Canadian Delegation on Social Prescribing

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

The Alliance’s, Natasha Beaudin was fortunate to have joined the Canadian Delegation on Social Prescribing on a trip to the UK this November. The trip was organized by the Canadian Institute on Social Prescribing (CISP) who invited social prescribing leaders from across Canada to join. The delegation included implementers and researchers from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario.

Our goal was to learn from the National Institute on Social Prescribing (NASP) and the National Health Service (NHS) about their experiences with a national implementation of social prescribing.

We also had some site visits to some shining stars in British Social Prescribing. On November 20th we headed out to see Bromley by Bow Health Centre, located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London.

The Bromley by Bow Health centre offers a full range of health services. They work in close partnership with the Bromley by Bow Centre, a community charity offering over 40 services and activities and a community research project. Activities include art programs, theatre, gardening, family programming, Newcomer support and a social enterprise café.

On Nov 21 and 22, we met with our colleagues at the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP) and the National Health Services (NHS). We heard about the challenges and successes of rolling out a National social Prescribing program, which included the option for General Practitioners (the equivalent of family doctors) to select a paid position in non-clinical roles such as health coach, health promoter or link worker. The NASP was able to provide training and supports to these new roles.

On Friday Nov. 24, we boarded a chartered bus to visit Frome Medical Practice. Frome is a town in eastern Somerset, England with a population of about 28,000. The Frome Medical Practice has been an innovator in bringing clinical and non-clinical programs and services together. Part of this happens through their Health Connections program. People can find out about community programs through a website, a phone line, a talking bench or a talking café. They have about 10% of their residents trained as community connectors, who can help signpost their friends, families and community members to these programs.

Another benefit of this trip was the opportunity for deeper connections with our Canadian colleagues working in various settings across Canada. The crosspollination of different ways of working and ideas definitely lays a foundation for a strong social prescribing movement across Canada.

Ask an Expert: Facilitating Health Navigation for Newcomers

#Join the Society of Refugee Healthcare Providers and Adrien Matadi for a Q&A session about healthcare navigation for newcomers!

*Spaces are limited. Preference will be given to non-clinician service providers (for example, case managers, community partners) working for organizations currently serving ORR-eligible populations. Register below and you will receive a confirmation email if there is space available.

This session will be an informal, discussion format. There will be no slides or presentation, but an opportunity for participants to ask Adrien Matadi any questions they have about health navigation.

Please submit your questions ahead of time through the registration form or by emailing sarah@refugeesociety.org.

#About Adrien Matadi

I am Adrien Matadi and I was born in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire. I served under Mobutu’s regime as a Peace Officer in the Special Unit and was posted in Egypt and Sudan for 6 years. I used to be a Care Navigator at Denver Health for 9 years, and now I am a Project Specialist. As a Care Navigator, I focused much of my work on in the Denver Health Refugee Clinic as a refugee intake and scheduling specialist. Now, I work in developing standard work for different projects such as Latent Tuberculosis Infection known as LTBI, Linkage to care, Covid 19 Outreach, etc. I have been in Colorado for 17 years and I have been working with refugees since my arrival in March 2006. I started working with refugees in 1997 when I became a refugee myself. Back in Ethiopia, I earned different positions in the refugee communities such advisor to field director of Jesuit Refugee Service, Urban Refugee Coordinator with UNHCR, ARRA (Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affairs), and all NGOs dealing with refugees. While in exile, I earned a law degree in Humanitarian and Human Rights Law and associate degree in Auto-Mechanics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Details
Thursday, November 30, 2023 - 16:00
4:00 - 5:00 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar

Déclaration en faveur des droits de la personne, de la libre expression et de l’action contre l’oppression

Date: 
Thursday, November 23, 2023

Les récents affrontements entre le Hamas et Israël ont une fois de plus révélé les coûts et les horreurs de l’oppression. Comme de nombreuses personnes au Canada, nous sommes attristés par la perte de vies à Gaza et en Israël.

