Dr. Brian Goldman, the Power of Kindness and the use of validation to help those with dementia

Last night Dr. Brian Goldman was at the Rady Centre in Winnipeg to talk about his new book The Power of Kindness. The book explores the nature of empathy - the ability to sense, feel and understand the emotions of others and to respond to them. The book devotes one chapter to exploring an approach to individuals with dementia called validation. Dr. Goldman visits Country Meadows in Leader Heights in south-central Pennsylvania. The centre uses the "validation" approach to communicating with those with dementia. It was developed by Naomi Feil and has been shown to be a way to communicate with those with dementia - to help them - and to enable them to be calm instead of agitated. To better understand how it works you will need to read the book. As Dr. Goldman says "Kindness does not cost anything, but it means everything."

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Comparison between Manitoba and South Dakota shows dramatic impact of Physical Distancing

Manitoba implemented physical distancing measures in mid-March. South Dakota has still not made physical distancing mandatory. The result is a dramatic difference in the incidence of covid-19 viral infections between the two jurisdictions. This graph shows the number of people with Covid-19 infections from March 27 to April 14. Manitoba ( red line ) started leveling off about April 4 and has seen only a small increase in Covid-19 infections since then. South Dakota ( blue line ) has seen a dramatic increase in Covid-19 infections since April 4. Those who are skeptical of the impact of physical distancing in Manitoba should look at this graph! Data are from the Johns Hopkins daily tabulations

Pushing for safe consumption sites and safe supply to reduce overdose deaths

On Monday June 20th, Thomas Linner of the Manitoba Health Coalition, Arlene Last-Kolb Regional Director of Moms Stop the Harm and Winnipeg City Councillor Sherri Rollins were at the Manitoba Legislature to advocate for better measures to reduce deaths from drug overdoses, most particularly for safe consumption sites and for a safe supply, measures which can reduce overdose deaths.

There is an imperative to have a provincial plan to ensure every child learns to read

Too many Manitoba children with learning disabilities like dyslexia are not being identified and helped early on starting in Kindergarten and grades 1 and 2. The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that it is the provinces responsibility to ensure that every child learns to read, and even when, in the case of a child with dyslexia intensive intervention is needed. In 12 years Manitoba has failed to produce a provincial plan to address this issue. We are holding a Forum (see below) on this subject. Please come out to the Forum. There is no cost. Everyone is welcome. To learn more about the need to do better helping children, youth and adults with a learning disability click on this link

The Gerrard Report

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