QI in Action eBulletin #129: Celiac Disease Awareness Month

In this Issue:

• Celiac Disease in Ontario
• Celiac Canada Webinars
• Celiac Resources
• Food for thought
• Past Webinars
• Upcoming Events

Celiac Disease in Ontario

May is Celiac Disease Awareness month and we join Celiac Canada in helping to bring this initiative to the attention of team-based Primary Care. The Ontario Ministry of Health has announced it is extending a pilot program for free celiac disease diagnostic testing through community based labs. This extension is active until March 31, 2024 and includes first time diagnostic blood tests (IgA and tTg IgA) for patients. The Minister of Health has recently informed Celiac Canada that these tests will become permanently covered by OHIP following the pilot’s completion. 

Celiac Canada aims to raise the index of suspicion with physicians as it takes an average of 10 years from symptom onset to celiac diagnosis for Canadian patients. The majority of patients with celiac disease remain undiagnosed.

Celiac Canada Webinars 

• Diagnosing Celiac Disease – Current Standards and Debate

  • Speaker: Dr. Ben Liebwohl
    Dr. Ben Liebwohl shares the current standards for diagnosis of celiac disease and debates over future methodologies including non-biopsy approaches.

• Nutrition Assessment and Management of Celiac Disease

  • Speaker:  Dr. Donald Duerksen
    Dr. Donald Duerksen explains what tests are available and should be performed to help maintain your health and celiac disease.

• Disordered Eating and Celiac Disease

  • Speaker:  Dr. Vanina Noejovich
    Dr. Vanina Noejovich talks about Eating in Celiac Disease – A Psychological Approach to Moving Past Fear of Eating.

• Gluten, Dementia and Celiac Disease

  • Speaker: Dr Iain Croall
    Dr. Iain Croall joined the CCA National Virtual Conference from Sheffield University, UK to provide an overview of the recent research and current understanding of the impact of gluten and celiac disease.

Celiac Resources

• Information on the blood testing set-up in Ontario
• Screening and Diagnosis 
• Patient Management and Guidelines for Dieticians
• The Gluten Challenge – A Primary Care Resource
• Information Resources and Brochures including Language Resources

Food for Thought

Ontario has been the ONLY province in the country not to cover the blood screening test for CD.
This is despite the tests being part of standard clinical practice around the world. Ontario patients have had to pay anywhere from $60-$150 for the test. For many families, this cost is unaffordable. Since celiac testing is not on the standard lab requisition form, it is often missed by doctors in their health screening.  This cost also impacts the ongoing disease management for currently diagnosed celiac disease patients who are required to monitor their bloodwork on an ongoing basis.

New free celiac blood tests could benefit 128,000 Ontarians and save $1 billion
News Provided by
Celiac Canada 
Mar 30, 2023, 11:00 ET

The provincial government’s decision to make simple but crucial blood tests for celiac disease available at no cost to patients will improve the quality of life for as many as 128,000 Ontarians and potentially save Ontario’s health care system as much as $1 billion1, Celiac Canada said today.

Past Webinars

PHO Rounds: Health Conditions Attributable to Smoking and Alcohol by Public Health Unit in Ontario

Every year in Ontario, smoking and alcohol consumption are responsible for thousands of deaths, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits. A new report by Ontario Health and Public Health Ontario provides estimates of the prevalence of smoking and alcohol use in the province and includes detailed estimates of the number of harms caused by smoking and alcohol consumption. The report also provides estimates of the number of cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, respiratory, communicable disease, neuropsychiatric, and injury harms. These are provided for all of Ontario and for each public health unit.

Upcoming Events

Check out some of the coming events

OHT Engagement Learning Series – Session 6 of 7: Engagement Methods

• May 16, 2023 11:30 am – 01:00 pm

This series focuses on building connections and competencies for meaningful patient engagement. This session will be the 6th of a 7-part engagement learning series. In this session, you will get to experience various co-design strategies and use of different virtual platforms. Learn how to co-design in a way that avoids tokenism. Eliminate barriers to engagement, and tailor engagement methods to different individuals and groups.

PHO Rounds: The 2023 Ontario HIV Testing Guidelines

• Tuesday, May 23, 2023 | 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

Intended audience: Public health physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, STBBI case managers, supervisors, Medical Officers of Health overseeing public health units, front-line physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners in public health sexual health clinics

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify population groups that should be tested for HIV according to the new Ontario HIV testing guidelines
• Describe scenarios and conditions where it is appropriate to test (and retest) people for HIV; and
• List additional HIV prevention interventions and when to recommend them.

In Case You Missed It: Check out eBulletin #128 or other back issues here!
Questions? Comments? Contact us at improve@afhto.ca.