La haine, l’intolérance et l’abus de pouvoir continuent de faire souffrir des personnes innocentes, déplacées et tuées simplement en raison de leur lieu et de leur moment d’existence. Les civils, y compris les enfants et les personnes âgées, subissent les conséquences des conflits militaires.

Pour de nombreux membres de l’Alliance pour des communautés en santé, les conflits mondiaux ont des répercussions locales sur les personnes et les communautés, ce qui engendre un stress accru, de la dépression, de l’anxiété et d’autres problèmes liés aux traumatismes pour ceux qui ont des familles et des proches à proximité de cette tragédie mondiale.

De plus, au Canada, des personnes sont persécutées pour leur appel à la paix, et les incidents de haine, de racisme, d’islamophobie et d’antisémitisme sont en hausse dans les communautés, les écoles et les lieux de travail. Les habitants de l’Ontario et d’ailleurs au Canada doivent pouvoir exprimer librement leurs idées et idéaux politiques et leurs identités sans crainte et sans oppression. C’est un fondement non seulement de notre démocratie, mais aussi de notre humanité partagée.

Les membres de l’Alliance sont des prestataires de soins de santé primaires partout en Ontario. L’Alliance et ses membres sont également des défenseurs et une voix forte en faveur de l’équité en matière de santé, de la justice sociale et du droit à l’accès aux services de santé et sociaux. Ce que nous constatons également pendant ce conflit, comme tant d’autres, c’est le déni des droits à la santé, à la sécurité, à l’eau et à la nourriture. En tant qu’organisation représentant les prestataires de soins de santé, l’Alliance demande la fin immédiate de la violence et le rétablissement complet de l’accès aux agences d’aide et aux autres organisations qui fournissent des services médicaux, de la nourriture, de l’eau potable et d’autres éléments essentiels de la vie. Il est impossible de parler de paix, de tenir compte des aspects politiques, et de tenter de conclure des accords lorsque les besoins fondamentaux de millions de personnes sont en jeu.

L’Alliance et ses membres sont guidés par la Charte sur l’équité en santé et ont la responsabilité commune de la mettre en application. Alors que nous poursuivons notre soutien aux communautés, à notre clientèle, au personnel, aux bénévoles et aux nouveaux arrivants au Canada ; notre objectif demeure de créer une société qui protège les droits fondamentaux de tous et qui prend des mesures pour démanteler les systèmes et les cultures d’oppression. Nous savons que ce sont des conversations difficiles et souvent chargées d’émotion. Au Canada, les individus et les gouvernements ont tous la responsabilité de faire face directement aux complexités de ce conflit et de veiller à ce que les voix en faveur des droits de la personne soient prééminentes, respectées et, surtout, écoutées pour nous orienter dans cette crise humanitaire qui perdure.

Nous devons rester conscients des liens entre le colonialisme, l’oppression, la violence et la haine, à l’étranger et ici même au Canada. Pour créer un monde meilleur, plus pacifique, et établir des relations différentes et plus saines entre nous, nous devons trouver et renforcer les éléments de notre humanité commune qui renforcent un monde juste, équitable et sécuritaire pour tous.

A Statement in Support of Human Rights, Free Expression and Action Against Oppression

Date: 
Thursday, November 23, 2023

The recent violence between Hamas and Israel has laid bare for the world once again the costs and horrors of oppression. Along with many other people in Canada, we mourn the loss of life in Gaza and Israel in recent weeks.

Hate, intolerance and abuse of power continue to see innocent people hurt, displaced and killed – only because of where and when they exist. Through no fault of their own, civilians, including children and the elderly, are bearing the brunt of the costs of military conflict.

For many members of the Alliance for Healthier Communities, the reality of global conflict has local impacts on people and communities, with increased stress, depression, anxiety and other trauma-related issues surfacing for those with families and loved ones close to this global tragedy.

