Nourish
Intended Audience
All members including people living with cancer, family members and significant caregivers.
Program Description
Life after cancer is an enlightened journey, often including a renewed commitment to health, diet and nutrition. This program, taught by a Registered Dietitian, offers a wide range of information and advice about food and eating, with an emphasis on providing essential tools to optimize health and promote longevity. As always, when food is the focus, comfort and joy are top priorities since food not only nourishes the body, it feeds the mind and soul as well. A special session is offered at the South Health Campus Wellness Centre ‘For Cancer Treatment Recovery and People with Eating Challenges’. As well, a Young Adult session is offered from time to time.
“Hands-on cooking, good team work, good instructor and a great meal.”
“Very enjoyable and educational.”
“Healthy food can be fun, interesting and delectable. It’s more fun to cook in a group – we had a ball!”
Benefits and Impact
Recent literature has identified that nutrition-related information support is a common need among people living with cancer (Fletcher et al., 2017). Wellspring Alberta’s Food and Nutrition program is designed to provide nutritional support to members through cancer-focused, dietician-led information sessions and hands-on cooking. The European Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition recommends nutritional interventions for all cancer patients, as this type of support has been demonstrated to improve quality of life and nutritional awareness (Muscaritoli et al., 2021). Furthermore, a study investigating a similar nutrition program in cancer patients noted improvements in social relationships and emotional support following the intervention (Ben-Arye et al., 2016).
What to Expect at a Session
Topics change each season and all sessions will be partnered with a lecture, of which the following ‘Nourish’ sessions were developed by the Wellspring Centre for Innovation in Toronto: ‘Beans and Grains’, ‘Myths and Controversies’, ‘Adding Flavour to Food’, and ‘Super Healthy Strategies’. Facilitators are experienced dieticians and members are welcome to ask questions.
