By Olev Edur   Here’s your guide to what we know (and don’t yet know) about the new national dental-care plan Starting this spring, and after much anticipation and speculation, low- and middle-income Canadian seniors will finally have access to a nationwide government-sponsored dental plan. And given the details released in December 2023, the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP) may be much more generous than it was once expected to be. That’s because, unlike the interim Canada Dental Benefit (CDB) introduced last year for children under 12, which was restricted to one or possibly two ..read more

By Rob Lutes   A Member of Parliament and one of the country’s foremost environmental advocates, the leader of the Green Party of Canada reflects on her origins, her accomplishments, and the challenges ahead Where were you born, and where did you grow up? I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. We lived in the same house for 18 years—not in Hartford but in a rural area, a town called Bloomfield. We moved from there when I was 19—my mom and dad had fallen in love with Cape Breton Island, and so my parents and my brother and I and a menagerie of animals all moved to a very small village, Marg ..read more

By Wendy Haaf   Half of Canadians don’t know that 75% of vision loss is preventable and treatable, and just as many don’t know the recommended frequency for eye exams. These findings come from a 2023 online survey conducted on behalf of the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB) and the opto­metric company Specsavers. Even more worrying, while 38% of 1,537 respondents said they were overdue for a checkup, 35% admitted that they’d book an exam only if they were having vision problems. According to the Canadian Association of Optometrists, vision loss doubles your risk for falls and quadruple ..read more

By Olev Edur   It’s no fun, but we’re here to walk you through it Tax-return time is upon us once again and, yes, assembling and completing all those forms can be a perennial headache. Nevertheless, it is an essential inconvenience. If you owe any taxes and don’t file a return, the penalties can be severe. On the other hand, it can be costly not to file simply because your income is low enough that you don’t owe any taxes—you may lose out on thousands of dollars’ worth of credits and benefits including: the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized S ..read more

By Josée Lavigueur, physical education trainer   These two simple exercises will give you stronger arms to help you power through chores and maintain your independence Triceps Toners 1. Hold a light weight or a bottle of water in your right hand. 2. Place your left hand on the back of a stable chair and slightly bend your upper body forward. 3. Lift your right elbow and then extend your arm behind you: make a line as parallel as possible between the floor and the arm you are extending. 4. Keep your back at a slight angle and your head extended. 5. Do four to 12 repetitions slowly and ..read more

By Wendy Haaf   Cooking Up Calm is a booklet developed by Gail Low, an associate professor of nursing and a gerontology researcher, and the Living Well Research Team. It contains tips, strategies and recipes to help reduce anxiety, fear, and loneliness. Like a lot of Canadians, Gail Low found herself responding emotionally to the early days of the COVID lockdown. “I was going stir crazy, and I just felt really helpless,” she says. But as an associate professor of nursing and a gerontology researcher at the University of Alberta, Low was also concerned about how lockdown restrictions might ..read more

By Isabelle Huot   April is Oral Health Month. What better time to adopt these five good eating habits and light up your smile? Add nuts to the menu Nuts are rich in fat and protein, two nutrients that protect teeth. And because they are low in carbohydrates, nuts are less likely than other foods to cause cavities. Finally, their firm texture and high fibre content encourage chewing, which stimulates the production of saliva and neutralizes acidity. That’s it in a nutshell! Put more dairy in your diet Several studies have shown that dairy products help to prevent cavities when consum ..read more

By Lewis Ingram, Hunter Bennett, Saravana Kumar, University of South Australia    You want to work up a sweat and give your heart a run for its money in the comfort of your home, but which equipment is the best option? Here’s what you need to know about cardio equipment before you head out to the stores.  Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, refers to any form of rhythmic physical activity that increases your heart rate and breathing so the heart and lungs can deliver oxygen to the working muscles. Essentially, it’s the type of exercise that gets you huffing and puffing—an ..read more

By Wendy Haaf   For people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), practising tai chi twice a week appears to both moderate the severity of symptoms and reduce the likelihood of complications over the long term. Researchers compared two groups of people with PD: 147 attended tai chi classes for one hour twice a week, while 187 simply continued with their usual care. Over a total follow-up period of more than five years, overall symptoms, movement, balance, and cognition declined more slowly among participants who practised tai chi than among the control group. The tai chi group also had less need ..read more

Making a life with someone can be a challenge, especially when your new flame has children; here’s some expert advice on finding your way  By Caroline Fortin   When their mother or father finds a new partner in life, children—no matter their age— have a new relationship to navigate and so does their new step-parent. Becoming a step-parent brings with it both opportunities and potential difficulties.  Louise, a 53-year-old primary-school teacher and mother, knows something about this. “I lived for 12 years with a man who had two young children: one was four years old, like my dau ..read more