Healthy Communities | MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital

Health Within Reach is an ongoing series of free talks, classes, demonstrations and healthy lifestyle options offered by the MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Center for Community Health & Wellness.

Call 207-373-6585 to learn more.

Ounce of Prevention is monthly series that provides education about health and health care topics. It's held on the second Monday or Tuesday of the month, from 11 am to noon. Sponsored by MaineHealth Geriatric Care Brunswick, the series is free and open to the public.

Call 207-721-1278 to learn more.

Through the Maine Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed), MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital offers classes to help low-income families make healthier choices. SNAP-Ed teaches adults, children and families how to shop, cook and eat healthy while on a budget, and learn how to be physically active. Available classes include:

• Cooking classes for families, parents, and teens
• Grocery store tours to learn how to shop healthy on a budget
• Nutrition classes that focus on how to prepare, shop, and cook healthy on a budget
• Classes for kids to learn about and taste new fruits and vegetables

We provide classes in places that are easy for individuals who are eligible for SNAP to attend. This may be in a school, worksite, food pantry, low-income housing facility, Head Start center, childcare facility, grocery store or regional Department of Health and Human Services office.

Email mainesnap-ed@une.edu or call 207-221-4560 for more information.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, religious creed, disability, age, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g. Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.), should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, (AD-3027) found online at: http://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Maine SNAP-Ed is funded by the USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is administered by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and implemented statewide by the University of New England (UNE) through contracts with local community organizations. Maine SNAP-Ed educates low-income families on low cost, healthy eating and active lifestyles. 

 

Adult Mental Health

Mindfulness is an awareness that arises by intentionally paying attention to the present moment. Mindfulness has been studied for a range of medical and psychological conditions such as chronic pain, anxiety, diabetes, depression, cancer, heart disease and stress. Recognizing the many physical and emotional health benefits, MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital offers a variety of wellness programs to assist community members of all levels with initiating and maintaining a mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

It is normal to experience stress in your daily life. How you choose to respond to that stress determines its impact on your overall health and well-being. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an educational program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. The curriculum is designed to help participants cultivate mindfulness through direct practice in meditation, mindful movement, instruction, and conversation. MBSR is an eight-week course taught in 2.5-hour, weekly group classes and one six-hour weekend retreat. Participants are also encouraged to complete approximately 45 minutes of home practice per day.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Continuing Practice

These one-hour, monthly classes provide an opportunity for continued teacher-led practice and reflection for those who have already completed the 8-week MBSR program. Classes will focus on guided practice (mindful movement, sitting meditation, walking meditation, the body scan), discussion of the practice and its relevance to our lives, and support for continued home practice.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens

Seven-week training designed to reduce stress and anxiety symptoms, improve general mental health, and increase the coping skills of youth to manage daily stress.

Mindful Morning Mini Retreats

These 3-hour mini retreats will provide an introduction to mindfulness for the beginner and an opportunity for those with all levels of experience to deepen practice. Mindfulness-based exercises, meditation and movement (stretches and gentle yoga) will be combined with discussion of the principles of mindfulness and its relevance to stress in our lives.

Weekly Meditation Sessions

These half-hour drop-in classes provide an opportunity for mindfulness practice for all levels of experience. Practices will change from week to week and may include mindful movement (gentle stretches and yoga), sitting meditation, walking meditation and the body scan. There is no need to register and prior experience is not required. Just join us in the middle of the day for an opportunity to pause, notice and reflect.

Summer Meditation Sessions - Free
One-hour mindfulness practice sessions outside among the beautiful pines on the MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital campus. Each session consists of mindful stretching, walking in nature, meditation and discussion. Beginners welcome! Seating will be provided, but feel free to bring your favorite outdoor chair. Limited to 20 participants per session. Registration is required.

• When: Wednesdays at 5:30 pm; Saturdays at 9 am
• Where: MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Center for Community Health & Wellness, 329 Maine Street, Brunswick
• Email: Meghan Perham
• Phone: 207-373-6585

Youth Mental Health

Through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital–in partnership with NAMI Maine–provides free youth mental health first aid education to our community, including all our middle and high schools. Specifically designed for people who interact with youth ages 12-18, this nationally certified program is packed with information designed to help you identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health concerns.

Youth Mental Health First Aid class helps people understand typical adolescent development and signs and symptoms of potential mental health concerns. Topics are well researched, the lessons are easy to follow, and the format addresses both stigma and how nonprofessionals can help. The eight-hour course results in a three-year national certification as a Youth Mental Health First Aider. Sub-pay/stipends are available for middle and high school teachers.

