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  • Critical Role of Comprehensive Primary Care in COVID-19 Wave 2 Response

    To: Helen Angus, Deputy Minister of Health
    Alison Blair, Assistant Deputy Minister
    Matt Anderson, CEO, Ontario Health
    David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health (MOH)

    Re: Critical Role of Comprehensive Primary Care in COVID-19 Wave 2 Response

    Our calls to action in a joint letter to the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health

    1. Prioritize flu vaccination in comprehensive primary care
    2. Support immunization in primary care
    3. Include primary care in planning and rollout of COVID-19 vaccination
    4. Enable community-led testing and contact tracing in hotspot communities
    5. Ensure ongoing management of illnesses, chronic disease, disease prevention, health promotion, and community connection
    6. Expand virtual care that supports continuity and develop a comprehensive digital equity strategy

    Signed

    Sarah Hobbs, CEO, Alliance for Healthier Communities
    Caroline Lidstone Jones, CEO, Indigenous Primary Health Care Council
    Kavita Mehta, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario
    Jennifer Clement, Chair, Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic Association
    Leanne Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, Ontario College of Family Physicians

    See the full letters and the provincial response below.

    Relevant Links

  • What you need to know now that Health Canada has approved the first COVID vaccine

    Dear Members,

    This week, the Public Health Agency of Canada released Canada’s COVID-19 immunization plan, and Health Canada approved our first COVID-19 vaccine. Both represent significant progress in our COVID-19 efforts and are a testament to our scientific community worldwide and the power of unity.

    As provinces look to deploy vaccines, your voice and the role of primary care will be critical. We have shared challenges ahead before hopefully moving to a post-pandemic era, among them logistics, vaccine hesitancy, and more. We know there is no greater antidote to vaccine hesitancy than advice from someone we trust; for most Ontarians, that means a community’s primary care professional.
     
    Although there is no primary care (or public health) representation on the Ontario Ministers’ COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force, we are working hard to influence and connect with them for the benefit of Ontarians. Partnering with our primary care associations and representatives, we will ensure your community’s needs are heard and that they inform the Task Force’s decisions.
     
    The Task Force is yet to release details regarding its COVID-19 vaccination plan. What we understand is that healthcare workers will be in the first priority group, along with the highest risk members of the population. It is likely that the long-term care sector will be prioritized ahead of community-based primary care settings, but we know that availability of vaccines will increase substantially over the coming months.
     
    We believe it is critical that all of us get vaccinated for at least three reasons:

    1. to protect ourselves and our loved ones
    2. to protect our patients, as well as their families and caregivers
    3. to act as role models for our communities

    The details on how you will access the vaccine for yourselves and your practices is still to be determined. As you have likely heard, there are challenges related to availability and logistics. We understand that the details will be available soon. We are connected with relevant stakeholders and members of the Task Force, and we will share details as soon as we have them.
     
    In the meantime, working collaboratively, we are creating educational materials to understand the vaccine, and to help you have these discussions in your communities. We are also working with stakeholders across Ontario and Canada to ensure you have the resources and support you need to care for your patients.

    Our ask: To help us prepare, we ask you to please complete this important survey from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) so that we can fully understand your needs, unique challenges, and opportunities as they relate to undertaking the most important vaccine program in our recent history. Please also reach out to us if you have ideas beyond the survey.

    PHAC is also planning a series of national webinars for health professionals. To register for the first webinar, “COVID-19 Vaccine Foundations for Health Care Providers,” please click on one of the following options:

    Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, will provide the opening remarks on December 14th. We will also complement their webinars with tailored materials for your practices, patients, communities and more.
     
    Thank you for completing the survey, and helping us learn more about your needs. We will share more information as soon as we can.
     
    Sincerely,
                              
    Dr. Allan Grill                                             Kavita Mehta
    Chair and President, AFHTO                    Chief Executive Officer, AFHTO
     
    In unity with our dedicated partners in Ontario’s primary care:

    • Alliance for Healthier Communities
    • Indigenous Primary Health Care Council
    • Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario
    • Ontario College of Family Physicians
    • Ontario College of Pharmacists
    • Ontario Medical Association Section of General and Family Practice
    • Ontario’s Academic Chairs of Family Medicine
  • Bits & Pieces: Q & A with CMHA, initial groups getting the COVID vaccine and more

    Bits & Pieces: Q & A with CMHA, initial groups getting the COVID vaccine and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Q& A with CMHA, Dec. 18, 2020
    • COVID-19 vaccine update
    • Hope for Christmas video
    • Perkopolis for AFHTO members
    • Resources for crisis and more
    • Complicated grief and COVID-19: slides and videos
    • Access to clean drinking water to all First Nation and Inuit communities
    • Reminder- IHP experience during COVID study
    • Systems navigator graduate certificate student placement request
    • OTF resilient communities fund- update on eligibility
    • Provincial Primary Care and Cancer Network newsletter available
    • SDOH tools from PHO
    • Study: RD beliefs and behaviours on physical activity counselling
    • Upcoming events on coping with the holidays and more

    Q& A with CMHA, Dec. 18, 2020

    At the end of the COVID-19 wellness series: building your team’s psychological PPE, there will be a Q&A session on Dec. 18. This will be a wrap up of the previous sessions and an opportunity for a live Q&A with CMHA staff around resources, supports and questions for staff mental health. Register here.

