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  • High and Sustained Participation in a Multi-year Voluntary Performance Measurement Initiative Among Primary Care Teams

    Research paper published in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management

    Abstract

    Background: The province of Ontario, Canada has made major investments in interdisciplinary primary care teams. There is interest in both demonstrating and improving the quality of care they provide. Challenges include lack of consensus on the definition of quality and evidence that the process of measuring quality can be counter-productive to actually achieving it. This study describes how primary care teams in Ontario voluntarily measured quality at the team level.

    Methods: Data for this 4-year observational study came from electronic medical records (EMRs), patient surveys and administrative reports. Descriptive statistics were calculated for individual measures (eg, access, preventive interventions) and composite indicators of quality and healthcare system costs. Repeated measures identified patient and practice characteristics related to quality and cost outcomes.

    Results: Teams participated in an average of 5 of 8 possible iterations of the reporting process. There was variation between teams. For example, cervical cancer screening rates ranged from 21 to 86% of eligible patients. Rural teams had significantly better performance on some indicators (eg, continuity) and worse on others (eg, cancer screening). There were some statistical but small changes in performance over time.

    Conclusion: High, sustained voluntary participation suggests that the initiative served a need for the primary care teams involved. The absence of robust data standards suggests that these standards were not crucial to achieve participation. The constant level of performance might mean that measurement has not yet led to improvement or that measures used might not accurately reflect improvement. The data reinforce the need to consider differences between rural and urban settings. They also suggest that further analysis is needed to identify characteristics that teams can change to improve the quality of care their patients experience. The study describes a practical, sustainable real-world approach to performance measurement in primary care that was attractive to interdisciplinary teams.

    Authors:

    • Carol Mulder, InfoAccess Consulting
    • Jennifer Rayner, Alliance for Healthier Communities

    Relevant Links:

     

  • Bits & Pieces: address from incoming president Dr. Allan Grill, COVID checklist for primary care & more

    Bits & Pieces: address from incoming president Dr. Allan Grill, COVID checklist for primary care & more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Address from incoming president Dr. Allan Grill
    • #AFHTO2020: following up
    • Immediate need for case and contact management
    • Member stories- COVID-19 EMR screening, virtual clinic and SDOH
    • New BounceBack client resources available
    • OMA’s OHT white paper
    • Togetherall social media content and mini videos
    • COVID-19 checklist for primary care and more
    • Upcoming events regarding processing trauma experiences and more

     

    Allan Grill

     

    Address from incoming president Dr. Allan Grill

    Our new president and chair Dr. Allan Grill shares his perspective as he starts his new term after our annual conference. Find out about his goals here.

     

     

     

     

     

    #AFHTO2020: following up

    Now that the conference is over, we’re in the process of editing the recordings and compiling the materials. We hope to make these available soon. If you were a presenter and you haven’t sent in your slides or poster, please email them to conference@afhto.ca.

    Immediate need for case and contact management

    On Oct. 19 we sent an email on behalf of the Ministry of Health to EDs and Admin Leads regarding the immediate need for case and contact management. Read it here, along with a new FAQ (available at the triad level only).

    Member stories- COVID-19 EMR screening, virtual clinic and SDOH

    COVID-19 EMR screening tool

    City of Lakes FHT: case study on efficiently screening for COVID 19 in Northern Ontario

    Elliott Lake FHT: ELFHT marks first anniversary of Virtual Clinic

    St. Michael’s Hospital Academic FHT: how the pandemic inspired a primary care model for addressing social needs

    New BounceBack client resources available
    To help your patients manage their heightened anxiety, stress and worry related to the pandemic or other long-term stressors, the BounceBack team has developed some new resources, available in English and French.

    This includes handouts for: new parents, youth 15-18, caregivers, and individuals experiencing chronic pain. You can also download their tip sheet for managing your mental health during COVID-19.

    You can find all the resources on the Care Providers section of their website.

    As a reminder, you can now easily refer your clients to BounceBack in three ways, including directly on the website using the online referral form, through your EMR, or by sending an eReferral in your EMR through the Ocean eReferral Network.

    And finally, to ensure that the BounceBack program is meeting your needs and the needs of your patients, they invite you to take their survey. The survey should only take 5 minutes, and your responses are completely anonymous.

    Please reach out to the BounceBack marketing and communications team if you have any questions.

    OMA’s OHT white paper
    The Ontario Medical Association has just released its Ontario Health Teams White Paper: Early Learnings and Recommendations for the Evolution of OHTs. Read it here.

