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Doctors can now prescribe a visit to the ROM through a new initiative to combat anxiety and loneliness

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When Nafisa Nezam Omar was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she got an unusual prescription: T’ai Chi.

Several months after enrolling in the traditional style of martial arts, Omar, who lost her husband to a heart attack as well as a brother to gunfire and a sister to rocket shelling in Kabul, says she’s “finally being able to enjoy my life.”

“I’m now volunteering and doing well,” she said.

The Rexdale Community Health Centre, where her doctor is based, is among Ontario community health centres taking part in a pilot program that offers social and artistic remedies — including choir classes, fishing lessons, knitting and a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum — as an alternative treatment for certain health issues such as anxiety and loneliness.

The ROM announced Thursday it would be offering 5,000 free passes, each valid for four people, as part of the project.

“One of the things they’re trying to promote is a sense of belonging and empowering people to participate,” said Kate Mulligan, director of policy and communications for the Alliance for Healthier Communities, which represents 107 community-governed primary health care organizations and is leading the one-year program.

“It might be that the physician or nurse practitioner sees that you’ve been coming in 10 times and a medical solution is not readily available for what’s bothering you.”

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Among the most common complaints — gobbling up physician time and cost OHIP — is loneliness, Mulligan said.

She said through the program patients who meet the criteria are referred to a link worker, who walks them through a menu of treatment alternatives. The full menu of programs are free of charge to participants.

“The Rexdale program has focused on ROM-type things and getting people to participate in the community,” Mulligan said.

The concept of “social prescriptions” — where health practitioners prescribe artistic and social activities as alternatives to medication for people with mental health difficulties — started in the U.K., and has caught on in Montreal.

The Ontario program was launched this summer with a $600,000 grant from the provincial health ministry, targeting health needs of people who aren’t well-served by the mainstream health system, such as people who are racialized, LGBTQ, those facing employment barriers and Indigenous people, Mulligan said.

“The money is not for us to hire staff at the centres or implement,” she said. “It’s more to do with how to evaluate this, so we can learn how it works and see if it improves health outcomes and reduces costs to the health system.”

Aided by a group of mentors parachuted in from the U.K. — where social prescribing shows promising results — the local team commenced designing Ontario’s first model for social prescribing in June.

An evaluation of a similar project in Gloucestershire, England, done by the University of West England in 2016, showed a 23 per cent decline in attendance and emergency admissions, decreasing dependence on primary care, and physician appointments declining by 21 per cent in the six months after a social prescription.

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“It’s really taking off in the U.K and their context is similar enough that we could see a strong connection and a way to sort of transfer the approach to here,” Mulligan said.

She’s keen on tracking how singing groups, such as choirs, might increase lung capacity for people battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

“There can also be singing groups for people with Alzheimer’s,” she said.

The fate of the program will hinge on final outcomes, but Mulligan said if uptake figures are any barometer, then the thousands of people she estimates are already socially prescribed in Ontario is a precursor to success.

“Within the next six to 10 months we will have answers for the type of health outcomes we’re seeing,” Mulligan said.

The objective is to draft a final report recommending how to make social prescribing permanent for the 11 participating community health centres and potentially expand out to others under the Alliance’s banner.

“The plan is to make this sustainable for them without having to infuse any new workers or new money,” Mulligan said. “It’s an expectation that all 11 will continue doing it.”

The program is being heralded as a groundbreaking yet vastly underrated method by supporters, such as Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a general practitioner in Toronto.

“I’m a huge proponent of this idea,” said Gorfinkel, who wants to see the practice expanded. “As family doctor I see so much loneliness and so much problems that arise directly from loneliness.”

With medical evidence linking loneliness to several psychiatric disorders, it represents a “very large aspect” of Gorfinkel’s work as a general practitioner.

“Consider that about 25 per cent of visits to a family doctor are related to psychological matters,” she said.

She said studies in England have found loneliness can be equivalent to smoking in terms of its health effects.

“It’s extremely damaging,” she said, so much so that she contends it should be a part of doctors’ routine questions during patient visits.

The outcome of the study will be highly anticipated in medical circles, she said.

“I’m looking forward to their findings,” Gorfinkel said.

Jason Miller is a breaking news reporter based in Toronto. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca

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Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

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Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline. 

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors. 

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity. 

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement. 

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level. 

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet. 

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.

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