MONTREAL -- A free, online health program is being opened to Canadians to help them stay active as the COVID-19 pandemic forces people indoors.
The program helps participants reduce stress levels, exercise safely and eat healthier. Users interact with content through short messages in the form of tips and tricks sent to their email, which are also available on the website.
“We ran a COVID-19 homebound resiliency challenge in March, and we’re about to do another one in April because of the backlog,” said Dr. Steven Grover from the McGill Comprehensive Health Improvement Program (CHIP).
Professionals at the CHIP have been finding ways to help different groups with wellness for about eight years. Grover noted that they usually don’t run the same challenge twice.
“Every six weeks, we run a new mission based on the sort of feedback we get, what are the issues we’re trying to tackle at that moment," he said.
The program they’re opening to Canadians, called the Homebound Resiliency Mission, was originally created for veterans.
“If you think about it, at the moment, other Canadians are under many of the same challenges that veterans and their families are facing, so it’s a perfect fit,” Grover said. Challenges include mental health issues, chronic pain, and being stuck in small towns.
Since movement has become restricted for many people lately, the CHIP felt this would be a good time to support healthy habits.
“One of the things that’s in this homebound resiliency challenge is what we call mindful eating, or a way to develop some very simple mindful techniques to help you understand ‘am I really hungry right now, or am I just eating out of boredom’,” Grover said. “People on average lost a half a pound a week.”
Grover explained sedentary lifestyles coupled with certain eating habits could have detrimental effects on people.
“We know the impact of being homebound, and the impact that’s going to have on weight gain and lack of exercise is actually going to be far more devastating from a health perspective than the COVID virus itself,” he said, noting that a person with pre-diabetes who has a tendency towards high blood sugar is at risk of becoming diabetic if they aren't moving as much as they normally do.
“It’s going to push a lot of people over the top,” he said.
People tend to participate better when they join with friends and family members, Grover said. A quarter of the people who register never pass the starting point.
“The insights and the camaraderie and the social support that people give each other is one of the things that keeps people coming back, it’s sort of like joining a running group,” Grover said. He suggests joining as a family, with friends or with coworkers. Participants can upload photos and track their progress on the website.
The program can be completed either indoors or outdoors from a safe social distance. Results from former missions show that participants increase their daily physical activity by 30 per cent and reduce their stress levels by about 20 per cent.
Registration for the upcoming program will open on April 20, and the program itself is set to begin on April 27.