    You can also still register for the sessions below:

    Mental Health and Telecommuting, Dec 10, 2020 11:00 AM EDT

    Register: Click here

    Isolation and Loneliness, Dec 15, 2020 02:00 PM EDT

    Register: Click here

    Mindfulness at Work, Dec 17, 2020 1:00 PM EDT

    Register: Click here  

    Learn more here.

     

    COVID-19 vaccine update

    As you are aware, yesterday the government released a news release identifying the key groups for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines. Aligned with the recommendations of the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, early vaccine doses will go to:

    • Residents, staff, essential caregivers, and other employees of congregate living settings (e.g., long-term care homes and retirement homes) that provide care for seniors as they are at higher risk of infection and serious illness from COVID-19;
    • Health care workers, including hospital employees, other staff who work or study in hospitals, and other health care personnel;
    • Adults in Indigenous communities, including remote communities where risk of transmission is high; and
    • Adult recipients of chronic home health care.

    Our understanding is that the definition of health care workers is very broad and will include primary and community care providers though we continue to seek clarity on this.

    To ensure there is a strong primary care voice to the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force led by General Rick Hillier, AFHTO has been working collaboratively with our primary care partners to advocate and provide solution-focused ideas so that primary care is at the forefront of the community vaccine deployment. The work is rapidly moving and ever changing but in the next few days we will be sharing some of the activities under way. Please stay tuned.

    Hope for Xmas- Dr. Sean Blaine

     

    Hope for Christmas video

    STAR FHT’s Dr. Sean Blaine has released his latest YouTube video There’s Hope for Christmas. With over 3400 views already, you may wish to share this with your patients through your social media channels.

     

     

    Dec perks

    Perkopolis for AFHTO members

    While we certainly encourage you to #shoplocal for your everyday needs and holiday gifts, we would be remiss if we didn’t remind you AFHTO members are eligible to sign up for free access to over 5000 perks through Perkopolis. Get discounts on shopping, attractions and more.

    EDs, if your team doesn’t have access yet, please email info@ahto.ca.

     

     

    Resources for crisis and more

    Recent updates include:

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    Complicated grief and COVID-19 slide

    Complicated grief and COVID-19: slides and videos

    Espanola and Area FHT and Powassan and Area FHT organized mental health sessions for teams in the north east. The webinar series presents helpful and practical tools to use when patients are experiencing physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering as they cope with complicated grief. Special attention is directed to ways for health care providers to support themselves and coworkers during this pandemic.

    The presentation decks and recordings available to date are on our site.

    Access to clean drinking water to all First Nation and Inuit communities

    The Alliance for Healthier Communities’ Board of Directors has issued a statement and written a letter to the Prime Minister calling for the government to hold itself accountable to its promise for clean drinking water to all First Nation and Inuit communities.

    If you wish to participate in this call to action, you can use this letter template (in English and French). You can tailor it and use it to send letters to your MPs to urge the government to accelerate the work on this issue and provide clear timelines and funding commitments.

    Reminder- IHP experience during COVID study

    We are now six months since the initial restrictions of COVID-19 and we are interested in hearing about your experiences working in Family Health Teams during this time.  You’re invited to participate in a brief web-based survey to understand the evolving experiences of interprofessional health care providers in Family Health Teams in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Click on the link here to complete the web-based survey.

    This research is being led by Drs. Catherine Donnelly (Associate Professor, Queen’s University) and Jordan Miller (Assistant Professor, Queen’s University). If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Catherine Donnelly at catherine.donnelly@queensu.ca.

    Systems navigator graduate certificate student placement request

    To be eligible for admission, students must possess a bachelor’s degree, advanced diploma or diploma in health, or social/community or other health-related or human services field.  

    Humber College students are prepared to work across various health/community service systems to guide and assist patients, clients and families through complex health and social care systems. Placement runs from May 3rd – June 11th, 2021 and students are to complete 240 hours (full-time, 8hrs/day for 6 weeks) of unpaid internship. Should you be interested, email Stephanie.Montemarano@humber.ca by no later than Feb 15, 2021.

