“pchs is proud to

receive the CARF

Accreditation

Award with no

recommenda-

tions!”

- Baldev Mutta, CEO

CARF Awards pchs Three Year Accreditation - June

2016

- Message from Baldev Mutta, CEO

I am extremely pleased to announce that the CARF accreditation

results have been received announcing a 3 year CARF accredita-

tion award to pchs with No Recommendations!!!.

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities

(CARF) surveys 7034 organizations in 20 countries and only

three (3) percent of all organizations surveyed have achieved this

level of recognition.

Given the scope of this review which included personal interviews

with all stakeholders and examination of the Agency's vast num-

ber of policies and practices by CARF surveyors, I think this is a

remarkable achievement and a credit to every person affiliated

with pchs. Everyone in the organization should be proud of this

external review which validates our commitment to the clients we

serve and to the dedicated workers who provide such valuable

services in the community.

While pchs is honored with no recommendations, it understands

that the work does not stop here and will continue to invest in a

competent, quality driven and person focused organization.

Punjabi Community Health Services Monthly Newsletter July 2016

Seniors Korner

pchs Seniors of Mississauga go for Preventive

Measures

–By Mulkh Raj Monga, Member, pchs Sahara Seniors Group,

Mississauga

The world is beautiful, this notion causes excitement in everybody’s

mind, particularly among seniors that enjoy the beauty of the world

in which one has to be physically fit and mentally alert. The prime

objective of pchs is also to design a wellness program for seniors

to ameliorate physical, mental and spiritual development. During

the month of May & June, the seniors’ wellness program was as

follows:

SOCIALIZATION: pchs Seniors Wellness Program is every

week on Thursday from 12 noon to 3:00 pm. First 15 minutes are

utilized for interaction among themselves like chatting, information

sharing, and enquiry about family wellbeing. It is a sort of socializa-

tion and that leads to personal happiness for every senior.

YOG: Which is now pronounced Yoga is practiced for full one

hour. TEJWANT KAUR who is fully trained and expert in yoga con-

ducts this session. She is herself senior who appears 10-15 years

younger than her age. Tejwant conducts only those exercises

which are mild in nature & beneficial to seniors. Along with physical

exercise, she conducts Breathing Yoga, Laughing Yoga, and Yoga

for Eyes and Meditation. Lastly it is followed by prayer to God for

well fare for the humanity.

“Socialization

leads to personal

happiness…”

Women from the pchs Sen-

iors Wellness Program with

staff Gulwinder Bhui (second

from left) during the Mental

Health Forum 2016.

Yoga in its various forms is practiced during the pchs Seniors Wellness Groups.

“As we ad-

vance in age,

memory loss

is gradual but

if one is living

a stressful life

then memory

loss is also

rapid.”

Mulkh Raj Monga is an

active member of pchs

Sahara Seniors Group,

Mississauga.

KNOWLEDGE IS EMPOWERMENT: Canadian experts in various

fields are engaged every month to discuss treatment choices for various

ailments to help seniors manage their health. During these two months

Dental, Heart &Stroke and Conservancy experts discussed treatment

choices on all issues in detail relating to these fields. Almost all seniors

listened tentatively to the advice of experts and learned preventive

measures to overcome the ailments.

FESTIVAL CELEBRATION: Generally community festivals bring lot

of colors in life. Houses and surrounding areas are cleaned as well as

decorated. People wear colorful dresses. Fine tasty cuisines are pre-

pared and enjoyed by all. Seniors had fun celebrating Baisakhi, Mothers

Day, Fathers Day and other festivals in these two months. Talented peo-

ple sang songs, danced and entertained with their jokes. Contributory

lunch was arranged where all seniors participated.

MENTAL ACTIVITIES: As we advance in age, memory loss is grad-

ual but if one is living a stressful life then memory loss is also rapid. But

here in our seniors’ wellness program, all those activities relating to brain

and memory enhancement are taken care of: such as Crossword puz-

zles, Spot the Differences, Reverse Word Search etc. Moreover every-

one is requested to participate to describe some interesting anecdotes

that they have experienced.

MISSISSAUGA VALLEY: Shumaila, the group coordinator, in con-

sultation with seniors held the last session of the month of June at Mis-

sissauga Valley. Half of the Valley area is covered with beautiful natural

forest where a small river flows and is a home for various types of birds.

The other half of the valley area is well developed & occupied by com-

munity center attached with library and a huge parking lot; a big play

ground, drinking water, washrooms, open and covered area for picnic.

pchs Seniors enjoyed picnic type session on June 30th 2016 . They

participated in Yoga, played games where winners got prizes, and en-

joyed lunch. Birthday was celebrated of those seniors who were born in

the months of May & June. Birthday cake was cut and all sang birthday

song to create lovely atmosphere.

GENERAL AWARENESS: Almost all Canadian seniors are now

quite knowledgeable & aware of various health benefits as well as com-

munity support services . This is due to everyday cultural and social cues

that encourage us to face and fight the aging process. We are bombard-

ed with images of physical & mental deterioration that portray aging as

the tragic loss of ability and independence. Thus, it is up to the seniors

to take initiative and avail the wonderful facilities and services available

to them.

Canada Day Celebration by Mayfield Progressive Seniors

Club

-By Geriatrics Team

On July 24th, 2016, a Canada Day Celebration was organized by May-

field Progressive Seniors Club. Anu Randhawa, Director of Operations,

Jagdish Grewal, and Manjeet Sahota, Program Support Workers-

Geriatrics attended the event.

This was a large scale community event which was organized very well.

The event included speakers like Ruby Sahota, MP Harinder Malhi, MPP

and Raj Grewal, MP.

