of the house?
The competition for finding a job after college can be fierce, but career coach and former Fortune 500 consultant Beth Hendler-Grunt says there is reason to be hopeful.
Her new book, The Next Great Step: The Parents' Guide to Launching Your New Grad Into a Career, provides a proven, step-by-step approach for successfully guiding young adults through the transition from college to career.
Filled with tips, job aids and insightful stories, The Next Great Step addresses everything from how parents can help their young adults get “unstuck” and navigate the hiring process, to how students and grads can stand out from the rest of the graduating class. Hendler-Grunt shares the secrets of how to “network” the right way and excel in interviews, and how parents can offer solid career advice to their grad.
“Navigating the post-college job world is all about developing and implementing the right strategies,” Hendler-Grunt said. “This book is required reading for families looking to navigate a changing world from college-to-career. Companies need new grads. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots.”
About the Author
Beth Hendler-Grunt is the founder and president of Next Great Step. She is a dynamic leader, advisor and facilitator who has extensive experience consulting with startups, Fortune 500 firms, universities and individuals. She founded Next Great Step with the sole focus of guiding college students and recent grads to help them land the job they deserve. Hendler-Grunt leverages techniques and insights from hiring managers and CEOs and brings those secrets to students to help them stand out and get the job. She has enabled hundreds of clients to achieve success, with 90% of her clients landing the job of their choice. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, SiriusXM radio, Kiplinger, CNN, Fortune and many other media outlets. She is also the mom of a recent college grad and college sophomore … so she gets it.
For more information, please visit www.nextgreatstep.com, or follow the author on TikTok (next_great_step), Instagram (next_great_step), Facebook (nextgreatstep) or LinkedIn (bethhendlergrunt).
The Next Great Step: The Parents' Guide to Launching Your New Grad Into a Career
Publisher: Merack Publishing
Release Date: September 20, 2022
978-1-957048-13-0 (Paperback)
978-1-957048-14-7 (eBook)
978-1-957048-15-4 (Hardcover)
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and many other online retailers
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Finding Solutions: New Interactive Tool for Families and Friends of a Loved One Living with a Mental Health Disorder
QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 3, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - A diagnosis of mental illness in the family can have the effect of a tsunami; all members can be seriously affected. Every year, in the face of the unknown, many families do not know how to react, seek help, or find resources. To counter this, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network is launching an innovative tool to help them.
Behind every face, a story... In front of every person, a solution!
The Réseau Avant de Craquer network is there to help anyone—a parent, a child, a brother, a sister, a spouse or a friend—who has a loved one living with a mental health disorder—find personalized solutions in one of its 49 associations in Quebec. As part of Mental Illness Awareness Week, from October 2 to 8, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network reminds us that there is a solution for everyone. Every family member or friend of a loved one living with a mental health disorder:
Will react differently
Has a unique background
Must face their own challenges
Must take care of their own mental health
Must discover solutions adapted to their own situation
Through an interactive online journey and the inspiring stories told by Olivia, Christiane, Jade, and Martin, family members and friends can better understand mental illness and the solutions offered by the associations of the Réseau Avant de Craquer network. The Finding Solutions tool includes:
Four powerful testimonies affected family members and friends can relate to
Twelve information capsules with two experts from the Réseau Avant de Craquer network to learn how to better react
One complete resource bank with 36 practical tools
One hour of videos and resources to better understand mental illness
Quotes:
"As people close to someone living with a mental illness, we all have different ways of coping with their challenges. In my case, I needed to feel useful for my mother. But how can you help someone who sometimes refuses to be helped? It's really hard to tailor our support to their needs and our ability to manage the pressure of a difficult situation. Don't hesitate to reach out. The Réseau Avant de Craquer network can help you see things more clearly. The solutions are right in front of you!" — Jean-Philippe Dion, Réseau Avant de Craquer network spokesperson.
"With the interactive Finding Solutions tool, we want to send a strong signal to family members and friends of a loved one living with a mental health disorder that there are possible and positive solutions. Specialized resources and qualified workers can help them find personalized solutions. The mission of our 49 associations located throughout Quebec is to provide support to family members and friends who are helping a loved one living with a mental illness while making sure they don't forget their own needs."— René Cloutier, Executive Director, Réseau Avant de Craquer.