    OTF resilient communities fund- update on eligibility

    We regret to inform our members that we’ve recently been notified FHTs are in fact not eligible to apply for the OTF Resilient Communities Fund. Although we had originally been informed that our teams could qualify, upon further investigation Section 3.3 of the document states that “subsidization of government mandated positions or activities” is considered ineligible, and it appears that is where they see FHTs fitting.

    There is nothing in the online eligibility criteria list that directly excludes FHTs like it does call out hospitals, municipalities, etc., and we have engaged in lengthy conversations to determine if there is any way to make FHTs eligible but unfortunately, we have not been successful in these discussions. This is obviously very disappointing and frustrating for all of us. We sincerely apologize for acting on bad information and for creating any unnecessary workload for our members. If you have any questions or would like chat further, please contact Bryn.Hamilton@afhto.ca.

    Provincial Primary Care and Cancer Network newsletter available

    Every month, Ontario Health’s (Cancer Care Ontario) Provincial Primary Care and Cancer Network (PPCCN) sends out an electronic newsletter to any interested primary care provider in Ontario. The electronic newsletter provides regular prevention and cancer screening updates on topics such as the fecal immunochemical test, upcoming educational opportunities, and regional activities which may be relevant to you or your staff.

    Here is a copy of the most recent newsletter.

    If interested in receiving the monthly newsletter, please contact the Primary Care and Lung Screening team at Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) to subscribe: PrimaryCareInquiries@ontariohealth.ca.

    SDOH tools from PHO

    Study: RD beliefs and behaviours on physical activity counselling
    “Registered dietitians’ beliefs and behaviours related to counselling patients on physical activity and sedentary behaviour from a theory of planned behaviour perspective”- BMC Nutrition article by University of Guelph researchers on Nov. 30

    Coping with the Holidays: A Family Survival Guide, Dec. 14, 2020
    Caregivers of someone living with mental health issues are invited to this webinar held by IAM.
    Click here to learn more

    ECHO Pain, Liver and Rheumatology, Jan. 07 – Dec. 09, 2021
    View the newest ECHO offerings starting in January at UHN.
    Register here.

    Morning Rounds and Lunch & Learns with ECHO Child Youth Mental Health, Jan. 12 – Jan. 14, 2021
    From depression, anxiety and parent-child relationships in toddlers, children or adolescents- join the CHEO as they cover it all in these sessions.
    Learn more here.

    ECHO Ontario Conference, Jan. 29, 2021
    Registration is open for Improving Access and Equity in Healthcare through the ECHO Model. See agenda and details here.

  • Bits & Pieces: COVID-19 vaccine, wellness series for members and more

    Bits & Pieces: COVID-19 vaccine, wellness series for members and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Changing the way we work – COVID-19 vaccine, public health collaboration, and supporting our teams
    • COVID-19 wellness series: building your team’s psychological PPE
    • Members’ stories including 12 days of Christmas
    • Addition of FluMist to the universal influenza immunization program and more
    • Reminder- The CONCEPT study survey
    • 2021 Alliance Conference call for proposals
    • Upcoming events on pediatric asthma and more

    Changing the way we work – COVID-19 vaccine, public health collaboration, and supporting our teams

    The next meeting of the COVID-19 CoP of Ontario Family Physicians on Dec. 11 will focus on the COVID vaccine. Learn more here.

    COVID-19 wellness series: building your team’s psychological PPE

    We recognize that the pandemic has impacted our teams and continues to impact you in many ways. PPE has been critical during the pandemic to help protect teams’ physical wellbeing; however, the “psychological PPE” is crucial to protect teams’ mental well being.

    Coping with the stress in a healthy manner will allow for you to take care of yourself and in return take care of patients. To support your mental well being, AFHTO has partnered with CMHA’s Mental Health Works program to provide 4 workshops to help build your “psychological PPE”.

    Health Anxiety, Dec 7, 2020 11:00 AM EDT

    Register: Click here

    Mental Health and Telecommuting, Dec 10, 2020 11:00 AM EDT

    Register: Click here

    Isolation and Loneliness, Dec 15, 2020 02:00 PM EDT

    Register: Click here

    Mindfulness at Work, Dec 17, 2020 1:00 PM EDT

    Register: Click here  

    Please share the workshop registration information with your team! For more information on the webinar series please click here.

    12 days of Christmas PSFHT

    Members’ stories including 12 days of Christmas

    Cochrane FHT– making Christmas merry for LTC residents

    Parry Sound FHT– since the usual Christmas parties are cancelled, Parry Sound FHT is trying something else – 12 Days of Christmas

    Starting on Dec 9th, Staff/MD participating in the “theme of the day”, are eligible to win prizes. Details will be on posters around the clinic. This staff/MD appreciation initiative is funded by the PSFHT, and two FHOs, and will be supporting 24 local Parry Sound businesses.

