News Release-Canadian Frailty Network enlists Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod of BodyBreak to support healthy aging campaign
For Immediate Release
March 23, 2021
Canadian Frailty Network enlists Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod of BodyBreak to support healthy aging campaign
Hal Johnson & Joanne McLeod help Canadians AVOID Frailty & Take Control
(Kingston, Ontario) – Their personas and public service announcements encouraging Canadians to “keep fit and have fun” have left an indelible mark on the health and fitness landscape, and now Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod have partnered with Canada’s only network dedicated to improve the lives of older adults living with frailty, The Canadian Frailty Network (CFN). Together, their goal is to help spread the word that aging is inevitable, but frailty is not.
One in four Canadians between the ages of 65-84 years — that’s 1.6 million people — are living with frailty. In the next 10 years, that number is expected to rise to 2.5 million, placing an already overburdened healthcare system under enormous stress. After almost a decade of frailty research, the Canadian Frailty Network has created a public health strategy using knowledge garnered from researchers across the country, to provide Canadians with evidence-based information on how they can prevent the onset of frailty or mitigate its effects.
The five pillars of the AVOID Frailty-Take Control campaign are Activity and Sleep, Vaccinate, Optimize Medications, Interact and Diet and Nutrition. “As we age,” says Dr. John Muscedere, Scientific Director & CEO of the Canadian Frailty Network, “our body starts to lose its reserve — its ability to fight illness or recover after a fall. We lose muscle mass, flexibility and balance, and can suffer negative side-effects from taking too many medications and having a poor diet. If we do not do anything to combat these elements of aging, we can start a slow decline into frailty which can prevent older adults from being able to perform activities of daily living, and puts them at risk of hospitalization, admission to long-term care or even death when the body encounters a stress like the flu or a fall.”
The AVOID Frailty-Take Control campaign was brought to the attention of Hal and Joanne by Dr. Muscedere. “It was a natural fit,” says Dr. Muscedere. “Hal and Joanne have made such a positive impact on Canadians’ health and fitness for decades we felt they were the perfect partners to convey our message that healthy aging is the key to quality of life for older Canadians. Until now, frailty has been a well-known concept in the world of research, but with the help of Hal and Joanne we are raising awareness amongst the general public, so they have the tools to take control of their own health and wellness as they age.”
Hal and Joanne have worked with Canadian Frailty Network to produce short, easy to digest videos conveying the elements of the AVOID Frailty strategy and promoted the campaign through radio ads and interviews; it has trended on Twitter with the hashtag #FrailtyMatters.
“We see the importance of incorporating all the components of the AVOID strategy more and more as we age. It is never too late to start taking control of your health, which is why we are so excited to partner with CFN and get this message out to all Canadians!”, says the pair.
For media interviews, contact:
CFN Communications
Email: CFNNCEinfo@gmail.com
About the Canadian Frailty Network
Canadian Frailty Network (CFN) is Canada’s sole network devoted to improving care for older Canadians living with frailty and supporting their families and caregivers. We do this by increasing frailty recognition and assessment, increasing evidence for decision-making from the bedside to the policy making level, advancing evidence-based changes to care, training the next generation of care professionals and scientists, and engaging with older adults and caregivers. Canadian Frailty Network is funded by the Government of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. For more information, please visit www.cfn-nce.ca, or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
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