Please join us in congratulating the winners of this year’s Bright Lights awards. Their achievements are shining examples of how relationships contribute to high-quality, effective care.
- By partnering with patients, they’ve developed programs that help patients meet their health goals.
- By fostering interprofessional teamwork, they’ve expanded their reach without stretching their resources.
- By collaborating with community groups, they’re providing wraparound care for people outside their enrolled patient population.
Through the work they do every day, these teams are demonstrating the value of team-based primary health care as the basis of a strong Ontario health system and a healthy population.
Review committees made up of AFHTO members and partners selected the winners from among 69 nominees.
The awards below recognize achievements in our six conference themes.
1. Caroline Families First Wraparound Program
- Award category: Mental health and addictions
- Achievement: Addressing gaps in care in children’s mental health
Burlington and Caroline Family Health Teams partnered with Reach Out Centre for Kids (ROCK) and other community partners to address an unmet need – mental health care for children in Burlington. This multidisciplinary, family-based, and client-directed approach has allowed them to provide care that is responsive, comprehensive, and accessible to the broader community.
2. Dr. Vanita Lokanathan, Lindsay Chmarney, Sheena Howard, Brittany Murray, and Kelly Pensom, Peterborough Family Health Team
- Award category: Healthy relationships, healthy teams
- Achievement: Full scope RNs in family practice improve access, continuity and reduce ER visits
By introducing a full-scope role for registered nurses (RNs), the Greater Peterborough FHO, part of the Peterborough FHT, was able to improve access for their patient population with existing human resources.
3. McMaster Family Health Team
- Award category: Expanding your reach
- Achievement: Healthy Aging Series
By offering its Healthy Aging Series to all seniors in the City of Hamilton, McMaster Family Health Team is extending the reach of its services beyond its own enrolled patient population. This program was designed in partnership with older adults to help seniors keep themselves healthier, longer.
4. Mount Sinai Academic Family Health Team
- Award category: The “How To” stream
- Achievement: HIPS Home based Interdisciplinary Primary care for Seniors
Home-based Interdisciplinary Primary Care for Seniors (HIPS) was created by a team of physicians, nurse-practitioners, and registered nurses working side-by-side with pharmacists, volunteers, and homecare service providers. The program enhances social supports, promotes healthy behaviours, and improves health access for medically complex, socially isolated seniors.
5. Marathon Family Health Team
- Award category: Why hasn’t this expanded? Scalable pilot programs
- Achievement: The HARMS Program for Safer Opioid Prescribing through Systematic Risk Stratification and Urine Drug Testing
The High-yield Approach to Risk Mitigation and Safety (HARMS) program is a new approach to pain management and opioid stewardship developed in response to the high rates of opioid addiction in Ontario’s north. This cost-effective program has significantly reduced opioid prescribing and increased the number of patients receiving treatment for addiction.
6. Northeastern Ontario Family Health Team Network
- Theme: The future of the regional approach to healthcare
- Achievement: The North Stars – Leading the Way into Collective Action
In northeastern Ontario, 27 family health teams have joined together as members of the Northeastern Ontario Family Health Team Network (NEOFHTN) to implement a regional quality improvement program tailored to the specific needs of their population.
The Spotlight Award: Algonquin and Cottage Country Family Health Teams
- In recognition of: Effective Response to Rural Community Need – Muskoka Community Health Hubs
Presented in recognition of underrepresented primary care teams, the Spotlight Award is presented to the Algonquin and Cottage Country Family Health Teams for the community health hubs they developed to meet the needs of unattached rural residents, seasonal residents, and visitors to Muskoka.
Board award: Primary Care Asthma Program, The Lung Association
- In recognition of: Promotion of Best Practices in Primary Care Treatment of Respiratory Diseases
Each year, the AFHTO board recognizes an organization or individual – outside of AFHTO’s membership – that has made an extraordinary contribution to team-based primary care.
This year’s Board Award was presented to the Primary Care Asthma Program, which supports best practices for diagnosing, assessing, and managing asthma.
Three award winners have received education grants from the Bright Lights sponsor, Merck Canada Inc and one from Boehringer Ingelheim.
The Bright Light Awards were presented at the beginning of AFHTO’s 2018 Conference, “Relationship Design with Starfield in Mind.”
A hearty congratulations to all this year’s winners and nominees!
The call for nominations for the 2019 Bright Light Awards will go out in May-June 2019. All AFHTO members and their partners are welcome and encouraged to participate.
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