2021 Conference Themes
Tectonic shifts: rebuilding primary care in a new world
Primary Care Team Lessons and Patient Virtual Experience During COVID-19
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On Friday, Oct. 23, AFHTO along with our partners presented at Trillium Research Day demonstrating the value of primary care teams' response to COVID-19 and patients' experience with virtual care:
- Responding to COVID-19: Understanding How Primary Care Teams Stepped up to Help Support Their Communities and Patients- a. Sandeep Gill, Rachelle Ashcroft, Catherine Donnelly, Simon Lam
- Learning from Patients’ Experiences with Synchronous Virtual Encounters in Primary Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study- a. Rachelle Ashcroft, Simone Dahrouge, Catherine Donnelly, Bridget Ryan, Judith Belle Brown, Lisa Dolovich, Jean Grenier, David Verrilli, JavedAlloo, Jennifer Rayner, Sandeep Gill, Simon Lam, Kavita Mehta
- Addressing the Impact of COVID-19 by Generating a Policy-Oriented Action Plan to Strengthen Mental Health Services in Primary Health Care (PHC)- a. Maya Dancey, Rachelle Ashcroft, Keith Adamson, Toula Kourgiantakis, Anne Kirvan, Lisa Dolovich, Catherine Donnelly, Judy Belle Brown, David Verrilli, Sandeep Gill, Deepy Sur, Kavita Mehta
- Oral Presentation - After the Pandemic: Understanding How Primary Care Teams Will Incorporate Learnings from the Pandemic to Support Their Communities and Patients- a. Sandeep Gill, Catherine Donnelly, Rachelle Ashcroft, Simon Lam, Kavita Mehta
And here's a video of the poster presentation:
2020 Conference Themes
Tectonic shifts: rebuilding primary care in a new world
CMHA Ontario Launches Your Health Space
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for everyone working in primary care. Health care workers, support staff, and organizational leaders are all facing extreme levels of stress and burnout. The Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario has launched Your Health Space, a free mental health service for Ontario’s health care organizations.
Supporting Stress Management in the Health Care Workplace
Content below WAS developed by Nhi Luu, Canadian Mental Health Association
Stress and stress management in the workplace have long been topics of interest for both employers and employees. We often hear that stress is unavoidable and expected when it comes to employment, but for health care professionals the degree of chronic stress endured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is an issue that deserves concentrated attention and thoughtful response.
Mental health and wellness during COVID-19
Originally posted on March 27, 2020. Last updated on July 20, 2022
We will be posting tools and resources to help providers and patients with mental health and wellness throughout and after this crisis. New and updated resources will be added to the top of each list as they become available.
We ask teams who develop or know of good tools to please consider sharing them for distribution.
Health Care Navigation Service – Coming Soon
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The Ontario government is awarding a contract to create a one-stop, digitally enabled navigation tool with fully bilingual services that will increase access to care and improve equity. This new tool expected to be ready in early 2022, where Ontarians will have a ‘Digital Front Door’ to Ontario’s health care system, offering a place where they can have easier access to health information, advice, initial triage, symptom checking, mental health and addictions supports, home and community care, caregiver supports, information on finding a local doctor or nurse practitioner, and virtual care to become connected to health information and health care services across the province and to receive guidance throughout their health care journey.
Ontario Health has been assigned contract management for the navigation tool and will work closely with the consortium, the ministry, and key stakeholders to design and implement this service. The ministry and Ontario Health will continue to work closely with health care sector partners to harness their expertise and insights on how best to support health care system navigation and address patients and providers’ needs.
Helpful Resources:
• Health Care Navigation Service overview (attached document)
Breaking Free Online – Digital Support Tool for Substance Use Disorder
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Ontario Health has launched Breaking Free Online, an online therapy tool for Ontarians 16 and up to support recovery from the use of over 70 substances such as tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, including opioids, and help prevent a relapse. The solution is free for patients and providers and is available 24/7 in both English and French. Primary care providers can refer their patients to Breaking Free Online directly or choose to implement it as a tool to facilitate ongoing treatment.
Getting Started: To implement Breaking Free Online, please email Nicholette Smith at nsmith@breakingfreegroup.com to receive your organization’s service code. You will use this service code to enrol clients, access resources in the operational toolkit, and view real-time data analytics via an online outcomes dashboard.
Helpful Resources:
• Breaking Free: Addressing Substance Use Disorders Through Digital Innovation (attached document)
• Video Overview
• Extensive Peer-Reviewed Research
• Q&A