Health tips

When people start planning for retirement, they think of the extra time they will have to spend with family, the trips they want to take and other things they can now more easily enjoy. Although they know that health care is an important consideration, many are shocked when they find out just how much health care can cost and how much they may need to pay out of pocket. Many health care needs are not covered by OHIP or through an employer’s health benefits.

As people age, they tend to start thinking about what would happen if they fall ill and about the type of care they would like to receive in their final days. However, depending on your state of health, you may not have the ability to communicate your wishes to medical professionals. To ensure your wishes are carried out, it’s important to have a health care proxy.

When was the last time you went to the eye doctor? If you have kids, when was the last time you took them to get their eyes checked? Even if you have good eyesight and do not currently wear glasses or contact lenses, it’s still important to have your eyes checked regularly by an optometrist, and it’s even more important for children to have regular checkups.

Did you know that tens of thousands of children in Ontario require speech therapy? Most people don’t. However, the waiting lists for in-school speech therapy are extremely long, and many children must wait for months or even years for proper care.

Peanuts are one of the most popular foods in Canada. In a 2015 survey of Canadian consumers, the Peanut Bureau of Canada found that “95 per cent eat peanuts and 96 per cent eat peanut butter; 79 per cent eat peanut butter at least once per week. The average Canadian eats nearly 3 kg of peanuts per year!”

Alzheimer’s disease affects hundreds of thousands of Canadians and their families. It’s a debilitating disease that progressively deteriorates a person’s mental capacity and commonly starts to show its signs in people of middle age or older.