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 | COMMUNITY GIVING | |
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 | Building Healthier Communities Community Giving in Canada Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia (Halifax) A donation from Manulife to the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia will support the construction of residences for mental health patients transitioning from hospital into the community. Programs and support delivered by professional staff will be aimed at building the confidence and skills these patients need to successfully integrate back into society. Currently many patients are receiving treatment and trying to recover in overcrowded, sub-standard facilities - surroundings that would be considered inadequate for patients who are receiving treatment and recovering from other illnesses. There is a tremendous gap between the acute care offered to mental health patients in a hospital setting and the support they receive once they are discharged. The donation from Manulife will go a long way in addressing this gap for many of Nova Scotia’s mental health patients. Montreal Heart Institute At the Montreal Heart Institute the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is more than just a time-worn saying. The Institute’s prevention and rehabilitation centre, called EPIC, is the largest of its kind in Canada. A donation from Manulife to the Montreal Heart Institute will help EPIC carry out its mandate to prevent heart disease and rehabilitate those living with it by contributing to primary and secondary prevention services and research. Primary prevention services target people who do not have heart disease or cardiac problems, yet wish to maintain or improve their heart health. Secondary prevention services are geared toward preventing complications in those who have experienced heart disease or cardiac problems and providing them with rehabilitation services. The EPIC centre also gives researchers access to the largest fitness centre in Canada for coronary patients, allowing them to conduct clinical research projects in primary and secondary prevention. Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada Manulife joins other leading Canadian businesses, doctors, researchers and individuals across Canada to support the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada’s endMS fundraising campaign. As a leader in MS research, the MS Society is answering the need to enhance MS research in Canada. The endMS campaign represents an immediate, dedicated investment not only in advancing Canada’s leadership position in finding a cure, but in capitalizing on this opportunity to emerge even stronger as a community of researchers. The endMS campaign will raise $60 million to recruit, train, support and retain the next generation of MS researchers in Canada, and to accelerate their research activities to find a cure and improved treatments for MS. For people living with MS, this campaign enhances the hope that a future free from MS is an achievable goal. Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (Toronto) The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at Toronto General Hospital houses the largest cardiac program in Canada and it received a significant boost to its Mechanical Heart Program with a donation from Manulife. The Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is one of the few major heart transplant centres in North America that has the critical mass of expertise and resources necessary to truly impact the way heart failure is treated through the use of artificial hearts and by performing heart transplants. Many patients with sudden or longstanding heart failure die while waiting for a transplant. In many cases these deaths, otherwise preventable through heart transplantation, occur because of a shortage of suitable heart donors. Mechanical hearts can support a failing heart for months or years until its function recovers or until a donor heart is available for transplantation. St. Mary’s Hospital (Kitchener-Waterloo) At St. Mary’s Hospital, Manulife funding has established a special step-down unit within its Coronary Care Unit (CCU). The step-down unit allows cardiac staff to transfer patients from the most critical care area of CCU to an environment where resources better match the level of care required. The step-down unit operates on a 3-to-1 patient-to-nurse ratio, below the 2-to-1 ratio of the CCU, but well above the typical 5-to-1 ratio found in an in-patient unit. It ensures CCU beds are being used for only the most critically ill cardiac patients. Grant MacEwan College (Edmonton) A donation to Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton established the Manulife Endowment in Psychiatric Nursing. This fund will provide two annual Psychiatric Nursing Leadership Awards for the top two second-year students in the Psychiatric Nursing program. In addition, it will fund specialized professional development for students of the program, including workshops, conferences, seminars and research opportunities. Registered Psychiatric Nurses are the largest group of health care professionals in the mental health field. With psychiatric nursing recognized as a distinct profession in Western Canada and many other countries, RPNs are valued health team partners in today’s complex health care environment. Alzheimer Society of BC (Vancouver) Manulife’s donation to the Alzheimer Society of BC provides funding for a much-needed education and support program for caregivers of those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. With more than 64,000 people in British Columbia affected by Alzheimer’s disease and 14,000 new cases each year, the number of caregivers living with the stress and uncertainty of caring for their loved ones is also on the increase. A series of free workshops provide caregivers with information about Alzheimer’s disease and offers strategies and support to help manage the emotional toll this progressive disease has on families. |
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