What does Family Health even mean?  These words are thrown around on the internet, television, radio, billboards – you name it! – and we are bombarded by messages that promise you “Amazing Health Results” if you “Try this” or “Buy that” for the low price of….!  So often, the health information that we use for ourselves and for our families is the advice that has managed to make itself into mainstream media in the loudest and most repetitive way. But does that make it the BEST information??

Let’s agree that it is AWESOME that there is more and more information available because research into all areas of health and wellness is growing at a tremendous rate.  But as always, more choice often brings with it more confusion.  Then you add the fact that EVEYONE says they are an expert in EVERYTHING (when this is obviously not true). In other areas, your choice of action is simple: your car breaks down, call the mechanic; leaky pipe, call the plumber.

But what do you do when your family gets sick, hurts themselves, or goes through a big change or milestone in their life? Your mother tells you to see your family doctor; your best friend says acupuncture is the way to go; and your husband says to visit a naturopathic doctor…HOW FRUSTRATING!

A problem that we come across every-day is that most health professions and their scope of practice (what they do and what they can help with) is largely misunderstood.  This results in Your family not being able to access the health information they need, when they need it.

We wanted to bridge this gap for the families of Peterborough.

ENTER: Peterborough’s Family Health Forum.

This is our new initiative: to introduce Peterborough’s families to the awesome health services that are available in our community, so that our families aren’t left struggling with common health problems.

We wanted to develop a free opportunity for families and parents to access a variety of health professionals, and to educate them about what their roles may be in relation to various topics in family health.

We will be hosting a monthly workshop that will center around a health topic that is commonly misunderstood, a common source of frustration for parents, and relates to family health. We will invite a panel of regulated health professionals to lead the discussion, talk about their role in relation to that topic, and then open up the time for discussion and questions. Any parent or community member is welcome to participate.

We are hoping to provide Peterborough with tools and resources to introduce and foster healthy lifestyles in our community. Our vision is to bridge the gap between reactive health care to proactive health care to enable our families to live their lives with energy and fulfillment. We hope to bring Peterborough the opportunity to connect, learn and build solid connections with other families and the family practice health professionals who serve them.

Real information for real health problems for real families!

Check out our Facebook page HERE and keep with our workshops.

We hope you can join us at our first workshop on April 15, 2015, @ 6pm. The topic will be “Preparing for a Positive Birth Experience”, and our panel will include a Labour and Delivery Nurse, a Doula, a Midwife, a Naturopathic Doctor, and a Chiropractor.

Until next time,

Dr. Brad and Dr. Sarah Wild