Join a Youth Mental Health First Aid Training Session

Youth Mental Health First Aid is designed to teach anyone who regularly interacts with youth how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge or is in crisis. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youths, reviews typical adolescent development and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD) and eating disorders. After completing this course, you will be able to recognize the signs of a teen who is experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge or who is in crisis, and know how best to respond and connect them with help.

To register for the next free training session, call 207-373-6925 or email MidCoastCHI@mainehealth.org.

Additional Resources:

• NAMI Maine Support Groups
• MaineHealth Behavioral Health Care
   

MaineHealth Behavioral Health Substance Use Treatment Damariscotta/Brunswick is nationally recognized for our high-quality, confidential treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. We have a proven track record of helping community members overcome the challenges of alcohol and drug use. Our caring and compassionate staff is here to help individuals return to a healthy lifestyle. Every call is answered, and no one is ever turned away.

Learn more about our nationally-recognized substance use treatment services.

Healthy Weight for a Lifetime

The Healthy Weight for a Lifetime program focuses on creating a long-term solution for weight loss by addressing the emotional, physical and nutritional issues contributing to obesity. This 10-week mindful living program uses a multidisciplinary approach that includes:

• Nutrition Counseling: Our Registered Dietitian will encourage participants to eat with awareness and define weight and health goals.
• Behavioral Health: Our licensed psychotherapist teaches participants to live with awareness while setting realistic goals for lifestyle changes.
• Exercise Coaching: Our certified exercise coach helps participants to move with awareness for life-long behavior change.

This physician-supervised program will help participants create a foundation to ensure sustained success and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. Program participants will learn:

• Tools to ensure sustained success and maintenance of a healthy weight and lifestyle
• How to develop a healthy body and self-image
• Instruction in meal and exercise planning
• Discover personal barriers or sabotaging behaviors
• Identify unhealthy lifestyle patterns with food
• The difference between emotional and physical hunger
• How to set realistic weight and lifestyle goals

Program participants must be 18 years of age or older. Enrollment requires referral from your primary care physician. Costs vary based on insurance coverage; the program is not currently covered by Medicare or MaineCare.

Join the Next Healthy Weight for a Lifetime Session

When: Thursdays 4 pm - 6 pm 
Where: MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Center for Community Health & Wellness, 329 Maine Street, Brunswick, ME 04011
Contact: Meghan Perham
Phone: 207-373-6585

Food For Health

Food for Health provides cooking demonstrations and education showing how chronic diseases can be prevented, treated and even reversed with a plant-based diet for an over-all healthier lifestyle. This class is held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (except June, July and August). Call 207-373-6585 for more information about this online program.

Nutrition Education

MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital offers the services of a licensed nutritionist to address your nutritional goals. Our caring professionals offer counseling and guidance to empower you to be a full partner in your health care planning. Nutrition education is offered in collaboration with in-patient clinical staff and outpatient specialty groups as well as with MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Senior Health and MaineHealth CHANS Home Health & Hospice. To ensure the very best in counseling and integrated care, your plan will also be coordinated with your primary care provider.

Nutrition education can assist with the following conditions:

• Unintentional weight loss
• Obesity & overweight
• Hypertension
• Hyperlipidemia
• Eating disorders
• Celiac disease/gluten intolerance
• Kidney disease
• Gestational diabetes
• Food allergies
• Digestive disorders
• Childhood obesity & overweight
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD)

Nutrition counseling is provided at the MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Center for Community Health & Wellness, 329 Maine Street, Brunswick, ME 04011. The office is located near the main entrance and registration desk of the MaineHealth Parkview Campus building.

Diabetes Education

Diabetes is a chronic condition in which a person has high blood sugar. It is a serious condition that can lead to several health issues. Type 1 diabetes is when the body cannot produce insulin, a hormone that is needed to get blood sugar (glucose) into the body's cells. Type 2 diabetes is when the body's cells are insulin-resistant, thus not allowing glucose into the cells. There are also less common forms such as gestational diabetes and congenital diabetes.

Prediabetes means that your blood glucose (sugar) level is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. If you have prediabetes and do not lose weight or do moderate physical activity, you can develop type 2 diabetes within five years. You are at increased risk for developing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes if you:

• Are 45 years of age or older
• Are overweight
• Have a family history of type 2 diabetes
• Are physically active fewer than three times per week
• Ever had diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes) or gave birth to a baby that weighed more than nine pounds

If you think you may be at risk, ask your primary care provider for a blood test.

MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Diabetes Self Management Training and Nutritional Counseling programs are designed to empower you to take an active role in successfully managing your diabetes. Services include:

• Diabetes education
• Intensive diabetes management
• Insulin pump training
• Continuous glucose monitoring
• Injection instruction and insulin management
• Individualized nutritional counseling
• Gestational diabetes education and management

The American Diabetes Association recognizes MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital’s diabetes education program as meeting the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management Education. Diabetes education services are covered by third party insurance including Medicare and MaineCare.

