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Guru Nanak Dev Ji Research Chair
DIL means HEART in Punjabi, Hindi, & Urdu.
DIL Walk is increasing awareness of Heart Disease.
DIL Walk is BUILDING CAPACITY in community members.
DIL Walk is TAKING CONTROL of Dil or Heart Health.
DIL Walk is finding LINKAGES in the community
DIL Walk is SHARING EXPERIENCES.
DIL Walk is walking to increase PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.
DIL Walk is EDUCATION by local health professionals.
DIL Walk encourages you to SUPPORT RESEARCH.
DIL Walk EXPLAINS MY RISKS for Heart Disease.
DIL Walk is SHARING RESOURCES.
DIL Walk is FOR THE COMMUNITY by the community.
DIL Walk is DO IT FOR LIFE – MY LIFE.
About DIL Walk
The DIL Walk Foundation (DWF) is a volunteer run charity, and an acronym for Do It for Life (DIL). DWF focuses on Wellness, Access, Linkages and Knowledge. Since it’s inception, DIL Walk Foundation has touched the lives of over 25000 people through educational activities, and has saved the health care system over $10 million (this number is a rough estimate, based on the number of DIL Walk participant seen by specialists, GP’s, Dentists, and Allied Health professionals, not billed to AHS, over the past 5 years).
DWF is committed to increasing the awareness of chronic disease across the life continuum, in vulnerable populations, such as women, children, ethnic minorities and refugees. With a focus starting on children, where prevention begins, to youth and into adulthood, the Foundation focuses on primary care prevention strategies to help individuals, and secondary prevention to help lower their risk of chronic disease.
The objectives encourage members of the community to take a proactive role towards their health. DIL Walk Foundation believes in creating more opportunities for people to get involved with local initiatives, because when people are included and participate in their community, good things happen, such as feeling confident about their health, feeling better about their future. This further leads to building capacity in the community around them. Funds raised will support vulnerable populations such as children, refugees, women and ethnic minorities, helping people feel a sense of belonging to their local community and creating shared experiences for people from different walks of life.
To help achieve these goals, the DIL Walk Foundation has collaborated with the University of Calgary to focus its efforts on heart research, by establishing a Heart Research Chair. The Foundation also holds a number of events throughout the year, including the annual DIL Walk. At this, participants get a free heart health screening, and an opportunity to learn how to reduce their risk by meeting with a variety of health professionals, and take home valuable resources. Other events include CPR training, supporting health initiatives in youth, and working in partnership with organizations such as the Heart and Stroke Foundation to educate the public. In March 2015, the Foundation, in partnership with the Mosaic PCN, launched the DIL Walk Magazine – the only dual language health magazine in Canada. DWF has recently increased its focus in the brain heart connection, with an emphasis on healthy homes, healthy minds and healthy communities. Goals will be achieved by:
- Creating awareness about the impact of chronic diseases
- Educating community members and creating linkage
- Raising funds for research and resource development to improve the equity of health outcomes at the patient, clinical and community level
- Building community capacity
- Creating healthy communities
- Creating a space for community members to get involved, and youth to connect and gather
- Organizing social events in the community related children, women, elder and youth topic
- Focusing On innovative Solutions to help increase investment in research, technology that improve access to care for all.
The success of DWF can be attributed to community partners and the individuals that volunteer their time and resources to help make it a reality.
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Recent Blog
Heart Disease and Stress: Work,Life And Balance
Although stress can sometimes be a good thing, too much stress can actually harm your health and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. Many life events such as beginning or leaving school, moving, changing jobs, and experiencing losses can cause stress. however, day to day chronic stress can often cause a greater negative impact on health than do more acute, traumatic events – which generally have a start point and an end point. Dealing with things such as daily traffic hassles, finishing homework assignments, or facing constant deadlines can cause more harm. studies have also shown that chronic stress is often associated with much higher risks of cardiovascular disease. this occurs because of a compromised immune system. humans experience stress, or perceive things as stressful, when they do not believe they can cope with what they are facing. symptoms may include a sense of being overwhelmed, irritable, insecure, nervous, lack of appetite, experiencing panic attacks, exhaustion, skin rashes, insomnia, migraine, or digestive symptoms. it may also cause more serious conditions such as heart problems – as some people with prolonged or high levels of stress may have higher blood cholesterol, increased blood pressure, or be more prone to developing atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries). People under chronic stress are prone to more frequent and severe viral infections, such as the flu or common cold – and vaccines such as the flu shot are less effective for them.
If your life is stressful, it can be difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle, however, there are lots of ways to relieve the stress you may be feeling; talk to friends and family, take time for yourself, laugh, eat well, and take vacations. Being physically active is a great stress reliever too. Be sure to talk to your physician before starting any activity program.
long-term exposure to stress can also lead to mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.#Dilwalk
Why Is Breakfast The Most Important Meal Of The Day?
During a busy morning, it’s easy to let breakfast fall low in your list of priorities, but taking just a few minutes to have something to eat can really make a difference to your day. If you don’t have time to eat before leaving the house, we have lots of breakfast ideas that can be eaten on-the-go or when you get to work.
Breakfast provides many benefits to our health and wellbeing Breakfast provides the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast – that’s where its name originates, breaking the fast! Without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the car with no petrol!
Nutritionists advise:
- Breakfast should be eaten within two hours of waking
- A healthy breakfast should provide calories in the range of 20-35% of your guideline daily allowance(GDA).
Apart from providing us with energy, breakfast foods are good sources of important nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins as well as protein and fibre. The body needs these essential nutrients and research shows that if these are missed at breakfast, they are less likely to be compensated for later in the day. Fruit and vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals so try to include a portion of your daily five at breakfast, whether that be a banana or glass of fruit juice.
Breakfast can be good for waistline too, research shows those who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight and more likely to be within their ideal weight range compared with breakfast skippers. If you skip breakfast, you’re more likely to reach for high sugar and fatty snacks mid-morning.
Cognitive function:
Breakfast also restores glucose levels, an essential carbohydrate that is needed for the brain to function. Many studies have shown how eating breakfast can improve memory and concentration levels and it can also make us happier as it can improve mood and lower stress levels. In studies amongst children, breakfast can improve attainment, behaviour and has been linked to improved grades. Just like any other organ in the body, the brain needs energy to work at it’s best!
Energy needs:
People’s energy needs vary depending on activity levels and life stage but typically men require more energy than women. Growing children require a lot of energy, as an example boys aged 7-10yrs should consume approx. 1970 kcals per day, and girls aged 7-10yrs should consume approx. 1740 kcals. For adults, men require approx. 2500 kcals and women approx. 2000 kcals per day.
Long term health:
EATING BREAKFAST HAS LONG TERM HEALTH BENEFITS. IT CAN REDUCE OBESITY, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART DISEASE AND DIABETES.
So, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day!
How does Saturated Fat affect CHOLESTEROL?
The screening test that is usually performed is a blood test called a lipid profile. The lipoprotein profile includes:
Total cholesterol – a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, including low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.
LDL (Bad Cholesterol) – can build up on the walls of your arteries and increase your chances of getting heart disease, by blocking the arteries. The lower your LDL cholesterol number, the lower your risk.
HDL (Good Cholesterol) – a higher number means lower risk. Protects against heart disease by taking the “bad” cholesterol out of your blood and keeping it from building up in your arteries.
Triglycerides – fats carried in the blood from the food we eat. High triglyceride levels can increase risk of heart disease. Excess calories, alcohol, or sugar in the