The event also included appreciation of organization of senior activities

and programs in the Malton area. pchs supports these grassroots level

initiatives as it contributes towards the vision of having an empowered

community by helping our seniors to create awareness and education at

a broader level.

Settlement Korner

Eliminating new entrant and re-entrant rules

The Government amended the rules to eliminate the higher EI eligibility requirements that restricted

access for new entrants and re-entrants to the labor market. Under the previous rules, new en-

trants and re-entrants to the labour market had to accumulate at least 910 hours of insurable em-

ployment before being eligible for EI regular benefits.

As of July 3, 2016, new entrants and re-entrants now face the same eligibility requirements as oth-

er claimants in the region where they live (between 420 hours to 700 hours of insurable employ-

ment).

Source: http://www.esdc.gc.ca/en/ei/entrant_reentrant.page

This information is received from the Government of Canada website. Please follow the website

link mentioned above for more information or contact PCHS settlement counsellors at 905-677-

0889.

Mental Health and Addictions Korner

Mental Health Forum July 10, 2016

-By Sumit Rai, Program Support Worker

pchs held their 3rd

Annual Mental Health Forum on July 10, 2016.

We were extremely pleased to have the high number of attendance

from our service users, friends, family members and respective col-

laborators. Community members were able to receive education

about mental health issues in order to help defeat the stigma that

currently exists in our communities.

The event started with a a documentary, Haneri, portraying the ef-

fects of mental health stigma on youth in the South Asian communi-

ty. This was followed by a panel discussion and poetry by one of our

clients. The attendees also participated in guided meditation yoga

organized by Sumit Rai, Program Support Worker. The event also

had an external presentation by South Asian Autism Awareness

Centre. The Mental Health team would like to thank all attendees,

guests, presenters and staff for making this event a great success.

Thank you!

Mental Health Team (from left):Sumit Rai, Mandeep Grewal, Aman Virk, Teena Bhuchar, Harpreet Dhami, Amrit Sidhu and Ajeesh Jacob

Bake Sale at the Mental

Health Forum garnered

interest from all. The

baked goodies were

home made by our staff

and the proceeds went

towards ‘Langar on

Wheels’ a pchs initiative

to support seniors to live

independently.

From left: Amanjit Kahlon and

Uzma Irfan at the Bake Sale

table.

Effects of Marijuana on Teens

What is marijuana?

Marijuana is a mixture of dried and shredded parts of the flower cannabis sativa

It’s colour can be green, brown, or grey

Marijuana contained chemicals called “delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol” (THC)

Marijuana contains about 400 other chemicals which could also af-fect your health

Symptoms of Use

Researchers at Northwestern Medicine found:

“Teens who smoked marijuana daily for about three years had abnor-

mal changes in their brain structures related to working memory and

performed poorly on memory tasks”

“Along with abnormalities in brain structure they also identified memory

problems two years after the heavy marijuana users had stopped

smoking”

“Memory-related structures in their brains appeared to shrink and col-

lapse inward, reflecting a possible decrease in neuron volume”

“These findings indicate that there could be long-term detriments of

chronic marijuana use as a teenager”

When teens use marijuana regularly, they may crave marijuana and

give up important activities to use marijuana. Some teens make the

mistake of believing that marijuana can help reduce issues with ADHD

or anxiety, and improve their focus in school. But in truth, adolescents

who use marijuana an have:

Increased difficulty memorizing things

Distorted thinking and perception (exaggerating or irrational thoughts)

Hallucinations

Paranoia

Anxiety

Depression

A permanent decrease in IQ

School failure or drop out

Rapid, loud talking and bursts of laughter and early stages of intoxication

Sleepiness in later stages/Dizziness

Lack of coordination and concentration

Forgetfulness

Inflammation/redness in the whites of the eyes

Distinct odor on clothing and breath

Acting silly for no reasons

Craving for sweets /Increased appetite

For more information contact Sandeep Gill, Addictions Case Manager, Punjabi Community Health Services at 905-677-0889.

(Source: This article has been compiled by sources available on the internet including www.psychologytoday.com)

Events

CAN-SIKH FESTIVAL-Booth Display by pchs

JULY 10, 2016

-By Tarandeep Gabi, Caregiver Support Worker

The event went well. As the day passed by many people started

to show up. In the morning they had started out with races. Later

on they started the soccer matches. Towards the end of the

event they had kabaddi and wrestling tournaments. many peo-

ple attend our booth for information. The overall event had prob-

ably 300 people. The event was successful due to the communi-

ty's turnout. The event also highlighted the number of parents

involving their kids in soccer and other sports. For the wrestling

tournament they had guests from USA who coach wrestling.

Can-Sikh hopes to partner up with them to enhance their wres-

tling program. For pchs this was a great opportunity to reach out

to our community and create awareness on available services.

Upcoming

Events

See you all

there!

“a VOICE from

pchs’ heart to

our readers’

hearts...”

Editorial

Team

Sapeet Sangha

Aditi Juneja

Navleen Arora

Pushpreet Dhillon

A message from pchs Editorial Team:

A very warm welcome to our dedicated readers!!

pchs Editorial Team would like to deeply thank you

for staying tuned with us every month and making our

newsletter a grand success.

Your continuous love and support has finally made us

redefine our newsletter as “a VOICE from pchs’ heart

to our readers’ hearts”. Therefore, we are back again

with our very new but still very authentic look. Hope

you are all loving it!!

We strive to continue making endless efforts to build

and maintain this strong connection with you by updat-

ing our readers with all the current news associated

with our organization, community and much much

more.

So Dear Readers, once again…

……..STAY TUNED FOR MORE!!