Are you at risk for diabetes? Take our quick and easy online test to determine your risk of developing type two diabetes.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. Quitting is the number one thing that you can do to improve your health. To support you and encourage healthy environments for all, we are proud to offer our BeFree tobacco prevention and treatment program to our patients and community.

BeFree Tobacco Prevention

MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital is a Maine Tobacco Prevention Partner, a statewide Maine Prevention Services initiative coordinated by the MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence. Our goals are to:

• Prevent all types of tobacco use (including e-cigarettes) among youth and young adults statewide
• Prevent all ages from exposure to second-hand smoke in public places such as housing, colleges, daycares, schools, and lodging
• Promote tobacco treatment

For help with policies or education, please call our Tobacco Prevention team at 207-373-6957.

BeFree Tobacco Treatment

Our tobacco treatment program supports people to quit using tobacco through free tobacco cessation counseling. Our tobacco treatment specialists work with tobacco users to determine where they are on the quitting path and helps to make a personal quit plan.

Research shows that quitting with support, increases your chances of long-term success. We can help you make a quit plan, teach you about available medications and provide ongoing support. To schedule an appointment with one of our tobacco treatment specialists, call 207-373-6585. You can also call the Maine Tobacco Helpline at 1-800-207-1230 or visit theQuitLink.com. 
 

MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital's Asthma Education Program provides personalized asthma education, offering individuals support to help them manage the symptoms of asthma and enjoy a better quality of life. 

The program is coordinated with a patient's primary care provider and offers guidance on a variety of topics including detection of asthma symptoms, how to avoid triggers, and use of available medications that can lessen the effects of asthma.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation uses exercise, education and support to assist in the cardiovascular system's healing process. For most people, this is needed after a cardiac problem such as heart attack, angioplasty, open heart surgery or heart failure. MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program is certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

The program consists of 24-36 one-hour classes and includes 12 lectures. Classes are taught by a variety of trained professionals, including a dietary clinician, cardiac nurses and an exercise physiologist. Cardiac rehabilitation education topics include:

• Reducing dietary fat, salt and sugar
• Food label reading
• Food shopping and cooking
• Stress management
• Relaxation response
• Risk factors
• Benefits of exercise
• Emotional aspects of cardiac disease
• Yoga
• Medications, angina and blood pressure
• Cholesterol and lipid profile

Learn more about our heart care services.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services and Classes

MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital offers an eight-week, comprehensive, pulmonary rehabilitation program to help those with shortness of breath, chronic cough and other conditions common to lung disease. Certified by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, our team works with you to increase your strength and stamina at your own pace. Our goals for you include:

• Decrease shortness of breath
• Improve quality of life
• Improve functional status
• Increase understanding of your pulmonary condition(s)
• Increase active involvement in your health care
• Enhance your emotional well-being

Our pulmonary rehabilitation classes provide the information you need to take charge of your physical and emotional well-being. Class topics include:

• Dietary management
• Energy conservation & work organization
• Pulmonary medications
• Community resources
• Pulmonary autonomy and breathing retaining
• Home care equipment & bronchial hygiene
• Disease processes
• Relaxation techniques
• Conventional and non-conventional therapy for lung disease

Learn more about our lung care services.

Stroke survivors can count on MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital for comprehensive stroke care services. MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital is certified by the Joint Commission and the American Stroke Association as a Primary Stroke Center. The certification means that if you experience a stroke, the team at MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital will provide the highest level of care to ensure the best possible outcome.

Continuing Stroke Care
Following hospitalization for stroke, MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital's Bodwell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and MaineHealth CHANS Home Health and Hospice are available if you need further care and assistance regaining strength.

Stroke Rehabilitation 
MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital Rehabilitation offers an array of rehabilitation needs including physical, occupational, and speech therapy. It also features a dedicate space and staff for specialized stroke treatment.

Exercise for Stroke Survivors
Exercise can help retrain the brain. MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital offers individualized exercise plans to improve cardiovascular fitness, mobility, risk factor modification and a sense of well-being.

Stroke Support Group
The Stroke Support Group at MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital promotes wellness in those who have survived a stroke. Each month features a guest speaker and the opportunity to ask questions and learn from others. A stroke survivor and a speech-language pathologist from MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital facilitate the group.

Communicate After Stroke Support Group
This program provides survivors and their loved ones an opportunity to practice and learn useful strategies for communicating when a stroke leaves a person with impaired language skills. A speech-language pathologist from MaineHealth Mid Coast Hospital facilitates this informal, conversational group.