Post-Pandemic Primary Care: Respond, Recover, Rebuild

The AFHTO 2021 Conference program is built around 5 core themes.

ConFERENCE Theme Descriptions

Download a printable PDF of the theme descriptions here.

1. Beyond our walls: expanding access to interprofessional team-based care  
2. Primary care leading in health system transformation  
3. Harnessing the power of relationships 
4. Right care at the right time: building digital models of care
5. Equity as the foundation in delivery of care

1. Beyond our walls: expanding access to interprofessional team-based care

With thousands of procedures and surgeries backlogged, to say the immediate future for Ontario’s healthcare system seems daunting is an understatement. Primary care has stepped up during the pandemic and our communities need teams’ support to make life better than before. But still relatively few Ontarians-less than a third at most- have access to team-based care. How do we increase access with the resources we have available?

Topics of interest include:

• Building sustainable programs for improved access
• Supporting Mental Health Promotion & Prevention (including support for Children and Youth)
• Developing the Patient Medical Neighbourhood – extending our reach outside our walls
• Addiction as a parallel pandemic

2. Primary care leading in health system transformation

Primary care is the foundation of the healthcare system- it’s what we’ve been saying for years, backed by evidence and research. And the pandemic has proven that when primary care is involved, outcomes are even better. But this requires us to continually put primary care forward, to ensure everyday peoples’ needs are addressed and not lost in existing narratives. To do that, primary care needs to lead.

Topics of interest include:

• Proof in the pudding- when primary care takes the lead
• Navigating complex systems to lead effectively

3. Harnessing the power of relationships

Community partners. Stakeholders. Team members and the board. Patient-provider. The best outcomes for populations and communities lie within a well-woven web of care. To be truly patient-centred, new connections must be made and existing connections strengthened, lest more risk falling through the gaps. Every missed connection is a missed opportunity to reduce this risk.

Topics of interest include:

• Engaging complex systems of support
• Picking the right partners and integrating care around the patient

4. Right care at the right time: building digital models of care

Now that virtual care has grown exponentially due to the pandemic, calls have been made to continue and even expand its use. Old rationales have fallen by the wayside, but how can we best make use of digital tools and virtual care in primary care? How do we move forward while contending with legacy systems and processes without leaving anyone behind?

Topics of interest include how to:

• Ensuring continuity of care
• Innovations in digital health, especially for rural and remote communities
• How to address challenges at the policy and system level
• Digital equity

5. Equity as the foundation in delivery of care

The time for denial has passed- Ontario’s healthcare system works much better for some than others. Sometimes this is determined by something as seemingly innocuous as the first 3 characters of your postal code. We would say the data has spoken but there is still a dearth of information, the roots of which lie in this denial. To bring us closer to the promise of universal healthcare, equity must be regarded as more than a nice-to-have- it must be integrated into all areas of the system itself.

Topics of interest include:

• Indigenous health and creating care that is culturally safe
• Treating the whole person in the context of their lived experience
• Racism as a public health emergency
• Supporting the needs of marginalised communities