    Just a thought if you’d like to celebrate with your teams and foster community spirit as we go into an unusual holiday season.

     

     

     

     

    Addition of FluMist to the universal influenza immunization program and more

    Recent updates include:

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    The CONCEPT study survey

    Reminder- The CONCEPT study survey

    Coordinating Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Evaluation of Providers’ Perspectives of their Practices

    You are invited to participate in an exciting research endeavour evaluating existing care coordination practices in Ontario and how

    they have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CONCEPT study will evaluate providers’ perspectives on current care coordination practices for patients with multiple comorbidities, and modifications made during the COVID-19 pandemic.  
     
    If you agree to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete a 10-minute survey. You are asked to answer each question based on your opinion of the care coordination provided at your FHT or community-based primary care health centre before and during COVID-19.

    If you have any questions, please contact  Joanne Permaul, Study Coordinator, at jpermaul@msh.on.ca or Dr. Donatus Mutasingwa, Principal Investigator, at dmutasingwa@msh.on.ca.

    2021 Alliance Conference call for proposals

    For the first time ever, the Alliance for Healthier Communities will host their conference online. Join on June 16-17, 2021 for Power in Community.

    The call for workshop proposals is open. Visit their website to review the conference criteria, priority topics, formats and terms and conditions. Deadline for submissions is January 8, 2021.

    CMHO Burnout webinars, Nov. 27-Dec. 4, 2020

    Pediatric Asthma Webinar Series, Dec. 2, 2020
    Register for the final webinar in the series, titled Managing a Child with Severe Chronic Asthma. Click here to register and access the link to past webinar recordings in the series.

    COPD Update 2020: Primary Care Perspective, Dec. 8, 2020

    Discuss COPD management in primary care with Dr. Anthony D’Urzo and the Lung Health Foundation.
    Register here.

    PHO Rounds: COVID-19 and Mental Health of Children and Adolescents
    Understand children’s mental health in a global to local through the pandemic, and the potential impacts that public health measures may lead to. Find out more here.

    ECHO Ontario Mental Health- Winter Programs, Jan. 11 – Mar 30, 2021

    CAMH has released their winter programming schedule. Deadline Dec. 4.
    Learn more here.

  • COVID-19 Wellness Series: Building Your Team’s Psychological PPE

    Dear AFHTO Members,

    We recognize that the pandemic has impacted our teams and continues to impact you many ways. PPE has been critical during the pandemic to help protect teams’ physical wellbeing; however, the “psychological PPE” is crucial to protect teams’ mental well being. Coping with the stress in a healthy manner will allow for you to take care of yourself and in return take care of patients. To support your mental well being, AFHTO has partnered with Mental Health Works to provide 4 workshops to help build your “psychological PPE”.

    Mental Health Works is a nationwide social enterprise of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division. It provides capacity-building workshops, presentations and webinars that are person-centred, evidence based, and solutions-focused.

    Mental Health Works will be offering 4 workshops for all AFHTO members, facilitated by Lawrence Blake, Certified Psychological Health and Safety Advisor, Program Manager, Mental Health Works. Below is a brief description of the workshops, dates & times, and links to register.

    Health Anxiety

    This session is all about how a pandemic can cause intense feelings of anxiety regarding our health and the health of our loved ones and friends. Using evidence-based methods, it will impart skills employers and staff can use in the context of business resumption to mitigate anxiety about returning to the workplace in a latent COVID-19 environment.

    When: Dec 7, 2020 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT

    Length: 1 hour

    Register: Click here

     

    Mental Health and Telecommuting

    With telework becoming more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, this session addresses the unique challenges this brings to caring for and about employee mental health. It will provide a high-level overview on how we can build psychologically healthy and safe workplaces when the place of work is the home.

    When: Dec 10, 2020 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM EDT

    Length: 1 hour

    Register: Click here

     

    Isolation and Loneliness

    This session provides a high-level overview of how isolation and loneliness affect work, the workplace and our mental health. It focuses specifically on the experience of enforced isolation due to physical distancing measures, and provides concrete tools that can be used to mitigate the stress this causes.

    When: Dec 15, 2020 02:00 PM – 3:00 PM EDT

    Length: 1 hour

    Register: Click here

     

    Mindfulness at Work

    This session talks about mindfulness, what it is, what we can do to achieve it, and introduces staff to skills that can be used to improve health, wellness and performance. Being more mindful of our thoughts and feelings enables better conversation.

    When: Dec 17, 2020 01:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT

    Length: 1 hour

    Register: Click here  

     

    Q&A with CMHA 

    This session will be a wrap up of all the sessions above and an opportunity for a live Q&A with CMHA staff around resources, supports and questions for staff mental health. 

    When: Dec 18, 2020 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM EDT

    Length: 1 hour

    Register: Click here  

    Please share the workshop registration information with your team! For more information on the webinar series please click here.

    Take care.

    Thanks,
    AFHTO

     

  • Bits & Pieces: members in newly approved OHTs, updated case definition and more

    Bits & Pieces: members in newly approved OHTs, updated case definition and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Thirteen new OHTs announced
    • How collaboration created an essential PPE community hub during the first wave of COVID-19
    • Members’ stories – #PrimaryCareAlwaysThere
    • Reminder- enter to win free registration to Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series
    • Updated case definition, testing guidance and more
    • Call for applications – TUTOR-PHC 2021
    • CFPC dementia care needs assessment survey
    • Seeking input for study on the role and practice characteristics of Kinesiologists
    • Seeking input for COVID-19 research study for Toronto healthcare workers
    • Upcoming events on building resilience beyond COVID by CMHO and more

    Thirteen new OHTs announced

    Congratulations to the thirteen new Ontario Health Teams and to our member teams that are engaged and participating in the development of OHTs. Visit our site to see which members are involved with the latest OHTs announced.

    Rebuilding Podcast Episode1

    How collaboration created an essential PPE community hub during the first wave of COVID-19

    As on-demand sponsor of #AFHTO2020, HIROC has interviewed several presenters for their podcast series. The first episode focuses on the remarkable efforts of the London-Middlesex PPE Initiative. Listen to the episode here. It’s also available via Apple and Spotify (search HIROC).

    Members’ stories – #PrimaryCareAlwaysThere

    North Simcoe FHT- launched a virtual care clinic in Feb, at the start of COVID-19. About 700 locals who didn’t have a doctor are now part of the clinic. Those 700 have accumulated 3,500 visits in 8 months. That’s 3,500 visits that didn’t go to the ED. Read more here.

    This and other stories are profiled on our Twitter and Facebook accounts as ways to highlight the pivotal role that primary care plays in the health system.

    #PrimaryCareAlwaysThere and #PrimaryCareFluFighters are getting a lot of attention, so please let us know about your team initiatives so we can highlight the great work you’re doing!

    Reminder- enter to win free registration to Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series

    AFHTO members have the chance to win one (1) free registration to the 2021 Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series, with Kate Dewhirst and Maria McDonald. The deadline to enter is Nov. 27, 2020. A winner will be randomly drawn and announced Dec. 1, 2020 (also the early bird pricing deadline). Enter today!

    Updated case definition, testing guidance and more

    Updates recently released include:

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    Call for applications – TUTOR-PHC 2021

    The final call for applications for TUTOR-PHC Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research – Primary Health Care (TUTOR-PHC) has gone out.

    TUTOR-PHC is a one-year, pan-Canadian interdisciplinary research capacity building program that has been training primary and integrated health care researchers, clinicians and decision-makers from family medicine, nursing, psychology, epidemiology, social work, occupational therapy, education, policy and many other disciplines since 2003.

    Please find more information here- English and French. Deadline to apply is Nov. 30, 2020.

    CFPC dementia care needs assessment survey

    In collaboration with the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) wants to compile a repository of existing practice tools and develop new tools or continuing professional development programs that will improve family physicians’ ability to provide care to patients with dementia.
     
    The CFPC is seeking your participation in this needs assessment survey to develop a better understanding of the gaps, barriers, and facilitating factors you have experienced in accessing educational resources and tools for family physicians on caring for patients with dementia.

    Seeking input for study on the role and practice characteristics of Kinesiologists
    University of Guelph researchers are investigating the role and practice characteristics of Registered Kinesiologists within Ontario’s healthcare system and invite you to complete an online survey.

    Your responses will aid in identifying the barriers and facilitators of integrating Registered Kinesiologists into Ontario’s healthcare system.

    The survey will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete and if you are one of the first 200 participants, you will be eligible to receive a $10.00 gift card to your choice of iTunes, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Cineplex, Amazon, Best Buy, Indigo/Chapters or an Ultimate Dining Card.

    Seeking input for COVID-19 research study for Toronto healthcare workers
    Sinai Health System and McMaster University researchers want to better understand how many people develop COVID-19 infection, how often infection is spread in households, and whether there are microbes or early immune responses (in our nose) that protect or make people more susceptible to infection.

    Physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, physicians’ assistants, nurses, or receptionists working in private medical practices/medical clinics working in the greater Toronto area are eligible to participate. Find out more here. If you have further questions, email covid.study@sinaihealth.ca or call (647) 267-2413 weekdays between 8AM and 7PM.

    Increasing older adults’ access to care: Lessons learned from the pandemic response, Nov. 25, 2020
    In this webinar hosted by CAMH, Sara Bhatti , Alliance for Healthier Communities and Alvis Choi, Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre describe specific responses taken by CHCs to address the needs of older adults during the pandemic. Register here.

    Healing the Gender Gap, Nov. 27, 2020
    The OMA and the SGFP will hold a panel discussion and Q&A about gender issues in medicine.
    Learn more here.

    CMHO Burnout webinars, Nov. 27-Dec. 4, 2020

    Cultural Safety and Indigenous Partnership, Nov. 27, 2020
    Join the first webinar of this Virtual Learning Exchange in Primary Care series held by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. Learn more here.

    COVID-19 CoP of Ontario Family Physicians, Dec. 11, 2020

    Learn alongside other Ontario family physicians on how to adapt to these challenging times.
    Learn more here.

    ECHO Ontario Mental Health- Winter Programs, Jan. 11 – Mar 30, 2021

    CAMH has released their winter programming schedule. Deadline Dec. 4.
    Learn more here.

  • Follow-up on ED check-in calls – and additional tools and resources

    Dear triad members,

    We had our regional ED check-in calls on November 17 and 18. This is a follow-up communique with the material promised on the calls, and some additional reminders, tools, and resources.

    Mental health and wellbeing

    • We are pleased to share that the federal government is providing one-time mental health and addictions funding to help alleviate the increase in demand and a backlog of services due to COVID-19. Approximately $3 million will be distributed to interprofessional primary care teams, including AHACs, CHCs, FHTs, and NPLCs, to increase access to mental health and addictions supports for patients in Q4.
      • All FHTs will receive a minimum of $5,000, with a top-up based on roster size, to be used in Q4. Funding distribution is in the final stages of approval, and we expect teams to receive it by end of year. Teams can choose to pool this funding within regions to target areas in greatest need.
    • We continue to post resources on our mental health and wellbeing page. Please check them out and encourage your staff do so as well. These are very challenging times, and we hope these resources give a bit of guidance and support.

    AFHTO’s OHT and KTE supports

    • AFHTO conducted seven polls on the calls to get a sense of work on the ground and where supports are needed or should focus. The results of the polls can be seen here.
    • AFHTO heard loud and clear that a webinar series on OHTs would be helpful! We will organize these now and kick them off in the new year. Please email topic suggestions to Bryn Hamilton.
    • We will also begin organizing KTE webinars based on your poll feedback. The top four areas of interest were patient/caregiver engagement, mental health, digital equity, and social determinants of health. If you have ideas for KTE topics, please send them to Sandeep Gill.

    #PrimaryCareAlwaysThere

    • We are speaking up against the narrative that primary care was or is closed during the pandemic. This includes communicating the benefits of virtual and in-person care – and that virtual care is care.
    • The Twitter campaign is #PrimaryCareAlwaysThere. We encourage you share stories about how your teams supported your patients and communities and use the hashtag. Let us also know so we can share your examples with our ministry and OH colleagues during our discussions.
    • Thank you to all who participated in our summer research about how primary care stepped up. Taking what we learned, we created Crossing Chasms: Primary Care Teams’ Response to COVID-19 to show the great work done by our teams. We also created a video. Please share this widely, and keep letting us know how you are supporting your communities so we can continue to highlight how pivotal primary care is in the pandemic response.

    Microsoft Teams discount

    • AFHTO has been exploring a group purchase of Microsoft Teams for a member discount. We have learned that the summer survey AFHTO conducted has indicated that the number of users was not enough for us to qualify for Microsoft Canada’s affiliate program.
    • Ontario Health, as part of their digital strategy, is in negotiations with Microsoft Canada on an agreement to offer Microsoft 365 (which includes Teams) at a discount to healthcare providers and organizations. The discount will be extended to the broader healthcare sector, and AFHTO has initiated conversations with Ontario Health about offering this discount to AFHTO members. An update will be provided in January.

    QSC patient advisor application

    • AFHTO is recruiting a patient advisor representative for the AFHTO quality steering committee (QSC). Our hope is for the advisor to be a patient of one of our teams!
    • More information is here. Please consider speaking with patients who you think may be interested and circulating this across your team.

    Primary care patient/client and provider virtual care experience surveys

    • In August, we launched the Primary Care Patient/Client Virtual Care Experience Survey for teams to capture the patient experience with virtual care. AFHTO is collecting teams’ aggregate responses to create a narrative of how virtual care could be permanently included in the patient care journey – click here to submit your data!
    • There is also a patient/client survey created by Women’s College Hospital Institute of Health Systems Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV), who is conducting a third-party evaluation of virtual care in the COVID-19 era on behalf of the ministry. You can provide the survey link to patients.
    • WIHV is also conducting a third-party evaluation of virtual care in the COVID-19 era on behalf of the ministry to measure the provider experience on virtual care. Please share this short 10-15 minute online survey with all providers on your team.
    • Both WIHV surveys include the opportunity to enter a draw to win one of four $50 gift cards to the Bay, Shoppers Drug Mart, or Amazon. Your participation will remain anonymous and confidential.
      • If you have any questions or would like to share your current virtual patient/client survey results with WIHV, please email rebecca.liu@wchospital.ca.
      • Please reach out to jamie.fujioka@wchospital.ca if you have any questions or concerns about the provider experience survey.
    • This research is important as the ministry looks at the future of virtual care – please spread the word, and we encourage you to participate!

    Friendly reminders

    • A new agency called Supply Ontario has been created to centralize government procurement, including stabilizing access to PPE for the long term. The goal is to have the inaugural board in place early in the new year. In the meantime, a reminder that primary care can access the provincial stockpile. Even if you have more than 7 days of stock, you can access the pandemic PPE transitional support and send any questions to your regional supply chain lead.
    • The Physiotherapy Clinical Education Team at Queen’s is coordinating clinical placements for 2021. If any teams have a PT in place and would be able to supervise a student, please email Melanie Law at lawm@queensu.ca.
    • Please send your AOP to the ministry as soon as able. While there is no set deadline on it, we encourage teams aim to submit in before the end of the year.

    This was our last round of ED check-in calls for 2020, and we look forward to connecting in the new year.

    We thank and applaud you for your persistence and commitment to delivering the best quality primary care during very trying times. We hope you, your staff, and your friends and families find some down time next month to rest.

    Please reach any time with questions or suggestions on how we can continue to support you.

    Stay well,

    Your AFHTO team 

  • ED polls – November 2020

    EDs joined AFHTO’s regular regional calls on November 17 and 18. Seven polls were conducted to help AFHTO get a sense of work on the ground and where supports are needed or should focus. The results of the polls are below.

    Q1 What topics would be of value for 2021 KTE webinars?  (Check all that apply.)

    Topic ED votes
    Patient and caregiver engagement 53
    Mental health 45
    Digital equity 45
    Social determinants of health 43
    Caring for older adults during COVID-19 32
    Palliative care 31
    Diversity and inclusion 30
    Anti-racism 27
    IPAC 20

     

    Q2 Are you interested in a pilot accreditation process for your team?

     

     

    Response ED votes
    No, this is not a priority now 25
    Maybe interested, but need more information 23
    Yes, but this would best be an integrative process through OHTs at a later date
         		 14
    Yes, we would be interested in pursuing a pilot accreditation opportunity, but at a later date
         		 9
    Yes, we would be interested in pursuing a pilot accreditation opportunity now
         		 6

     

    Q3 What best identifies the ED/admin lead’s role on the board?

    Response  ED votes
    Non-voting member of the board 59
    Invited as a permanent guest of the board 22
    Other 3
    Voting member of the board 2

     

    Q4 What best identifies the lead physician’s role on the board?

    Response  ED votes
    Voting member of the board 50
    Non-voting member of the board 16
    Other 14
    Invited as a permanent guest of the board 7

     

    Q5 How is the information and communication you receive from AFHTO?

    Response ED votes
    The amount of information we receive is fine 80
    We receive too much information from AFHTO 4
    We could use more information from AFHTO 2

     

    Q6 Would you be open to the Ministry sharing your AOP and Schedule A with AFHTO?

    Response ED votes
    Yes 73
    No  10

     

    Q7 Are you involved in or do you have the capacity to be involved in contact tracing and testing? (Multiple choice.)

    Response ED votes 
    No, we do not have capacity 47
    Yes, we are involved in testing 30
    We have capacity but are not yet involved 13
    Yes, we are involved in contact tracing 3

     

  • Thirteen New Ontario Health Teams Announced

    Congratulations to the thirteen new Ontario Health Teams and to our member teams that are engaged and participating in the development of OHTs. This list may be updated as more information becomes available.

    Ontario Health Team

    		 AFHTO Members
     Brantford Brant OHT PrimaCare FHT
    Downtown East Toronto OHT

    Inner City FHT

    Sherbourne Health Centre FHT

    St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT
    Frontenac, Lennox & Addington OHT

    Kingston FHT
    Lakelands FHT
    Loyalist FHT
    Maple FHT
    Queen’s FHT
    Sharbot Lake FHT
    Kawartha Lakes OHT

    City of Kawartha Lakes FHT
    Kawartha North FHT
    Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich OHT

    Centre for Family Medicine FHT
    New Vision FHT
    Lanark, Leeds and Grenville OHT Leeds & Grenville Community FHT
    Mid-West Toronto OHT

