Seniors talk sleep in Shawville

Seniors talk sleep in Shawville

An expert from the Royal Ottawa Hospital gave a seminar on sleep at St. Paul’s Anglican Church hall in Shawville on Thursday morning (December 5), and despite the subject matter there was barely a yawn from the audience.

The event was a collaboration between Connexions Resource Centre, a non-profit organization that promotes health and well-being for  English-speakers in the Outaouais, and Les Amis du Pontiac, a local group that supports various social initiatives in the area.

The guest speaker, Stuart Fogel, is the Director of Sleep Neuroscience at the Royal’s Institute for Mental Health Research, as well as an associate professor at the University of Ottawa. His presentation gave attendees an overview of what sleep is, how to improve “sleep hygeine” and how sleep patterns change as we age.

He explained that sleep isn’t as well understood as other areas of medical science and can have profound impacts on overall health.

Fogel also spoke about some of his research into the effects of sleep on cognitive decline and dementia.

Connexions community outreach coordinator Shelly Heaphy said that their collaboration was a success, and said that they had ideas about offering further talks targeted at different audiences.