The premier health fair in the mid island region is outgrowing its one-day format. The 18th annual Oceanside Family Health and Wellness Fair will feature a second day of seminars in the Parksville Community and Conference Centre.
The usual format will prevail on Saturday, April 6, with the exhibit hall full of healers, caregivers, volunteers, support organizations, service groups, foodies and local businesses that provide products and services for health and wellness.
The usual high quality seminar schedule will also be on offer. Three of the popular “Talk With The Doc” sessions will be back to give people the opportunity to ask a local family physician any question they like. One of the sessions with Dr. Mark Morris will focus on healthy aging and introduce Lynne MacFadgen from VIU’s Centre on Aging to talk about community health.
Of course the physicians can’t give specific health advice, or examine anyone’s rash, but they are prepared to answer questions across a range of topics including current health care issues in our region.
The Saturday seminars conclude with a keynote featuring Dr. John Cline from the Cline Medical Clinic in Nanaimo. Dr. Cline presents a seminar on breast cancer prevention at 2:30 p.m., along with his colleague, nurse practitioner, Carrie Ingrisano from Cline Medical, and thermography technician, Glenda Neufeld, from Island Thermography.
Another presenter of note is Diane Hancox, who always attracts a crowd to her seminars about Depth Psychology. She will tackle the topic of living well before you die. It might sound depressing, but Hancox invites the audience to consider the last chapter of life as an opportunity to connect with others and one’s self, and perhaps one’s greater purpose.
The second day of seminars will feature local health educators and practitioners offering a wealth of knowledge about various healing arts. Themes include brain building, stress management, reconnecting, balancing, meditation, homeopathy, massage, fitness, sexuality and hypnosis.
The keynote presentation on Sunday is titled “The Adrenals in Health and Disease” and will be presented by Naturopathic Physician, Dr. Andrea Rayburn.
The fair is Saturday April 6-7 at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre (PCCC) from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day. Admission is free but donations will be accepted on the Sunday.
The fair is organized by a volunteer committee from the Oceanside Community Partners Team with help from the PQ Foundation. Many volunteers make the day run smoothly including Ballenas Secondary School students, exhibitors, auxiliaries and individual community members.
— Submitted by Lisa Leger,steering committee chair