Home & Community

Navigating the restrictions associated with the pandemic brought unique challenges for seniors. Caregiver relief programs were suspended; many experienced loneliness, fear and sadness; and managing practical necessities such as getting groceries brought challenge and anxiety. Community Care, City of Kawartha Lakes was one of many community-based organizations to rapidly pivot its people and programs to meet the needs of clients and residents in our community. This presentation will present a wide-angle view of the role played by community service organizations to assist individuals to stay at home and help to flatten the virus curve.

Objectives:

• Explain where Community Support Service Organizations fit in the health system structure
• Understand the role of Community Service Organizations in enabling seniors to stay at home
• Identify specific services, strategies and resources used to support staff, clients and caregivers during the pandemic

Barbara Mildon
She/Her
CEO, Community Care
City of Kawartha Lakes

This 20-minute session is a networking event that will provide participants with the chance to meet virtually to engage in a guided conversation.

Inspired by the way that Nadine Green turned her convenience store into a pop-up shelter for homeless people, Ron Doyle made his industrial property available for unsheltered people to stay. What began with 15 people tenting indoors soon grew to a community of 50 people with the majority living in tiny homes. This would not have been possible without the support of community organizations – handling the finances, supplying food, providing on-site healthcare, and cooking a hot supper every day.

Objectives:

• Recognize the biggest challenges to these programs
• Recommend what government support looks like and the process of acquiring it
• Illustrate takeaways if a community group wants to build something similar

Nadine Green
Site Coordinator
A Better Tent City

Jeff Willmer
He/Him
A Better Tent City

The County of Renfrew is the largest geographical county in the province of Ontario, covering a landmass of approximately 8,000km2. Consequently, accessibility to healthcare can be challenging for the palliative care and end-of-life patient population. This is exacerbated in after-hours, and most recently, by the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to increasing demands and caseloads for palliative care providers. As such, the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service has seen a magnification of paramedic involvement in palliative care and end of life care patient care circles. We will discuss the opportunity for community paramedics to increase the timeliness and appropriateness of palliative and end of life patient-centered care. We will discuss the Community Paramedic Palliative Care Program that was established in Renfrew County. This program was developed in partnership with local palliative care agencies and family physicians, and has a primary aim that is twofold: to increase the quality of episodic, patient-centred care and to act as a stopgap within the healthcare system when called upon to help palliative care patients in crisis.

Objectives:

• Demonstrate the role of Community Paramedics in providing local Palliative Care
• Illustrate paramedic integration in local, inter-disciplinary Palliative Care networks

Amber Hultink
She/Her
Commander
County of Renfrew Paramedic Service

Nurse practitioner led clinics increase accessibility for patients while providing high-level health care. These practitioners are working to include innovative care practices such as Primary Care on Wheels and nurse practitioner led rural hospitals. Through this session, the speaker will talk about how nurse practitioners can expand their care in the community and home setting.

Objectives:

• Describe how nurse practitioner led clinics work in the communities they serve, as well as how clinic wait times have shifted
• Recognize hesitancies from patients and the education that is needed to overcome this

Cindy Fehr
She/Her
CEO
Nurse Practitioner Association of Manitoba

Community paramedics work to fill gaps in the health care system with new, creative ideas. How can these initiatives work in other communities and what do they need for sustainable implementation?

Objectives:

• Recognize the infrastructure and education that is needed for patients to know about these community programs
• Illustrate resources and investments that are needed to achieve this

Shannon Leduc
She/Her
Commander, Clinical Programs
Ottawa Paramedic Service

Brent McLeod
He/Him
ESSC Coordinator – Community Paramedic Strategic Lead
HNHB Emergency Services Steering Committee

This presentation will describe the formation and work of the Reach Out Response Network, which is supporting the City of Toronto in developing a non-police crisis response service that will be piloted in 2022. Participants will learn about the work currently being done in Toronto and across Canada to develop non-police mental health crisis services.

Objectives:

• Identify innovations in crisis response happening in Toronto and across Canada
• Learn about available tools and resources to begin similar work in their own communities

Rachel Bromberg
She/Her
Co-Founder
Reach Out Response Network

Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinics provide low-barrier, same day access to addiction medicine services to clients in need. Leveraging the ‘window of opportunity’, RAAM services meet clients where they are at and provide potentially life-saving pharmacotherapy, addiction counselling and referrals to community resources.

Objectives:

• Recognize the utility of rapid access addiction medicine services
• Identify the advantages of integrating addiction medicine into primary care

Jennifer Eyford
She/Her
Associate Director of Mental Health and Addictions
The Alex Community Health Center

In this focused session, Dr. Green will review the important changes to MAiD legislation now in effect and help dispel any myths that persist. She will address two of the biggest questions faced by health care providers – “Can I bring this topic up?” and “What if I don’t want to?”, and provide a snapshot of the latest national data as well as share her personal experience doing this work.

Objectives:

• Summarize hesitancies in MAiD for health care professionals
• Illustrate the results seen in work and outreach with patients
• Evaluate legislative change with Bill C7, and other updates for 2021

Dr. Stefanie Green
She/Her
President
Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers

This session will provide a brief overview of the Ontario Caregiver Organization and some of the challenges facing caregivers in Ontario. The session will outline two strategies for creating better collaborations with caregivers, including recognizing the caregiver role and supporting caregiver well-being and resilience and including caregivers as part of the care team. The session will also outline key tools and resources to support these strategies.

Objectives:

• Describe the role of the Ontario Caregiver Organization and the challenges facing Ontario caregivers
• Identify two strategies for creating better collaborations with caregivers
• Apply key tools and resources to use in better collaboration with caregivers

Alison Kilbourn
She/Her
Project Lead, Strategic Partnerships and Innovation
The Ontario Caregiver Organization

With visibility for transgender (trans) communities increasing, the need for healthcare organizations to provide affirmative care to these patients and the lack of existing care has become increasingly apparent and pressing. This session will provide participants with an introduction to the diversity of trans patient needs in a variety of healthcare settings. After providing a brief overview of the many identities under the trans umbrella, participants will learn about the unique needs of trans patients. Presenters will help participants develop an understanding of the journeys of trans patients and the challenges they face in accessing healthcare. Practical advice on how to reform an organization’s services to better meet the needs of trans
patients will be a key feature of this session.

Objectives:

• Appreciate the diversity of trans and gender diverse patients and their needs
• Understand how to make all healthcare practices affirmative for trans and gender diverse patients
• Identify common errors in gender-affirming care
• Begin an overview of existing resources to start the journey to becoming trans affirmative

Kirk Furlotte
He/Him/His
Atlantic Regional Manager
Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC)

Garry Dart
He/She/They
Primary Health Coordinator, PrideHealth
Nova Scotia Health Authority