    Togetherall social media content and mini videos
    This month’s themes include staying connected, combating seasonal changes and balancing your thinking (they have a free course on this topic):

    COVID-19 checklist for primary care and more

    Updates recently released include:

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

    Choosing Wisely Webinars, Oct. 22, 2020
    Choose from 3 webinars that will explore how you can choose wisely when using antibiotics
    More details can be found here.

    Advanced Privacy Officer Training, Nov. 3, 2020

    Get your privacy officer certificate in health law using this training module offered by Kate Dewhirst Health Law. Find out more here.

    Processing Trauma Experiences With Palliative Care Clients And Their Families, Nov. 4 – Dec. 2, 2020

    Join the HPCO in this 5-part series intended for all sectors of hospice palliative care. Focuses for sessions include work with veterans, refugees and first nations.
    Learn more here.

    Strengthening Families Together Virtual Series, Nov. 5 – 26, 2020

    Caregivers providing support to someone living with schizophrenia or a psychosis related illness are invited to this 4-session family education group.
    More details can be found here.

    Physician Leadership and the Future of Community Care, Nov. 5, 2020
    Join the Ivey Academy’s panel discussion around the challenges, learnings, and adaptations to the pandemic for primary care providers. 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.

  • Ontario Health News and Updates

    Originally published October 20, 2020. Last updated March 16, 2021.

    This page will provide regular updates and information about Ontario Health Teams (OH), which will impact members the most.

    news

    Releases Other news and updates

     

  • Conversations with local public health units – and additional tools and resources

    Dear triad members,

    After a bit of down time this summer, we restarted our regular regional ED check-in calls. At the beginning of the month we connected with EDs across all regions, and we were joined by representatives from local public health units.

    We discussed preparation for wave 2 and flu season and how we can continue to manage having children in school. Below are the resources that were shared by the PHUs, as well as more information on the topics discussed that may be helpful. We have also included information about the Ontario Hospital Association’s #StopTheSpread campaign at the end, which we encourage you to share with your teams.

    Preparation for flu season

    • Flu season is here, and vaccine distribution has started. Managing flu season alongside the pandemic, ensuring adequate access to resources, and ensuring sufficient access to vaccines are top concerns.
    • AFHTO continues to speak to the importance of prioritisation of vaccine distribution for primary care, and the challenges on continuity of care given the larger focus on distribution to pharmacies. We are also flagging the concern about vaccines that were missed in schools in the spring due to closures, and we are asking about the catch-up plan.
    • Building off the questions and input on the ED calls, AFHTO worked with the Centre for Effective Practice and our partners at the OMA, OCFP, and NPAO to develop flu guidelines to assist primary care providers. This flu resource document will be posted tomorrow, October 20, and will include checklists for the following sites: mobile clinics, office-based clinics, offsite indoor clinics, curbside/drive thru clinics, and outdoor walk thru clinics.
    • Teams may also find the following resources helpful:
    • It remains important for all teams to be connecting with their local public health units to help inform and coordinate the regional approach to flu shot clinics and distribution.

    COVID-19 resources and supports

    Guidelines for cleaning/disinfecting in community-based settings

    School Reopenings

    Resources from public health units

    OHA Launches Social Media Campaign to #StoptheSpread of COVID-19

    • The Ontario Hospital Association is launching a social media campaign that we encourage members participate in! The #StopTheSpread of COVID-19 campaign is targeting three audience groups: (1) ages 20-30, (2) broad audience 40s+, and (3) health care workers.
    • There is a special landing page for health care workers and their participation is critical – no one can speak better to the importance of getting everyone to do their part. There can be personal comments, selfies, and team photos, and there is the opportunity to express why it’s important that we all encourage others to do their part. It is a pledge for us all to help #StopTheSpread.
    • We hope you will distribute this across your team and encourage they engage in it!

    We hope you find these resources helpful. Please reach any time with questions, and we will send meeting invites out soon for our ED check-in in November.

    Sincerely,

    Your AFHTO team 

  • Immediate Need for Case and Contact Management

    Dear Executive Directors and Administrative Leads,

    This message is being sent out on behalf of the Ministry of Health, Population Health Initiatives with regards to their need to immediately support the provincial care and contact management strategy, especially in regions where the COVID-19 numbers are steadily increasing. If you have any team members who can be redeployed to do this virtual work (it can be done in any part of the province), please read through the ask and contact Elise at the email below. In addition, if you have any questions or would need additional supports to even consider this request please let us know ASAP and we will do our best to provide the supports and/or answers that you need.
    ***
    The Ministry of Health (MOH) has identified a need for individuals who can be temporarily redeployed to assist with case investigation and management as part of the province’s enhanced Case and Contact Management Strategy.