    Inner City FHT
    Mount Sinai Academic FHT
    Taddle Creek FHT

    Toronto Western FHT

    Women’s College Academic FHT
    Oxford and Area OHT

    Ingersoll NPLC

    Thames Valley FHT
    Rainy River OHT

    Atikokan FHT

    Fort Frances FHT
    Sarnia Lambton OHT

    Central Lambton FHT
    Rapids FHT
    Scarborough OHT

    Carefirst FHT

    Inner City FHT

    Scarborough Academic FHT
    South Georgian Bay OHT Georgian Bay FHT
    West Toronto OHT

    Crosstown FHT
    Village FHT

    Relevant Link:

  • Bits & Pieces: apply for messaging pilots, free registration for legal webinars and more

    Bits & Pieces: apply for messaging pilots, free registration for legal webinars and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Teams can apply for messaging pilots
    • Enter to win free registration to Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series
    • Mental Health Works modules available from CMHA Ontario
    • Urgent need for physio student placement
    • Quality standard placemats- low back pain and osteoarthritis
    • Recommendations for resuming spirometry, Supply Ontario & PPE, and more
    • Registered Respiratory Therapist job descriptions
    • Upcoming events on increasing older adults’ access to care and more

    Sustaining virtual care-Dr. Ed Brown

    Teams can apply for messaging pilots

    Primary care teams are eligible to apply for funding for tech licenses and fee-for-service messaging as part of Ontario Health’s COVID‐19 funded projects. If you are interested, please contact Vivian Henderson – vhenderson@otn.ca. As a bonus, you can also see Dr. Ed Brown’s recent presentation on sustaining virtual care here.

     

    Enter to win free registration to Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series

    AFHTO members have the chance to win one (1) free registration to the 2021 Legal Issues for Primary Care Teams series, with Kate Dewhirst and Maria McDonald. Topics include employment law, OHTs, employees as patients and more. The deadline to enter is Nov. 27, 2020. A winner will be randomly drawn and announced Dec. 1, 2020. Enter today!

    Mental Health Works modules available from CMHA Ontario

    Mental Health Works is a nationwide social enterprise of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario Division. It offers 13 individual ‘essentials’ training modules that provide workplaces tools to foster mental wellness. Topics range from depression and anxiety, to substance use and addictions, to trauma, to psychological health and safety.

    Urgent need for physio student placement –request from Dr. Jane Philpott

    The Physiotherapy Clinical Education Team at Queen’s is in the process of coordinating clinical placements for 2021. Learning opportunities have been hit hard by the impact of COVID-19 and they are now reaching out for support from clinical partners across the province.

    Does your team have a PT who could supervise a student? Read here to find out what’s required.

    Quality standard placemats- low back pain and osteoarthritis

    In response to feedback from primary care, Ontario Health (Quality) has shared a newly developed tool called the Quality Standard (QS) Placemat. The placemat is a quick-reference tool that concisely summarizes key information from its corresponding quality standard in an at-a-glance format.

    Since acute low back pain and osteoarthritis represent two of the most common clinical conditions in the primary care setting, their first placemats have focused on these. They’re posted on Quorum.

    They also have a list of tools and resources that support the implementation of quality standards related to pain and associated symptoms, including chronic pain, low back pain, and osteoarthritis.

    Recommendations for resuming spirometry, Supply Ontario & PPE, and more

    Updates recently released include:

    We continue to update several pages on our site with resources and news:

    Registered Respiratory Therapist job descriptions
    Respiratory Therapy Society of Ontario has recently released RRT job descriptions across multiple settings. They are now listed as a resource in our library of organizational policies & procedures page -Staff roles, recruitment and development.

    Race, Racism, And COVID-19: The Institute For Pandemics Inaugural Lecture, Nov. 24, 2020
    This panel will explore evidence and examine the implications for using policy and other strategies to dismantle structural racism.
    Learn more here.

    Increasing older adults’ access to care: Lessons learned from the pandemic response, Nov. 25, 2020
    In this webinar hosted by CAMH, Sara Bhatti , Alliance for Healthier Communities and Alvis Choi, Yet Keen Seniors’ Day Centre describe specific responses taken by CHCs to address the needs of older adults during the pandemic. Register here.

    Cultural Safety and Indigenous Partnership, Nov. 27, 2020
    Join the first webinar of this Virtual Learning Exchange in Primary Care series held by the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. Learn more here.

    End of Life with ALS and assisted non-invasive ventilation, Dec. 1, 2020
    This webinar is the first of a 3-part webinar series on End-of-Life. Learn more alongside the HPCO and Proresp starting on Dec. 1. Find out more here.

    Osgoode Professional Development, Oct. 5, 2020 – Apr 28, 2021
    AFHTO is partnering with York University’s OPD to provide members 10% off a variety of health law programs for professional development. For discount code and course offerings, click here.