Apnea Health Gives Back to the Community

Caring about the health of the community

At Apnea Health we believe in giving back, especially in giving back close to home. Our everyday focus is on helping patients find better health through better sleep, and just like we care about the health of our patients, we care about the health of our communities.

Medical professional speaking to a patient remotely

A new way of giving, born from adversity

The rise of the pandemic in 2020 brought huge challenges to people and businesses around the world, as everyone sought new ways to live and work safely.

Apnea Health was no exception.

We found ways to have safer interactions at our clinics, and expanded into telemedicine to help patients without direct contact. We also created a new online boutique to let patients easily and safely order the equipment they need from the comfort of their own homes.

While we found a new rhythm, we were aware of those more adversely impacted by COVID-19. Our online boutique allowed us the power and flexibility to donate a percentage of sales directly to charities of our choice, so our new way of giving was born!

Now we can all sleep a little better, knowing we’re doing our part to give back.

So far, we've donated over $2000 to support organizations that help our great communities

Chez Doris

A day shelter for women in the west end of Montreal, Chez Doris ensures “that every woman that walks through our doors feels safe, respected and welcomed.” With a spike in demand, Chez Doris switched to staying open 24/7 at the beginning of December 2020, providing beds for homeless women during the cold winter months.

For two weeks over the holidays, we dedicated $2 for every mask sold to Chez Doris.

Chez Doris logo

Centre de jeunesse de Montréal

A terrible side effect of the stresses of the pandemic has been an increase in family violence. With deaths of children due to abuse in the recent headlines, we were moved to support this organization because they work with kids who are most at risk.

$2 from every mask sold leading up to “Giving Tuesday” went to the CJM.

Fondation CJM logo

The Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund

With COVID-19 spreading, and with seniors more at risk, the volunteers who normally collect donations for Remembrance Day Poppies were unable to appear in public this year. That made fundraising much harder, while the need remained the same.

For our very first foray into donating a portion of online sales, we chose the period leading up to Remembrance Day and gave $2 for every mask sold to the Poppy Fund  (with a direct supplement from Apnea Health as well).

Canadian Legion Poppy Fund

YMCA of Quebec

This year, to support the YMCA and the health of our staff, we’re paying for all virtual exercise classes our staff take. We’ve also donated $1000 directly to the YMCA Foundation to support them where their need is greatest.

YMCA Quebec logo

YMCA Challenge 2021

From June 1st to the 22nd, the Apnea Health team got physically active to raise money for disadvantaged children to go to camp.

Thanks to all our friends, family and patients who helped us raise $910 for the Montreal YMCA summer camp. Apnea Health matched the donations and raised them to meet its goal of $2000.

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Canadian Sleep Society

On March 21st 2021, the Apnea Health team had a great time walking 5km to raise awareness for sleep health. We donated $100 for each kilometre we completed, so in the end, $500 was given to the Canadian Sleep Society!

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Ukrainian Red Cross

Apnea Health wanted to provide direct financial assistance to the humanitarian organizations on the ground during the war in Ukraine.

So from March 25th to April 3rd 2022, we donated 10% from all our online sales. In the end, we were able to raise over $1200 for the Ukrainian Red Cross.

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SPCA Roussillon

From April 22th to May 2nd 2023, we donated 5% of our online revenue to SPCA Roussillon to support the shelter’s efforts to care for cats and kittens during the busy kitten season. We are proud to have been able to contribute over $2300 to the SPCA’s mission and hope that our donation inspires others to do the same.

SPCA roussillon logo

Montreal SPCA

From July 4th to 19th 2024, we donated 5% of our online revenue to the Montreal SPCA to support the shelter’s efforts to care for animals during the summer. We are proud to have been able to contribute over $4000 to the SPCA’s mission and hope that our donation inspires others to do the same.

SPCA Montreal logo

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Happy World Sleep Day!

It’s World Sleep Day, and we’re here to celebrate!

In case you slept through it, World Sleep Day has been held on the Friday before the spring equinox every year since 2008 and is marked by events around the globe in the name of boosting awareness of just how important good sleep is for a long, healthy, and happy life.

The World Sleep Society

Now that sounds like a society I can get behind! It isn’t some nefarious secret organization à la James Bond villain or comic book movie, but rather a group of health professionals in the field of sleep medicine, therapy and research who want to bring sleep issues into the daylight.

The annual event is all about getting people together and focusing on quality sleep, and what gets in the way of it. Whether you suffer from Obstructive sleep apnea, Restless legs syndrome, insomnia or any other condition that robs you of sleep, or you have a high-stress or busy lifestyle and poor sleep habits, bad nights inevitably lead to bad days.

