A dozen stalls with a variety of information, giveaways, taster sessions and specialised advice brought the Kiwiana Staff Health Expo at the Great Escape Café in Christchurch Hospital to life on Thursday 1 July.
Expo organisers Stella Howard and Toni Searle from the Health and Safety team and HEAL Facilitator, Hayley Shearer were delighted with the staff turnout. “We realise that some of these stalls may not necessarily fit within an 'evidence based' definition of health provision, but that’s not the point of the day." said Hayley.
The purpose of these expo’s are two-fold:
- Acknowledging how hard CDHB staff work to support the health of the people of Canterbury by offering them well deserved treats based on “what do you want” feedback from staff themselves, and
- Raising awareness of opportunities on and offsite to encourage staff to place as much importance on attending to their own personal health is it’s just as important as their patients.
While the feedback from staff has been very positive about the day, the Health and Safety team are keen to make next year's event even bigger and better. We want to hear from you if you attended, and if you didn’t (we want to know why so we can do something about it next year!)
To have your say, complete the online feedback survey, and for more information about outcomes from the Healthy Expo, see the July issue of the HEAL Newsletter.
If you didn’t get to the day, here’s a summary of the exhibitors:
CDHB Security team
Shaun from CDHB’s Security Services had Security staff members Mark and Peter on hand to show how the CCTV surveillance system works with live footage from some of our sites, some of the equipment used by the Security team and let staff have a go with the metal detectors. On show were the break-a-way techniques which staff showed a lot of interest also.
HEAL
HEAL Facilitator, Hayley Shearer provided an update of nutrition and physical activities opportunities on and off site – onsite Zumba and an Appetite for Life course at ChCh Public are starting soon!!
Averil and Maria, the onsite pilates/yoga instructors provided demonstrations and took registrations for their future classes. Visit the Pilates and Yoga pages for more details.
Sport Canterbury
Sport Canterbury’s Green Prescription Manager, Linda Wensley explained the benefits and various pathways of Green Prescription to a wide range of staff. A number of staff took away various resources including information about the term 3 courses and “have a go session” which start the week beginning 19th July – for more info and to register call 0800 ACTIVE (22 84 33) or visit the Sport Canterbury website.
Jonny Fitzpatrick, the editor of “Inside Sport Canterbury” spoke about this FREE e-publication produced by Sport Canterbury each month, which profiles local Canterbury sports and sportspeople, from the grassroots through the elite levels. It is also an opportunity for Sport Canterbury to inform the community of what they do and projects that they are involved with.
To subscribe, visit the Inside Sport website then click on on the link 'Subscribe for Free and Win' button to subscribe for free. If you have any friends, family, team mates or colleagues who may be interested, then click the Send to a Friend link and invite them to join too.
City Fitness
On Moorhouse Ave, this is one of the two closest fitness facilities to the ChCh campus site which have corporate benefits for CDHB staff - check out the CDHB Intranet under HR department for the special discounts available. Jeremy, one of the trainers from City Fitness, provided free postural checks for staff, while Tanya, a membership consultant, explained to opportunities. A prize draw for a three-month membership was also provided - Corinne Treacy from Respiratory Outreach was the lucky recipient.
Community and Public Health
This stand was co-ordinated by Ann Vanschevensteen (Health Promoter) with representatives from the Smokefree team (Sue Stevenson and Angela Luhrs) and Te Puawaitanga Ki Otautahi (Carol Bartle) providing information. There was lots of discussion and many quit cards were dispensed throughout the day.
Meg Christie (Active Environments Co-ordinator) demonstrated to staff how to use the bus bike racks and provided info on active transport including Council cycle maps, items from our travel plan to encourage active transport and car pooling etc.
On behalf of Steven Muir from Medical Physics and Bioengineering Department, Meg also demonstrated bike trailers that enable you to do almost all of your load-carrying jobs around the city by bike rather than taking a car, and gave staff the opportunity to make their own free banana smoothies on the bike blender - thanks to Medirest who provided the milk and bananas!
Minifies Beauty Therapists
This stand included a selection of products and services which included makeovers for special occasions, weddings, makeup lessons, and general makeup advice.
Christchurch City Council Recreation and Sports Unit
The Council's Community Recreation Advisors and Leisure Centre staff were available to discuss recreation in the community, whether it be inside one of the Council facilities, outside in the park or with your local club. The display included a range of information about how to get active including the Active Canterbury directory of clubs (www.activecanterbury.org.nz), information about great walks around Christchurch and cycling maps of routes around town. All these brochures can be found at your local Christchurch City Library and many are online from the CCC website.
There was information on ZUMBA and other group exercise classes available at the Council Leisure Centres. Memberships are flexible from casual classes to the NEW 3 month membership. For the staff's children there was information about the Council's eight Holiday Programmes, the Southern Centre (multi-sensory experience) and SwimSmart learn to swim programmes which run right through the winter.
There were 37 entrants in the 'Push Play' competition where we asked 'Mow many minutes a day should you Push Play?'. 30 minutes was the answer and the following 5 winners have been sent a Push Play prize pack which included an adult swim pass, child swim and hydro slide pass, and shoe bag: Cawl Groves, Sandra Beckingham, Marie L'Estrange, Judy Firestone, and Stewart Kendall.
Positive Touch - the Workplace Massage Specialists
Some very well deserved neck and shoulder massage took place in this corner! Shoulders were visably relaxed as the three massage specialists gave a little 'hands-on' attention. People left this booth looking a little dishevelled and a whole lot happier.
For more information, contact Positive Touch on (03) 383 4942.
Orbit Travel
The Orbit Travel team were on hand to explain the fantastic benefits & discounts that are available to all CDHB staff for their personal overseas travel. Orbit had a great supply of brochures on a number of destinations and products to inspire staff for their next holiday. They also provided a wheelie cabin bag and backpack as well as some travel treats as a prize on the day.
- If you are planning a holiday in the future give the team a call – 339 3440
- CDHB staff can also receive regular travel updates from Orbit. Subscribe by emailing orbitholidays@orbit.co.nz
YMCA
The Christchurch YMCA has two gym facilities and offers a wide range of fitness programmes. The City Y is literally just a stone's throw away from Christchurch Hospital, whilst the new Bishopdale Y, boasts a spacious purpose-built studio with the latest Life Fitness cardio and strength equipment. A static display and medical quiz (which stumped a few of the staff) was provided by Paul Dunn and Jen Licari. Everyone who completed the form correctly went into the draw for a free 6 month membership at the Y, and the winner, Fiona Furness is now up and running at the Y.
Molemap
Literature and photos were on hand for staff as well as a Dermalite so people could have a close up look at their moles. A competition was also run to win a free Molemap; congratulations to the lucky winner Yvonne Thorpe.
Last updated: 21 July 2010