Active for 37 years, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network brings together 49 associations located throughout Quebec. Its mission is to provide support to family members and friends of a loved one living with a mental illness by offering a range of free services, including psychosocial support, information, training, self-help groups, and respite care. With its unique expertise, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network remains the only group in Quebec exclusively dedicated to family members and friends of a loved one living with a mental illness. Its member associations support more than 20,000 affected family members and friends.
SOURCE Réseau Avant de Craquer
Whirlpool Brand and Magnusmode Collaborate to Assist Autistic and Neurodiverse Canadians Navigate Home-based Skills
Whirlpool brand and Magnusmode announce collaboration during Autism Acceptance Month, launching 10 Home Care digital guides, making domestic activities more accessible for autistic and neurodiverse people.
TORONTO, Oct. 3, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, Whirlpool brand announces collaboration with Magnusmode®, a social enterprise leveraging technology to help autistic and neurodiverse people gain independence in their daily lives. To help make everyday chores around the home more accessible, Whirlpool brand and Magnusmode are launching 10 new Home Care digital guides ('Card Decks') in Magnusmode's app, MagnusCards®.
MagnusCards is a life skills library that provides step-by-step instructions and visual cues for everyday tasks and experiences with collectible Card Decks. Using proven educational methods, every Card Deck is carefully crafted as a how-to guide for day-to-day tasks like brushing teeth, taking public transit, going grocery shopping, personal care, and much more. Whirlpool brand's new Card Decks will be the first in the app's 'Home Care' category.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with Whirlpool brand to provide Home Care Card Decks for autistic and neurodiverse Canadians," says Nadia Hamilton, Founder and President of Magnusmode. "Having support for daily living activities removes barriers to independence in the home, and empowers people to care for their personal space, their family, and themselves."
As the pandemic exacerbated the need for virtual care for home-based skills, Magnusmode and Whirlpool brand worked to develop the Home Care Card Decks which break down and simplify kitchen and laundry tasks. The Card Decks cover practical life skills such as loading the dishwasher, how to store and organize food in the refrigerator, washing clothes in a washer, how to read laundry symbols, and more.
"MagnusCards provide the opportunity to show people that you can cook on the stove or do laundry, and do it successfully," says Kathy, parent of a Magnusmode app user. "The collaboration between the Whirlpool brand and MagnusCards has made me feel that my daughter Rachel will be able to manage, she will have a good life and she will be able to do things because she can learn them."
With 1-2%* of the Canadian population on the autism spectrum, these 10 Home Care Card Decks provide the tools for hundreds of thousands of Canadians to live with greater independence.
"Whirlpool brand is committed to helping families thrive," says Janice Ryder, Senior Manager of Brand Experience at Whirlpool Canada. "As the Exclusive Homecare Sponsor of Magnusmode in Canada, we see this partnership as a natural fit for the brand, putting our brand purpose into action to serve Canadians better."
MagnusCards by Magnusmode is available to download for free in the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Magnusmode's mission is to create practical tools that improve everyday experiences and enable people with neurodiverse abilities to participate in the world in ways that are meaningful to them. Founder Nadia Hamilton was inspired by her autistic brother to create Magnusmode and the award-winning app, MagnusCards. MagnusCards is an innovative app that provides digital, step-by-step visual guides (in the form of collectible Card Decks) to support home and community living for autistic and neurodiverse people worldwide. Each Card Deck is sponsored by enterprise clients including Trader Joe's, CIBC, Kraft Heinz, M&T Bank, New York City Transit, Colgate-Palmolive, San Francisco International Airport, A&W, and WestJet who offer MagnusCards to make their products and services autism-friendly. Companies across North America have joined the Inclusion Revolution!
About Whirlpool Brand
For more than one hundred years, Whirlpool brand has been inspired by how people care for their families. Whirlpool brand is designing home appliances that are focused on improving how families give and get the care they need with the latest technologies and innovations – whether that means flexible refrigerator storage for all types of family needs, induction technology for efficient cooking and easier cleaning, or laundry pairs that allow you to customize the way you wash and offer the latest in connected technologies. Whirlpool Canada and its Whirlpool brand are part of Whirlpool Corporation, a leading appliance manufacturer committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home. For more information on Whirlpool, please visit whirlpool.ca/everydaycare or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/whirlpoolcanada or Twitter at @whirlpool_ca. Additional information about the company can be found at whirlpoolcorp.com.
*According to the Canadian Medical Association and National Autism Spectrum Disorder Surveillance System
SOURCE Whirlpool Canada LP
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