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  • AFHTO 2022 Conference: deadline to submit your abstract extended

    AFHTO 2022 Conference: deadline to submit your abstract extended

    Reconnect and Reimagine: moving forward together

     

     

    Shocked emoji- top of head exploding

     

    Deadline to submit your abstract now tomorrow May 27, 2022, at 9:00 AM (EDT)

    Email info@afhto.ca or call 647-234-8605 x1200 if you have any questions. We’re here to help.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Helpful links:

  • Bits & Pieces: #AFHTO2022 abstract deadline tomorrow and more

    Bits & Pieces: #AFHTO2022 abstract deadline tomorrow and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • AFHTO 2022 conference abstract deadline tomorrow
    • Nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors are open until July 29, 2022
    • