Health promotion at the CHUM

Health promotion is an integral aspect of the CHUM and its mission. The university centre’s department of health promotion (Direction de la promotion de la santé) makes sure that prevention is integrated into every dimension of the organization.

An education-centred mission

Along with its clinical activities, the CHUM publishes a variety of documents for different target audiences, promoting ideas for better health every year. These include books on diabetes, recommendations from professional dieticians, and guides on topics such as CVA (stroke). Most of the information published by the CHUM is motivated by a single goal: to promote better lifestyle habits among its clients and help them live healthier lives, both physically and psychologically. The CHUM also organizes numerous public activities to actively promote better health by making the advice and opinions of its specialists more widely known. CHUM health promotion initiatives include:

Centre for excellence in health promotion… supporting the CHUM birthing centre

To provide the best possible start for newborns, the Centre d’excellence en promotion de la santé (Centre for excellence in health promotion) offers special programs for new mothers and mothers-to-be who are CHUM patients. These programs encourage them to adopt healthy lifestyles and habits that will help prevent their babies from contracting diseases.

Quit Smoking Centre (CAT)

Professionals at CAT, the CHUM’s Centre d’abandon du tabagisme (Quit Smoking Centre) have been building expertise since 1996 that lets them work closely with people who are struggling with tobacco dependence. Services at the centre include help quitting smoking and information on tools for assessing nicotine dependence and the pharmaceutical products available to help combat the temptation to smoke.

Public awareness days

For the past five years, the CHUM has been holding public awareness days based on a variety of themes. These days are a special opportunity for people to get information from healthcare experts and be screened for diseases such as prostate cancer and metabolic syndrome (the combination of factors that increase the risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease).