A publication for Staff and Physicians of IH
A message from Chris Mazurkewich, Interior Health’s CEO.
Wellness wisdom for work.
A conversation with Dr. Leslie Lappalainen, IH’s Medical Lead for Addiction Medicine.
Art-based projects promoted in breastfeeding expo.
Collaboration helps IH establish designated community hospice beds.
Frail elders get top-notch care at new seniors health and wellness centres.
Profiling Dr. Jasmine Kerr and RAMAC Clerk Melanie Zinger at KGH.
Staff-submitted photos of places where we live and work.
Snapshots of our staff in action and trending health-care videos.
On the cover: IH public health nurse and visual artist Maureen Smith. Story p. 10.
The @InteriorHealth magazine is a monthly publication created by the Communications Department of Interior Health. Past issues of @InteriorHealth can be found on our website under About Us/Media Centre/Publications & Newsletters. If you have story ideas for future issues, please e-mail: IHAcommunications@interiorhealth.ca Editors: Amanda Fisher, Ingeborg Keyser Designer: Kara Visinski IH Communications Contributors: Lesley Coates, Susan Duncan, Patrick Gall, Karl Hardt, Erin Toews, Breanna Traynor, Tracy Watson
Every person matters
President & CEO Chris Mazurkewich
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long with most of Canada, those of us in health care are watching the political scene unfold in B.C. with great interest. I want to assure you, though, that whatever happens in Victoria, the majority of work we do and the care we provide in Interior Health will carry on as usual. Our strategic work is also likely to remain consistent, although there may be some changes in the approach in terms of where a new government may choose to focus resources. System transformation is the global direction and all governments are proceeding in the move to shift care as much as possible out of hospitals. This is also where we have directed resources over the past few years. Recent health articles provide a good overview into what’s happening to health care around the world. The April edition of the Economist magazine reported that 45 per cent of patients in Holland’s hospitals could be treated elsewhere. Supporting that view was a Canadian Medical Association Journal article that suggests about one-third of every eight medical interventions is unnecessary. Both suggest further progressive improvements in healthcare delivery are inevitable, similar to what we have witnessed over the past few decades. They also reflect the ongoing shift in B.C. to improve and expand primary care. I’m really proud of two initiatives we’ve completed in Kelowna and Kamloops that have expanded primary and community care services for seniors who need extra supports so they can remain living independently. Stories about our two new seniors health and wellness centres on Page 14 and 16 share the perspective from both a patient and a provider.
It’s clear with these new services, as well as with other strategic initiatives recently launched or in the planning stages in IH, that team-based care and partnering to meet the needs of our patients and clients is the way forward. Partnerships both internally and externally are consistently proving to be the way to make the best changes in how we operate. See Page 13 for a great example of how an external hospice partner is helping our staff learn more about providing outstanding palliative care. Another topic covered in this month’s magazine is one that is significantly hurting our society – the opioid crisis. Our Medical Lead for Addictions Medicine, Dr. Leslie Lappalainen, talks about the evidence-based treatment that is forming our overdose response. Her insight shows the wisdom behind the medical approach being taken. I want to close off by recognizing all of you for your dedicated effort in responding to WorkSafeBC requirements over the last six months. We were given extremely tight deadlines to have staff and managers complete a variety of mandatory training – including a provincial violence prevention curriculum – to ensure a safer workplace. I am proud, and even a little bit amazed, at what we achieved. We surpassed the targets set for March 30 and have already done the same for the June 30 deadline still ahead. All employees deserve a pat on the back for their part in this accomplishment and the many other examples of dedication you demonstrate every day. Going forward, it’s our responsibility to continue to learn from WorkSafeBC, our partner health authorities, unions, and from one another what we can do better – what we must do better – on our journey to embed a culture of safety in IH.
Dr. Lappalainen helps ensure our overdose emergency response is evidence-based and patient-centred.
I started working with Interior Health in September 2016 as the Medical Lead for Addiction Medicine, with Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU). My primary focus has been providing a clinical lens to the opioid overdose emergency response, in terms of ensuring our response is evidence-based and patient-centred. I work closely with clinical addiction medicine leads from the other health authorities through the British Columbia Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU), to ensure our approaches are consistent while recognizing the unique challenges of our regions. I have also been involved in educating family physicians, MHSU clinicians, and community stakeholders on the new provincial guidelines for the management of opioid addiction. I also work at the Martin Street Outreach Centre in Penticton – a joint project between Interior Health and the Divisions of Family Practice in the South Okanagan. Our clinic has a mandate to see patients who don’t have a family doctor and who struggle with mental health and/or addictions. I am one of four family physicians that deliver primary care services including providing methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone (also known as Suboxone) for patients with opioid addictions. We also offer harm reduction supplies including naloxone kits. The clinic has a STOP HIV nurse, a social worker, a psychiatrist, a drug and alcohol counsellor, and a diabetes nurse educator, all of whom work closely with the physicians. During my family medicine residency in Ottawa, I spent a month with a family physician who did HIV primary care and addictions work. He described himself as “falling into addictions work, out of necessity.” Many of his patients had untreated addiction, which made their HIV challenging to treat. For those with opioid addictions, he used medications such as Suboxone or methadone to stabilize their addictions and allow them to get into a good routine of taking their antiretroviral (HIV) medications regularly – dramatically lowering the amount of HIV in their blood and significantly decreasing the risk of transmitting HIV to others. It wasn’t just their HIV treatment compliance that improved. Once their addiction was treated, many were able to get stable housing, were no longer committing crimes or doing sex work to support their drug use, and were able to go back to work or school. This was so compelling for me – until then I had never really thought about addiction medicine as a field. Addiction medicine is a really interesting cross-section between family medicine, psychiatry, and public health, while being grounded in the social determinants of health. Addiction medicine is, in some ways, in its infancy compared to other areas of medicine. Addiction is incredibly prevalent but, unlike other chronic diseases, we haven’t systematically treated it using the evidence base we have. I expect that in the next five to 10 years we will see major advances in this field.
There is a lot of work being done in many different areas along the continuum of care. Assertive follow-up: We have created an assertive follow-up system for anyone who presents to hospital with an overdose. Once medically stable, while in the emergency room, the individual is offered a naloxone kit and information on how to access substance use treatment. A referral to MHSU is automatically made and following discharge a follow-up call is made to review what happened, and ensure they are aware of all the treatment options available to them. Shift away from withdrawal management (i.e. detox) for opioid addiction: The evidence is clear that using withdrawal management alone, without a plan for either long-term treatment with Suboxone or methadone, or transitioning to intensive residential treatment can result in harm for individuals with opioid addiction. The relapse rates following withdrawal management alone are upwards of 90 per cent.
Relapse after withdrawal management poses a high risk of overdose because an individual’s tolerance to opioids can be lost very quickly after detox – putting the individual at a significantly increased risk of fatal overdose. Increase access to treatment: A lot of steps have been made in many communities across our region to ensure the first-line treatment for opioid addiction – opioid agonist therapy (Suboxone and methadone) – is available in a timely manner to anyone who wants it. For example, the waitlist to access these treatments in Kelowna has gone from several months down to 1-2 weeks. In order to ensure availability of these treatment options, we are encouraging and supporting family physicians to prescribe Suboxone as part of their primary care services. Additionally, there are a number of new supportive recovery beds that have opened in a number of communities. Encouraging a harm reduction approach: We are encouraging a harm reduction approach for all people who use drugs, especially among individuals who aren’t ready to think about addiction treatment. We have been working hard to ensure that anyone who uses drugs has access to Take Home Naloxone kits and clean supplies to prevent disease transmission. We are also educating clients on harm reduction practices including not using drugs alone and accessing overdose prevention sites where available. Harm reduction measures help minimize the risks associated with using drugs, while keeping people alive. Staff who connect with these individuals are able to provide non-judgemental care, build rapport, and connect them with health care and treatment services when they are ready.
One of the most frustrating things I find is when people view addiction as choice and not as a disease that requires evidence-based, compassionate treatment. When we look at brain scans of individuals with addiction, we see characteristic changes involving the reward pathways in their brains and the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain involved in impulse control). These changes are similar to changes we see in other organs with chronic disease. Like other chronic diseases, we know that there are environmental risk factors (such as exposure to various types of trauma during childhood), and genetic risk factors that place certain individuals at increased risk of developing problems with substance use. People with addiction often hate their drug use – it is not as simple as making healthier choices or just choosing not to use drugs. When we understand addiction as a chronic brain disease, with biological, social, psychological, and spiritual
components, and we treat it as such – we actually see the brain pathways can recover. Understanding and treating addiction as a chronic disease can go a long way to reducing stigma and eliminating barriers. Additionally, there are several countries that have shifted how they deal with drug use, by treating it as a medical issue as opposed to a criminal issue. This has proven to be more cost-effective and has resulted in substantial decreases in overdose deaths.
While it is incredibly sad that it comes as a result of many people dying, I think the opioid overdose emergency has resulted in a realization that we need to build a much more robust system to treat addictions. This will involve increased training in addictions for medical students, residents and family physicians, as well as nurses, social workers and mental health clinicians – so that health-care providers feel equipped to recognize and screen for addictions, and then treat it using evidence-based treatments, as they would for any other medical condition. I have also been really impressed by the advocacy work being done by people who use drugs and family members who have been affected. I had the honour of meeting a number of people from a group called Moms Stop the Harm – a group of parents who have lost children to overdoses. They are strong advocates for improved access to harm reduction services and addiction treatment. They are helping humanize the overdose crisis through personal narratives, as opposed to numbers in the media.
It has been tough. We have lost several patients that we all knew very well at our clinic as a result of overdoses. I work with an incredibly supportive team and feel fortunate to work in an environment where I have colleagues that I can check in with and debrief. Self-care is so important – particularly in this field. We all have our ways of coping. Personally, I do crossfit and spin regularly, which provides an outlet for me to not think about work and focus on looking after myself. There are so many incredibly dedicated and caring people working on this response across our health authority. I am very proud of what we have done so far in Interior Health and where we are going. It is a difficult journey with many ups and downs, but I know we are making a difference.
reastfeeding is normal and healthy with many benefits to both mothers and children. Before Penticton Indian Band resident Carlene George was pregnant, she wasn’t sure whether she would breastfeed. But when her first son Waylon was born, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Still, it wasn’t easy. Waylon had a tongue-tie, making it difficult for him to latch. He was losing weight and Carlene developed mastitis. But as soon as his tongue-tie was fixed, he latched perfectly. Carlene nursed him well past his first birthday and she is still nursing his one-year-old brother. Now, her touching photo “Baby’s Gratitude” is one of 65 independent artworks on display as part of the Breastfeeding Art Expo. “We pulled over on the way home from Osoyoos. He was fussing so I started nursing him. It was a surreal moment. His hand was on my chest and I really felt like he was appreciating me,” Carlene says of her entry. The ambitious exhibit also includes 15 community art works and features paintings, sculptures, photography, Aboriginal artwork, poetry, dance, collage, live art, and film vignettes.
IH Public Health Nurse and visual artist Maureen Smith.
The expo will visit six communities in Interior Health between June 2017 and June 2018. It is currently in Kelowna at the Rotary Centre for the Arts and Alternator Gallery and future stops will include Vernon, En’owkin (Penticton Indian Band), Trail, Williams Lake, and then Kamloops. Public Health Dietitian Karen Graham is the expo’s principal curator and has been involved in the expo’s planning for the last five years. “It was an honour and a joy for me to work with all the artists and our partners to bring this project to light and raise awareness about breastfeeding,” she says. “We hope it will pave the way for more collaborations bringing together art and health.” Maureen Smith understands this art and health connection well. She is an Interior Health public health nurse and a visual artist. As a nurse, she is familiar with the benefits of human milk. She shares this knowledge and supports moms in breastfeeding. Maureen is also studying Visual Arts at Vancouver’s Emily Carr University of Art & Design. “Through art school, my creative practice began to merge and meld with my science-based training. When I saw this breastfeeding expo proposed three years ago, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to experiment further with mixing science, culture, and art. I was already intrigued by how little we know about the vast and varied amounts of bacteria in human milk and how its presence relates to the development of the healthy human microbiome in infants. I approached professors at Thompson Rivers University and was lucky to form a partnership with microbiologist Dr. Naowarat (Ann) Cheeptham.”
Together with students, other professors, Breastfeeding Matters in Kamloops, and the support of Simone Jennings, an Interior Health public health dietitian who donated breast milk, Maureen worked on an art-based project to further investigate the bacteria within human milk. “We hope by visually drawing attention to the presence of bacteria found within human milk we will continue to further change attitudes and bring awareness to the public about the importance of human milk and the need for more research – both scientific and artistic.” For more information, visit www.breastfeedingartexpo.ca. Check out the Art Catalogue and Teacher’s Guide under Resources. Opening night was June 2. Interior Health offers support such as breastfeeding cinics and Baby Talk drop-ins. To learn more, visit the breastfeeding page at www.interiorhealth.ca.
Above: Maureen Smith partnered with microbiologist Dr. Ann Cheeptham on the Human Milk Project display. Left: Carlene George’s photo “Baby’s Gratitude” captures the beauty of breastfeeding. Her photo is one of 65 independent artworks on display.
June 3rd was National Health & Fitness Day
IT’S CANADA’S DAY TO GET UP, GET OUT AND GET ACTIVE VISIT WWW.NHFDCAN.CA
Better sharing, better caring Collaboration helps IH establish designated community hospice beds
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n Overlander’s Trinity Unit, a home-like environment with four private hospice rooms that opened earlier this year, visiting loved ones are free to come and go, share a coffee, or work on a puzzle. The long kitchen table welcomes conversation and meals, while a quiet nook is available for reading or reflection. In West Kelowna, a similar unit at Brookhaven includes three private hospice rooms along with an open kitchen and other home-like features. These beds and future designated community hospice beds are part of a broader strategy to enhance palliative care across Interior Health. They are the first embedded and integrated community hospice bed units within our IH facilities, and have been the focus of ongoing collaboration with local hospice societies. “Wendy and the Kamloops Hospice Association have been invaluable in the planning and implementation of these beds. They helped with the environmental review and planning to make the space more hospice-like,” says Overlander Manager Denise Slevin. “They have been incredibly generous in sharing their expertise.” “Right from the beginning, Denise and the team came here for consultation, then we went there to offer advice. It has been beautiful to have our staff involved in training. It is great for the community to have these additional designated beds and it’s nice that they are on the North Shore,” says Wendy Marlow, Kamloops Hospice Association Executive Director. During the Trinity Unit planning, the Hospice Association connected Overlander staff with community partners to provide low cost furnishing and small essentials as part of community networking.
Kamloops Hospice Association Executive Director Wendy Marlow (L), Overlander Manager Denise Slevin (R), and their teams have been working together on newly designated community hospice beds in Kamloops.
Hospice consultation regarding environment and space planning.
“Without the hospice’s support we would not be where we are. I can’t thank them enough. It was invaluable for me as a nurse,” Overlander RN Carina Epp states. “I spent time shadowing one of their nurses, who cleared her day and went over everything with me. She reviewed the Other examples of the great collaboration have included: pharmacology that we don’t typically see in residential Special palliative education and training for hospice and care, for example. They gave us a number to call day or Overlander staff, such as an all-day session for care night if we need assistance. aides; On-the-job shadowing of hospice staff by Overlander “Almost every family that has come through so far has nurses; come back later on to say thank you and give us a card or Sharing palliative care resources such as grief a hug. So we know it’s appreciated,” Carina says. counselling; Hospice volunteers providing services while Overlander To learn more about palliative care in IH, visit the Palliative volunteers are trained by the hospice volunteer and End-Of-Life web pages at www.interiorhealth.ca. supervisor; and
Kamloops resident Shirley Feeney, centre, says she gets great care from the Kamloops SHWC team. L-R: Occupational Therapist Anna Tzingounakis; Social Worker Julie Wade; Registered Dietitian Stephanie Moen; Physiotherapist Nicki Ward; Respiratory Therapist Karman Spendiff; Rehabilitation Assistant Sherry Grand; and Speech Language Pathologist Anne Ross.
The concept for the seniors health and wellness centres began with a local action team (LAT) project in both Kamloops and Central Okanagan. The LATs involved many players, co-led by Interior Health and the Thompson Region and Central Okanagan divisions of family practice. Patients from Patient Voices Network, municipal representatives, and various community agencies added their voices to what was needed for seniors care. The end result in both Kamloops and Kelowna is being celebrated by local physicians and health-care leaders, as well as the patient partners.
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hirley Feeney is a vibrant senior who enjoys her independent lifestyle with husband Bill. Her spirits are normally high and her mind is active.
Until a few months ago, she was so healthy that it amazed her family and friends. Then last winter she got a chest infection that wouldn’t go away, which was followed by chest pains, later diagnosed as angina. Now she is also coping with sciatic pain and weakness in her legs.
“That sciatica down the back of my legs is just awful. It’s the worst pain I ever had.” Shirley, who once owned a local women’s fashion outlet and raised two children before enjoying retirement life, was suddenly feeling life wasn’t much fun. Fears were even starting to emerge about whether she could continue to live without supports. At that point, her family physician decided Shirley was a perfect candidate for the newly opened Seniors Health and Wellness Centre (SHWC) in Kamloops. He referred her to the SHWC where physicians and Interior Health clinicians from multiple disciplines began to develop a care plan with Shirley. At her first appointment, Shirley met with RN Marianne Arduini, who has worked primarily with frail seniors through the Home First program for the past several years; Dr. Janet Bates, a family physician with a special interest in seniors care; and Occupational Therapist Anna Tzingounakis, also strongly interested in supporting older patients. Shirley was so impressed with her care that when she got home she called to express her appreciation: “Thank you all for making me feel so comfortable. I could tell each of you genuinely cares and I know I am in the best of hands.” Her next appointment was with another family physician working at the SHWC, Dr. Allison Chung, and geriatrician Dr. Smita Varma. She was also able to get her bloodwork, ordered by Dr. Varma, collected at the lab in the same location. She will have an opportunity to meet with a pharmacist, located onsite, as well. Shirley says she feels hopeful again that a solution to her ailments will be found and she will soon be walking around the block with Bill in their neighbourhood. She has an appointment lined up with Rehabilitation Assistant Sherry Grand and a physiotherapist and realizes there are more appointments ahead for her, but she is prepared to do the work over the next four to six weeks. A willingness to be involved in the intensive treatment program is one of the criteria for SHWC’s patients. Goals for the Seniors Health and Wellness Centres in Kamloops and Kelowna are to help patients set their own objectives, but overall to maintain independence and live at home; to optimize a patient’s health through an interprofessional team approach; and to provide support to family and care team. Dr. Varma says the evidence is clear that team-based care works well with patients and families, so patients are able to achieve their maximum potential within the limits of their medical condition. “Patients are referred to the centre by their family physician or a specialist, and our core team completes a comprehensive geriatric assessment that examines their medical, physical, functional, and psycho-social factors. These are complex patients and we will spend time together to find out what is wrong and what we can do to help them reach their goals.” The teams at the Seniors Health and Wellness Centres investigate each patient’s major geriatric syndromes – falls and fragility fractures, cognitive impairment, polypharmacy, and continence – and provide short-term care plans. Once patients complete the four- to eight-week program designed for their individual needs, they return to their primary care provider for ongoing care. “This is an important service for seniors because we do run into problems with our health as we get older and we do require specialized care,” says Shirley. “A short doctor’s visit isn’t always going to get us better so we have a good quality of life.” See related Central Okanagan Seniors Health and Wellness Centre story, page 16.
A few of the team members from the Central Okanagan Seniors Health and Wellness Centre: (L-R) Occupational Therapist Emma Miller; Manager Brandy Antle; Social Worker Mackayla Nagy; Pharmacist Jennifer Bolt; Social Worker Sandy Pulfer; RN Nelly Vanderby; and Medical Office Assistant Krystylyn Schillaci.
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arely open six months, the Central Okanagan’s Seniors Health and Wellness Centre (SHWC) is already a bustling place with 125 active clients on the books. The clients – all with complex medical conditions – are referred to the unique service, located in the Cottonwoods Care Centre, by either their family physician or nurse practitioner. Manager Brandy Antle says the response from clients, their families, and health-care providers has been overwhelmingly positive. “We are definitely receiving referrals for medically complex frail older adults living in the community and who require significant interdisciplinary team support, which is the criteria for the centre.” People are enthusiastic about the patient-centred care that is foremost in everyone’s practice. For example, there are stated SHWC goals such as to help clients maintain independence, but, as Brandy says, the most important question pertains to the goals expressed by the clients. “One patient might say she would like
to walk to her kitchen to make breakfast and not fear falling, so our physiotherapist will develop a patientspecific plan with a strengthening strategy, possibly that might include an exercise program at a local recreation centre.” An occupational therapist might make a house call to conduct a home safety assessment to remove risks for falling or add equipment in the home to ensure safety. As well, the client is likely seeing the geriatrician or family physician or another clinician at the centre for other medical concerns and strategies to improve health outcomes. “Our clients are frail and medically complex,” Brandy explains. “The original referral might be for physiotherapy strengthening in response to multiple falls at home, but on a closer look, the cause of the fall might be related to a medical condition that requires intervention such as medication changes.” Depending on the client’s needs, he or she might see one or several of the health professionals who work at the centre. They include general
practitioners, geriatricians, occupational therapist, pharmacist, physiotherapist, registered dietitian, registered nurse, respiratory therapist, social worker, and a speech language pathologist. Once the initial geriatric assessment is completed and a care plan started, most clients see several health professionals at various appointments. “Research has shown that to address the complex needs of the older adult, an interdisciplinary team is the desired approach for achieving and maintaining independence and wellness.” Brandy also says team members listen to their clients. “In response to feedback from our clients at the SHWC, we have learned that the majority prefer one-hour appointments, as each clinician’s assessment is quite in depth.” And it all seems to be working. One client described all the staff as “very kind and knowledgeable.” He said he has multiple health issues and every person he has seen has kept his comfort level both physically and medically top of mind. “This really is an outstanding service.”
Dr. Jasmine Kerr, General Internist Melanie Zinger, RAMAC Clerk @IH: Tell us a little about yourself.
Dr. Kerr: I’m originally from Stoney Creek, Ontario but I spent 12 years completing my training at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. I finished my Fellowship in General Internal Medicine in 2015 and started work at KGH in February of 2016. Melanie: I’m from Oliver. I moved to Kelowna seven years ago. I’ve been with IH for 25 years, 18 years at South Okanagan General Hospital as a Care Aide, then an Admitting Clerk and then a Nursing Unit Clerk.
@IH: Tell us about the clinic you work in.
We work in Kelowna General Hospital’s Rapid Access Medicine Assessment Clinic (RAMAC). The clinic is situated in the Dr. Walter Anderson building on the second floor. It opened in May of 2016 and specializes in treating patients with urgent internal medicine problems. Patients are referred from community physicians and the emergency department (ED). The clinic also sees patients who require urgent follow up after being discharged from the hospital.
@IH: How many staff members work in the
RAMAC? The clinic currently has two General Internal Medicine specialists, myself and Dr. Jasjeet Rai. We are expecting a third General Internal Medicine specialist to start in July. Our medical office assistant is Melanie Zinger and she’s been here since the clinic opened as well.
@IH: What is something you like best about KGH? What I like best about KGH is that it has become an important teaching hospital for both medical students and residents. We work with learners on a regular basis both in RAMAC and on our Clinical Teaching Unit and it is one of the most challenging and rewarding parts of my job.
@IH: What do you like best about the RAMAC? What I like best about RAMAC is that we are able to
Dr. Jasmine Kerr and Melanie Zinger
perform thorough and comprehensive assessments on patients with serious medical problems. We have great support from Melanie and are really trying to make a difference for our patients.
@IH: Roughly how many patients do you see a
day? We currently see about eight patients per day, four days per week.
@IH: What does the future hold for the RAMAC?
We hope to further expand the RAMAC by providing more follow-up care for patients after they are discharged from the hospital and continuing to encourage referrals from the ED.
Kelowna General Hospital
4,000+ 82,000 Employees
1,400+
26,000
Surgeries performed
Volunteers
400 1,500
Acute care beds
Babies born
Stats gathered from 2016 data. Nominate a colleague, manager, or site for a future spotlight.
Emergency department visits
103 Years old
Submitted by: Jessi Minnabarriet
Kimberley Submitted by: Mandy White
Naramata Submitted by: Joelle Wall
Nakusp Submitted by: Lisa Parkinson
Kamloops Submitted by: Roberta Brown
According to Speech-Language and Audiology Canada, early language abilities are directly related to later reading abilities. Interior Health’s Allied Health Early Childhood speech language pathologists (SLPs) in Kamloops braved a cold and rainy day in order to get up-close-and-personal with kids at the recent YMCA Healthy Kids Day at the John Tod Centre Y. The May 15 event was one way for the Kamloops SLPs to celebrate Speech and Hearing Month.
Keeping your hands clean at work is one of the many ways to stay safe at work. Here, (L-R) Andrea Neil, Julie Mori, and Nicki Gill, Infection Prevention and Control team members, show a variety of hand-hygiene options. Print and post the 4 Moments for Hand Hygiene around your work area and look for other ways to stay safe at work.
Last month, the prosthetics team from Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) participated in an amputee running clinic with four amazing KGH prosthetic clients in support of Limb Loss Awareness. KGH is one of the remaining two public facilities in British Columbia that offers prosthetic services out of the rehabilitation centre and works with 50-60 new amputees per year as part of an amputee rehabilitative team. In the photo: KGH prosthetist Lori Hampson with Ottobock prosthetist Michael Pearce.
You may need to take care of someone you know one day with a physical disability, mental health challenges or long term illness by helping them with appointments, groceries or finances. Now is the time to make a plan. Start a care conversation today! Visit Canada.ca/caregivers.
Marketing is a sophisticated business. Every year, millions of dollars are spent trying to get our kids’ attention. Over 90 per cent of the food and beverage ads that target kids and teens online are for unhealthy products. But targeting kids with food and beverage ads is having a devastating effect on their health, and it’s time for this to stop. Learn more at heartandstroke.ca/16andunder.
On June 6, 2017, health-care providers and patients in B.C. participated in a global movement to create more patient-centred care, and build trust and strong relationships between health-care providers and the families and patients who receive care. Join the conversation.
WEAR A HELMET A properly fitted helmet can reduce the severity of bicycling head injuries by up to 80%
Parachute
Safe Kids Week Be an #everydaysuperhero Live a safe active life! June 5-11, 2017
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