As well, in Canada, people are being persecuted for calling for peace, and people are facing increased incidents of hate and racism, Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism, in their communities, schools and workplaces. People across Ontario and Canada must have the freedom to express their political ideas/ideals and their identities without fear and without oppression. This is a bedrock of not just our democracy, but our shared humanity.

Alliance members are providers of comprehensive primary health care services across Ontario. The Alliance and its members are also advocates and a strong voice for health equity, social justice and the right to access health and social services. What we also see during this conflict, like so many others, is a denial of rights – to health, to safety and security, to water and food. As an organization representing health care providers, the Alliance calls for an immediate end to violence, and that full access be restored to aid agencies and others to provide medical services, food, clean drinking water and other essentials of life. It is impossible to talk peace, to consider politics, to seek agreements, with the basics of life for millions of people hanging in the balance.

The Alliance and its members are guided by, and have a shared responsibility to, our Health Equity Charter. As we continue to support communities, the people we serve, staff, volunteers and newcomers to Canada, we will continue to strive for a society that protects the human rights of all people, and that takes steps to dismantle systems and cultures of oppression and deprivation. We know these are difficult and often emotion-charged conversations. In Canada, individual people and our governments alike have the responsibility to face the complexities of this conflict directly, and to ensure that voices for human rights are prominent, respected and most importantly, listened to for guidance during this ongoing humanitarian crisis.

We must remain aware of the connections between colonialism, oppression, violence and hate, abroad and here in Canada. To have a different, more peaceful world, and different and more peaceful relationships with each other, we must find and strengthen the points of our common humanity that reinforce a fair, just and safe world for all.

 

Advancing Equitable Health Care for People with Sickle Cell Disease

Ontario Health is hosting a webinar for hospital leaders and administrators, emergency department clinicians, quality improvement and equity specialists, and clinical educators to promote the implementation of the Sickle Cell Disease quality standard. The session will focus on understanding how to leverage the provincial Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) to drive improvements and reduce disparities in services for people with sickle cell disease. An implementation toolkit for the Sickle Cell Disease quality standard will also be shared during the webinar.

#Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to: 

  1. Explain the importance of implementing the Sickle Cell Disease quality standard as a step towards addressing anti-Black racism in health care in Ontario.    
  2. Identify opportunities to implement the quality statements to improve care for people with sickle cell disease and their families and care partners. 
  3. Understand how to leverage the provincial Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) to improve equitable care for people with sickle cell disease.

#Speakers

Umwali Sauter Director, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, Lakeridge Health  Dr. Placide Rubabaza Medical Director, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, Lakeridge Health Karine Baser Manager, Clinical and Quality Standards, Ontario Health Shawn Amadasun Senior Specialist, Quality Improvement, Ontario Health

#Moderator

Amir Ginzburg Clinical Quality Regional Lead, Ontario Health; Executive Vice President, Quality, Risk and Practice, Trillium Health Partners

Details
Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 12:00
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar

Webinar: Improving Care for Patients Living With Frailty

Social media card for event with title, date/time, and graphic

#Description

Understanding patient populations and their frailty risk can support an appropriate and person-centered care approach. Community programs and services can play a critical role in interrupting the progression of frailty, setting up older patients  to age well in their home, and preventing institutionalization. Are your services set up to identify frailty and adequately address the needs of this patient population?

#During this webinar, you will...

  • Gain an understanding of frailty and learn about strategies for identifying, preventing and managing it.
  • Learn how various health sectors support patients to age well by hearing from experts in the field about their frailty initiatives and success stories.
  • Consider how you can target care and quality improvement initiatives using available health system data, resources and tools.

#Target audience

Health system planners, decision-makers, quality improvement leads, care providers, and care delivery managers in hospitals, communities, and health regions responsible for implementing programs and/or models of care to better meet the needs of Canadians living with frailty. 