    This critical work is central to helping prevent the spread of COVID-19, through reaching out to positive cases, investigating acquisition and determining close contacts. The ministry is looking for individuals available for temporary redeployment beginning October 2020.

    Individuals interested in providing support will complete virtual training modules developed by Public Health Ontario and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Case managers will conduct interviews of patients with confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19, with a focus on empathy and cultural competency. Interviews should include providing disease-specific information; assessing signs and symptoms, and underlying health conditions; discussion symptom onset to determine window period for contact elicitation and exposure risk for contacts; discussing activities to identify who may have been exposed; eliciting information on close contacts; and assessing support needs to maintain health and compliance during self-isolation. All work will be completed remotely.

    We are looking for primary care teams that can sufficiently maintain access to its programs and services but still have capacity to redeploy health professionals with experience in interviewing/counseling patients in a health care setting to assist with case investigation and management. Knowledge and experience in communicable diseases of public health interest, and in infection prevention and control practices in community settings, would be an asset. Individuals should have strong emotional intelligence and communication skills. Additional language skills would also be an asset.

    For any questions or to indicate interest in providing support for this work, please contact Elise.Belzil2@ontario.ca.

    ***
    Thank you for considering this request and again, if you have any questions please let us know.

    Additional Information:

     

  • Address from incoming president Dr. Allan Grill

    Address from incoming president Dr. Allan Grill

    Allan Grill

     

    I’ve sat on the AFHTO Board for six years and learned a great deal from many talented colleagues across our province who have volunteered their time to advocate for high quality, inter-professional, team-based primary care for all Ontarians. I’ve enjoyed our committee meetings and in-depth discussions on how to improve our health care system. I also continue to be amazed by the motivation and enthusiasm of Kavita and her skeleton staff to support us no matter what barriers stand in their way.

    Last week, my term as President began at the annual AFHTO conference. I must admit that it was bitter sweet. Usually the incoming President addresses conference attendees in person and then has a couple of days to schmooze and meet new members. It’s a nice escape from the hustle bustle of our practices, and one I look forward to every Fall. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, prevented that from happening this year.

    The live event was replaced with yet another virtual encounter, something we have all gotten very used to in a short amount of time. In particular, I felt for my predecessor, Dr. Tom Richard. Given all of the hard work he’s put in as President this past year, a thank you wave via Zoom just didn’t seem like the proper send off.

    Fortunately, the conference was immediately followed by the Thanksgiving Long Weekend; a time for self-reflection and gratitude for what we should all be thankful for in our lives. Our health. Fulfilling careers. Relationships with friends and family. My adorable puppy dog, Preston. I realized the privilege I was given during the conference to interview our Minister of Health, the Honourable Christine Elliott (which my wife and kids thought was pretty cool, by the way).

    Reconnecting with my Markham Stouffville Hospital colleague, Dr. Jane Philpott, was also a highlight for me. We have all followed her career as a physician, politician, and educator with awe, and her passion for improvement and change is something we should all continue to strive for. Finally, seeing the effort put forth by all of you to share stories and advice during the concurrent sessions reminded me of the strong community of practice we continue to build together.

    So to kick off my term, I have decided to set three goals for myself. The first is stakeholder engagement. I’m a believer in building and maintaining relationships, and look forward to collaborating with our primary care partners to advocate on your behalf and that of the patients we serve. Secondly, I’m going to promote the incredible work that we all do each and every day whenever I get the opportunity (and I encourage you all to do the same). Primary care often takes a back seat to other squeaky wheels in the health care space – probably because we are so busy servicing our communities! And finally, I’m a strong believer in feedback. AFHTO wants to hear from you, early and often. The Board needs to be aware of both your innovative ideas and pain points. I won’t promise to have a solution for everything, but we will continue to listen attentively. So don’t be a stranger!

    These are challenging times no doubt. There is so much uncertainty about how long the pandemic will last and when our lives will return to some degree of normalcy. Lucky for us, uncertainty is one of the hallmarks of primary care practice. We aren’t afraid to acknowledge it or suggest solutions to tackle it.

    So let’s continue to lean on each other as we navigate through uncharted waters, as I suspect we are all feeling a sense of burnout from time to time. Just because we need to maintain a physical distance between each other doesn’t prevent us from strengthening our social relationships.

    I’m looking forward to this journey. Thank you for the opportunity.

    Dr. Allan Grill

    President & Chair

     

  • Congratulations to the Bright Lights 2020 Award Winners!

    Congratulations to the Bright Lights 2020 Award Winners!

    bright lights 2020 logo

    On October 8 AFHTO named the winners of our annual Bright Lights Awards at our first ever virtual ceremony. These innovators have improved primary care through their leadership, outstanding work and significant progress made toward improving the value delivered by interprofessional primary care teams throughout Ontario. Bright Lights Award winners are innovators and team players whose work has an impact on the healthcare system and in the lives of their patients and communities.

    The review committees made up of AFHTO members chose the winners from among dozens of nominations. AFHTO gave awards for each of our five conference themes, as well as two spotlight awards for excellent response to COVID-19. The winners in the conference themes will receive a $750 education grant each courtesy of Boehringer Ingelheim.

    In addition, AFHTO’s board presented a special award to a teacher whose contribution helped prepare families for a return to school during a pandemic.

    Board Award: Darren Abenstein

    In recognition of: Preparing Families for a Return to School During a Pandemic
    This year, the board has recognized Darren Abenstein, a high school teacher for the York Region District School Board who worked with his wife, a Markham FHT physician, to create a practical guide for concerned parents on how to prepare for back to school.

    The five theme recipients of Bright Lights Awards and the winner of the spotlight award are listed below. Click on the links to read a summary of their achievements:

    1.    Central Brampton Family Health Team

    • Award Category: Mental Health and Addiction Support in Primary Care
    • Achievement: Coping Conversations webinar series

    Central Brampton FHT created a webinar series that succeeded in keeping them connected with their patients despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which evolved to fulfil more needs through their feedback.

    2. Amherstburg Family Health Team

    • Award Category: Integrating Digital Health and Virtual Care
    • Achievement: Increased daily appointments and after-hours access with platform that incorporated EMR

    To combat COVID-19’s impact on patient care, Amherstburg FHT used virtual care to increase same day/next day appointments from 25 to 60 percent throughout the pandemic and more than double after-hours access to care.

    3. Ontario Health West Teams

    • Award Category: Integrated Care and Community Responses
    • Achievement: Created web-based COVID-19 assessment system

    FHTs in the Ontario West Region and their partners created the COVID Population Health Navigator (Navigator), a web-based system that allows for virtual assessments of all patients — with minimal wait times — and makes it possible to collect population health data to better understand analytics and pandemic spread in each region.

    4. Delhi Family Health Team

    • Award Category: Public Health and Primary Care
    • Achievement: Created inter-county Primary Care Response Team to address COVID-19 cases among seasonal agricultural workers

    An interdisciplinary, mobile Primary Care Response Team (PCRT) assisted migrant farm workers in need, providing early intervention and reducing hospital admissions.

    5.    Couchiching OHT Social Determinants of Health Working Group

    • Award Category: Addressing Social Determinants of Health
    • Achievement: Creation of community-wide COVID-19 response strategy

    Various agency partners of the Couchiching Ontario Health Team created a COVID-19 response working group that adopted a response strategy for the Couchiching area. The partners’ response resulted in zero cases of COVID-19 in congregate living settings.

    6. The Spotlight Award: Essex County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic

    • Award Category: Demonstrating a Community Response to COVID-19
    • Achievement: WE Health lending program

    As the pandemic took hold, Essex County Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic initiated WE Health, an electronic device lending program that allowed its vulnerable populations including the elderly, and high-needs patients access to services online when it wasn’t safe or possible for them to take advantage of in-person services.

    7. The Spotlight Award: Couchiching Family Health Team

    • Award Category: Demonstrating a Community Response to COVID-19
    • Achievement: Well-being program for area seniors

    Couchiching Family Health Team partnered with others to create and implement a program to ensure that their seniors’ health was addressed during COVID-19..

    Congratulations to all our winners and nominees! You can watch the ceremony here. And to see all our nominees please visit the 2020 Hall of Fame.

    The call for nominations for the 2021 Bright Light Awards will go out in June 2021. All AFHTO members are welcome and encouraged to participate.

  • Bits & Pieces: check your junk mail, how to get up to $150,000& more

    Bits & Pieces: check your junk mail, how to get up to $150,000& more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • How to get up to $150K to rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID
    • #AFHTO2020: yes, we’re asking you to check your junk mail
    • Virtual mental health tools demonstration & video testimonial for Mental Health Awareness Day

     
    • Dr. Elizabeth Muggah now President of the Ontario College of Family Physicians
    • COVID-19 screening tool for children in school and childcare and more
    • Upcoming events regarding Arts on Prescription and more

    How to get up to $150K to rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID

    Resilient Communities Fund webinar

    The Ontario government is investing $83 million to provide grants through the Resilient Communities Fund to help eligible non-profit organizations, including family health teams and primary care organizations, recover from COVID-19 and continue the delivery of vital programming in their communities. All teams are eligible to apply for this financial support!

    On September 29, we hosted a webinar about how teams can tap into these funds. The submission deadline is December 2. Slides and video now available.

    #AFHTO2020: yes, we’re asking you to check your junk mail

    AFHTO 2020 Conference logo-cropped

    If you registered for the conference by Oct. 2, your login information was sent by in an email titled “AFHTO 2020 Conference login Information and tips for your conference experience” by Sunday, Oct. 4. Please check your junk mail if you haven’t seen this email.

    If you did not receive the email please contact regAFHTO@mosaicevents.ca.
    And if you haven’t registered yet, you still can- join your peers from Ontario and beyond!

    Virtual mental health tools demonstration

    Virtual mental health tools demonstration & video testimonial for Mental Health Awareness Day

    On Sep. 24 we hosted a demonstration of Togetherall, BounceBack and Beacon, all provided free of charge.

    Slides and video available

    Togetherall also has video testimonial and graphics to be released on Mental Health Awareness Day Oct 10. Find materials here.

    Dr. Elizabeth Muggah now President of the Ontario College of Family Physicians

    Congratulations to Dr. Elizabeth Muggah of Bruyère Academic FHT, who has been installed as the OCFP president.

    COVID-19 screening tool for children in school and childcare and more

    Updates recently released include:

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

    Arts on Prescription: Improving health and wellbeing through arts participation, Oct. 6, 2020

    Explore considerations from experts working with diverse youth on considerations for health and service providers.
    Learn more here.

    AFHTO 2020 Conference, Oct. 8-9, 2020

    You can still register for Tectonic shifts: rebuilding primary care in a new world, our 2020 virtual conference! Members receive a significant discount so contact your administrator for your member access code. Find out more here.

    COVID-19 Community of Practice for Ontario Family Physicians, October 16, 2020

    Join the OCFP and Department of Family and Community Medicine at UofT for their 10th CoP meeting in their series ‘Changing the way we work”, focusing on rising case counts, respiratory assessment centres, flue shots and more during COVID-19.
    Learn more here.

    Respiratory Health Forum, Oct. 21, 2020.

    This year’s forum will be held virtually and is completely free! Learn more about lung health alongside other primary care professionals.
    Learn more here.

  • AFHTO 2020 Conference: early bird rate deadline today

    AFHTO 2020 Conference: early bird rate deadline today

    AFHTO 2020 Conference logo

    Register for the AFHTO 2020 Conference before midnight EDT!

     

    Register at the early bird rate to save on registration. After today, rates increase for both members and non-members.

    In previous years we have sometimes extended the deadline, but this is the closest to the conference we’ve ever had, so there will be no extension this year.

    Updates

    • Crossing Chasms: Primary care teams’ response to COVID-19– highlights of team initiatives to combat COVID-19- part of our free morning on Thursday
    • Posters– select presenters will be available to chat with attendees at the end of each day

    Group discount expires today

    Starting today, when you register two or more people, you save 15%!

    Save 15%, when you register two or more people. Now’s a great time to invite your partners- whether you’re in OHTs or less formal networks, register together and take advantage of this offer. Expires today.

    Register today!

    Conference Highlights:

    And don’t forget, members get a deep discount on registration. Email us now if you haven’t gotten your access code! Patients and students welcome! For general information, you can visit our conference page.  

    We look forward to seeing you at the AFHTO 2020 Conference!

  • Bits & Pieces: member stories in AFHTO annual report, call for stricter measures to address COVID-19 & more

    Bits & Pieces: member stories in AFHTO annual report, call for stricter measures to address COVID-19 & more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • AFHTO annual report featuring your stories
    • Letter to the Premier for stricter measures to address COVID-19
    • Two days to the #AFHTO2020 early bird deadline
    • Indigenous relationship and cultural safety (IRCS) courses
    • COVID-19 testing guidance update and more
    • Survey of IHPs in FHTs during the COVID-19 pandemic
    • OMA flu vaccination administration survey
    • Guelph FHT annual report
    • Reminder- research participant recruitment – concussion telerehabilitation study
    • Reminder-engagement of patients with diabetes via virtual health apps survey
    • Upcoming events regarding Arts on Prescription and more

    2020 annual report

     

    AFHTO annual report featuring your stories

    We released our 2020 annual report in the notice for our annual general meeting sent to the triad yesterday. Read for a reflection on a tumultuous year, including ways primary care teams have risen to the challenge.

     

     

    Letter to the Premier for stricter measures to address COVID-19

    “The measures announced on September 25th are not sufficient. Protecting the most vulnerable in the province and conserving the limited health care resources we have should be our number one priority.”

    Today AFHTO, NPAO and OCFP sent a letter to the Premier calling for stricter measures to address escalating numbers of COVID-19 cases before the situation becomes unmanageable. Read the full letter here.

    Two days to the #AFHTO2020 early bird deadline

    AFHTO 2020 Conference logo-cropped

    We’re connecting with our speakers including Helen Bevan, editing the Bright Lights video, and preparing for a memorable conference next week. Don’t forget to do your part and register by this Thursday, Oct. 1 for the early bird discount. Group discount now available!

    In previous years we have sometimes extended the deadline, but this is the closest to the conference we’ve ever had, so there will be no extension this year.

    Indigenous relationship and cultural safety (IRCS) courses
    Primary care can pick from 13 e-learning courses on Indigenous Relationship and Cultural Safety by Cancer Care Ontario and earn certified credits. Find out more here.

    COVID-19 testing guidance update and more

    Updates recently released include:

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

    Survey of IHPs in FHTs during the COVID-19 pandemic

    We are now six months since the initial restrictions of COVID-19 and Queen’s University researchers are interested in hearing about your experiences working in FHTs 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.

    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 by email at catherine.donnelly@queensu.ca.

    OMA flu vaccination administration survey

    Many primary care providers will have difficulty conducting their usual flu vaccine clinics due to limits on physical space, PPE supply and office cleaning requirements, among other challenges. OMA has developed a survey to find out the barriers you’re anticipating, what supports might be helpful and the innovative ideas you are leading or participating in as you prepare for flu vaccine administration. They would greatly value your input through this five-to-seven-minute survey. Please respond by Oct. 7.

    If the survey is being done as a group, please note as such and do not complete the survey more than once.

    Guelph FHT annual report

    The Guelph Family Health Team 2019-2020 Annual Report is available to read online. Learn about the work they do to provide patient-guided quality focused care.

    Reminder- research participant recruitment – concussion telerehabilitation study

    Researchers in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Toronto are currently recruiting youth with concussion to participate in a study exploring the use of telerehabilitation for concussion management. Youth will participate in a 6-week rehabilitation program consisting of education, support and low-intensity exercise delivered by a kinesiologist or occupational therapist through weekly videoconferencing appointments.

    Who can participate?

    • Youth (ages 13-18 years) experiencing concussion symptoms
    • At least 2 weeks post-concussion

    For more information click here. To help with participant recruitment, please contact the research team at oaktelerehab@utoronto.ca or 416-946-3273.

    Reminder-engagement of patients with diabetes via virtual health apps survey
    A York University researcher is seeking input from family physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners. The aim of their research is to improve practice and policy about the potential of Virtual Health Apps use in primary care settings with a special focus on vulnerable and marginalized patient populations. To provide your input, please fill out this survey. Updated deadline Oct. 30.

    Nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary disease diagnosis and management: An overview for general practitioners, Sept. 30, 2020

    Recognize clinical factors and learn to treat NTM pulmonary disease.
    Learn more here.

    Arts on Prescription: Improving health and wellbeing through arts participation, Oct. 6, 2020

    Explore considerations from experts working with diverse youth on considerations for health and service providers.
    Learn more here.

    AFHTO 2020 Conference, Oct. 8-9, 2020

    Registration has opened for Tectonic shifts: rebuilding primary care in a new world, our 2020 virtual conference! Members receive a significant discount so contact your administrator for your member access code. Early bird deadline Oct. 1. Find out more here.

    Respiratory Health Forum, Oct. 21, 2020.

    This year’s forum will be held virtually and is completely free! Learn more about lung health alongside other primary care professionals.
    Learn more here.

    COVID-19 Community of Practice for Ontario Family Physicians, October 16, 2020

    Join the OCFP and Department of Family and Community Medicine at UofT for their 10th CoP meeting in their series ‘Changing the way we work”, focusing on rising case counts, respiratory assessment centres, flue shots and more during COVID-19.
    Learn more here.