Healthy Lifestyles Workshops for Moms and Families: Health Ambassadors offered a variety of healthy-lifestyle-promotion events and activities to the mothers and families attending the Onward Willow Centre in Guelph. They utilized their command of seven languages to contact and invite a wide variety of attendees, and created an atmosphere where women of diverse cultures would feel comfortable asking questions and trying out the exercise sessions.

The activities were fun and accessible, and were peppered with educational components covering the risk factors for stroke and the importance of long-term healthy lifestyle habits. Participants and their children tried yoga, sampled healthy snacks, took group walks, tried out healthy breakfast foods, and discussed ways to introduce healthy changes into their family lives at home.

"We had great music to walk to, and the Ambassadors were very motivating."

"It showed us that we don't need lots of money or resources to keep our family healthy."

"The pedometers were a great resource – participants were really interested in seeing how much exercise they got during an average day. Most were surprised at the lack (of exercise in their day)."

"The key to grabbing the kids' attention was to be excited and interactive."

"We took a holistic approach to stroke prevention, as the majority of women who attended are New Canadians and unaware of (the importance of) prevention. They have limited knowledge of how choices ultimately affect health. (Being able to provide) translation played a large role in the success of this event."

Click here for more information on starting stroke prevention activities in your community.