#Speakers

Dr. John Muscedere, Scientific Director, Canadian Frailty Network

Dr. John Muscedere MD, FRCPC is a Professor of Medicine, Intensivist and Clinician Scientist at Queen’s University and Kingston Health Sciences Center. Dr. Muscedere’ s research focuses on improving outcomes by generating new evidence and knowledge translation through clinical trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses focusing on nosocomial infections and frailty. He is the Scientific Director for the Canadian Frailty Network (CFN). CFN is dedicated to improving care for older Canadians living with frailty through the generation of new knowledge, knowledge mobilization, partnerships and training highly qualified personnel. CFN is developing public health initiatives for the prevention and mitigation of frailty through Regional Centers for Healthy Aging. For more information: www.cfn-nce.ca  

Dr. Grace Park, Regional Medical Director, Specialized Community Health Services, Fraser Health

Dr. Grace Park is a family physician and the Regional Medical Director for Home Health and Specialized Community services for Complex Medical/Frail Seniors in Fraser Health Authority. She is also a clinical assistant professor with the Department of Family Practice at University of British Columbia. Dr. Park enjoys working with others to ensure smoother transitions for clients and seamless coordination of care within the health care system. She is actively involved with the Divisions of Family Practice in the work with the Integrated Health Network (IHN) and Community Actions and Resources Empowering Seniors (CARES) and is also working in collaboration with the United Way British Columbia in the development and roll out of a regional Social Prescribing program. She is currently working with the Canadian Frailty Network in promoting the AVOID frailty management program through the Pacific Regional Centre for Healthy Aging in BC.  

Tara Sawchuk, RN, Senior Practice Consultant, Elder Friendly Care, Alberta Health Services

Tara Sawchuk is an RN/Senior Practice Consultant for Alberta Health Services’ Provincial Seniors Health and Continuing Care. She worked in Cardiology, Emergency and had some eventful deployments as a reserve Nursing Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces before becoming a Clinical Nurse Educator for an inpatient geriatric rehab program. Now leading AHS Clinical Innovation and Practice Support’s “Elder Friendly Care” project, she and her team focus on developing processes and providing direct education and consultative support to bedside care teams.  EFC’s goal is for “frailty-informed care” to become standard care in Alberta hospitals.  

Ron Beleno, Patient and Caregiver Advocate for Aging Adults

Ron is an active advocate for dementia, caregiving, aging, and research communities. As a caregiver to his father who lived with Alzheimer's for 10+ years to age in place at home until January 2018, Ron utilized technology, community, creative strategies and access to research to support his family's life to live well and as best as possible. In recent years, Ron has been invited to do presentations locally and internationally for Alzheimer's/Dementia Societies, communities, police, educators, healthcare, innovators and corporations. He shares his knowledge on caregiving as we age, ways to use technology for caring, and living safely with dementia, especially for those at risk of wandering and going missing. He is an active member, advisor, and mentor to numerous organizations and educational institutions such as AGE-WELL NCE, Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) at Baycrest, City of Toronto's Seniors Strategy, SE Health (formerly known as Saint Elizabeth Health Care) and the Translational Research Program (TRP) at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine.

 

Details
Wednesday, January 24, 2024 - 13:00
1:00 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
External Link: 
Presented by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar
Email invite for event with title, date/time, and speaker bios & headshots

Big IDEAs About Health Data: Admin Data & Working w/ Disability Communities

The principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) play a key role in HDRN Canada's strategic plan, which is a roadmap to transformative health data use and a future that better supports health equity. This presentation will examine how to include measures of disability in administrative health data research. It will also discuss accessibility considerations, from study planning to knowledge dissemination, including how to make our research teams more inclusive of people with disabilities.

Details
Thursday, November 23, 2023 - 13:00
1:00 - 2:00 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Learn more and register here
Location
Webinar

CPRI Research Symposium: Current Evidence and Promising Practices for Complex Child and Youth Mental Health and Development

Please join us at the CPRI Research Symposium, focusing on Current Evidence and Promising Practices for Complex Child and Youth Mental Health and Development on June 20th, 2024.