World sleep society- advancing sleep health worldwide

Adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night to operate at their best.

Short-changed sleep, even by as little as an hour, can negatively impact mood and alertness. Not only can it make you grumpy and unfocused, it can make you a danger behind the wheel – sleeplessness has been proven as dangerous as alcohol impairment while driving. And if you suffer from chronic sleep loss, you’ll be at risk of other serious issues: everything from memory loss to heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and ultimately a shorter life span.

So what’s the trick to avoiding all that? Celebrate sleep! Deep sleep is when your body repairs itself from all the stresses and strains, injuries and infections that life throws at us, so World Sleep Day is a great time to look at our own sleep and see how we can do better.

man sleeping peacefully in bed

How to celebrate World Sleep Day

  1. Take a nap!

    Go ahead – take a nap. At work. With your boss watching. Tell them we said it was okay.

    Alright, perhaps not all employers are quite there in our society, but the Spanish seem to be on to something with their siestas. Sleeping on the job usually comes with the risk of imminent unemployment in North America, but if you can carve out a little window in your off-work hours, your body will thank you for it with more energy and alertness for the rest of the day.

    Just make sure to keep the nap short – a little kip of 5 to 45 minutes can give you a boost, but a longer sleep during the day can throw off your circadian rhythms and make it harder to sleep at night.

  2. The first rule of sleep day is to talk about sleep day

    You might feel like you’re the only one fighting exhaustion, or like you’ll be judged for complaining about it. But one in four Canadians is at high risk for having sleep apnea, and that’s just one condition that can steal sleep from you, so chances are you aren’t alone.

    Friends and family can share tips and experiences and help each other find the way to better sleep and a fuller life. It’s all about prioritizing sleep because there are too many downsides to ignoring the problem, and the more you can talk about it and share what you’re going through, the greater your chances of doing what it takes to get your sleep on track.

  3. Pay attention to your hygiene

    That isn’t an attack on your personal grooming! Sleep hygiene means embracing habits that set the stage for the best sleep. We all fall into bad patterns from time to time, but World Sleep Day is a good reminder that excellent sleep can take some nurturing to achieve, and there are easy steps you can take to help that happen.

    Why not mark the occasion by starting a sleep journal? Start tracking your sleep habits – time to bed, number of hours slept, how tired you feel during the day, that sort of thing – and after a week or two you’ll have a good idea of how some of the habits you maybe don’t think about are affecting your daily life.

completed checklist

Some useful tips for improving sleep hygiene include:

  • Keep bedtime and wake up time on a regular schedule as much as possible, and aim for those times to include around 8 hours of uninterrupted rest. The more stable your routine, the easier it will be to fall asleep and stay asleep during those hours
  • Ditch the screens (TV, computer or phone) at least half an hour before bed to allow your mind to slow down – and turn off notifications so they don’t draw you back in
  • Lay off caffeine in the afternoon – that stuff stays in your system for up to ten hours. Same goes for super rich fatty foods and sugar; all will interfere with a good night’s sleep
  • Ease off alcohol well before bedtime if you’re indulging in an evening tipple – while you may feel like a drink before bed helps you fall asleep faster, it actually interferes with good sleep
  • Make your bedroom a sanctuary of sleep. Keep it tidy to remove stress, and ease yourself into night mode with some dimly-lit quiet time – reading, meditating or taking a bath – whatever helps you relax and shed the day so your mind and body know it’s time for some well-earned restorative rest.

girl sleeping in dark room

Get professional help

If you’re following those tips and you still find you’re not sleeping well enough, don’t throw in the towel. It isn’t an unsolvable mystery, but it probably means it’s time to speak with a professional to see if there’s an underlying issue that’s getting in the way.

If you suspect you might have sleep apnea, or some other condition that’s interrupting your sleep, talk to your doctor or book a free consultation with the sleep experts at Apnée Santé for help getting your sleep back on track.

Go to sleep and wake up happy

World Sleep Day is all about celebrating good sleep and recognizing the critical role it plays in everyone’s physical and mental health, happiness and safety. So take the time this World Sleep Day to look at your own sleep habits, then do what it takes to wake up healthy, refreshed, and ready to take on the day!

Woman stretching after waking up

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Important Recall from Philips Respironics

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On June 14th in Canada, Philips issued a recall notification for specific Philips bi-level positive airway pressure (bi-level PAP), continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and mechanical ventilator devices.

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