This hybrid event (hosted both in-person and virtually) will connect researchers, students, service providers, and policymakers to share strategies, findings, and experiences related to the following themes: 

  • Beyond the Buzzwords: Evidence-Informed Decision-Making in Action 
  • Creating Safe Spaces: Supporting Families and Service Providers Using Trauma-Informed Approaches 

This symposium is ideal for audiences interested in children and youth with complex combinations of needs, including researchers, students, and those who work in allied health professions, medicine, education, justice, direct care, or policy. The symposium will include morning and afternoon plenary speaker sessions and workshop speaker panels, a lunch-hour research poster session, and networking opportunities. 

#About CPRI

The Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI) is a tertiary service agency providing trauma-informed, highly specialized assessment, treatment, and targeted intervention provincially for children and youth with complex special needs. This includes children and youth with developmental disabilities, autism, and severe behavioural, emotional, and mental health challenges. CPRI also prioritizes research, program evaluation, and education related to serving and supporting this clinical population. To learn more about CPRI and our work, please visit our website: Child and Parent Resource Institute (CPRI) | ontario.ca

 

Details
Thursday, June 20, 2024 - 08:30
8:30 am - 5:00 pm
External Link: 
Learn more
Register Here
Location
Hybrid Event

2024/25 QIP Launch Webinar

At this webinar, Dr. David Kaplan and the provincial QIP team at OH/HQO will provide an overview of the 2024/25 QIP program. They will share this year's priorities and supporting documents, including the 2024/25 QIP guidance document, indicator technical specifications, and a snapshot of quality priorities in brief for 2024/25.

The session will be recorded and sent out to all registrants. 

QIP Navigator, OH's online QIP development and submission platform, is being updated in preparation for the 2024/25 QIP cycle (due by April 1, 2024). Organizations can download pre-populated templates from QIP Navigator to share with their teams and support their QIP development process. Navigator is anticipated to re-open by mid-December. 

As in previous years, the QIP team will be offering drop-in sessions to answer questions related to developing and submitting your QIP using Navigator. These drop-in sessions are scheduled to start in January 2024. Information on these drop-in sessions, as well as guidance materials for QIP development, will become available in the coming weeks.

You can connect with a quality improvement specialist at Ontario Health by emailing QIP@ontariohealth.ca.

Details
Wednesday, November 22, 2023 - 12:00
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar

Health Promotion: The Future is Bright

#Overview

How can health promotion address the complex health problems of today and in the future?

Health Promotion Ontario (HPO) presents “Health Promotion - The Future is Bright”, a new webinar that will shine light on the value and relevance of health promotion in creating a robust and sustainable health system needed today. This webinar will focus on the “heart” of health promotion and the necessary practices to effectively prevent disease, promote wellness, and address inequities that lead to poor health outcomes.

Join our keynote speaker as they demonstrate how having a health promotion lens can bring invaluable insight to the complex solutions needed in today’s complex world. A health promotion approach can be applied to a variety of sectors, public or private, including healthcare, public health and social sciences.

You will also have the opportunities to ask questions during the Q&A panel.

#Learning Objectives

Through the webinar, attendees will:

  • Understand the important and critical role that health promotion plays in preventing disease, injury, and poor health outcomes and the value it brings to reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
  • Learn about the five components of health promotion action as set in the Ottawa Charter of Health Promotion.
  • Explore the multifaceted array of knowledge, skills and abilities that are foundational to tackling today’s complex health issues.

Intended audience: undergraduate students, graduate students, and anyone interested in public health and health promotion. 

#Keynote Speaker: Andrea Bodkin

#Expertise

  • Health promotion
  • Capacity building
  • Program design and implementation
  • Partnership and collaboration

#Current work

Developing a new, six-module online health promotion course, designed to bring awareness of the value of health promotion and increase understanding of the foundational concepts.

Details
Monday, November 13, 2023 - 12:00
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar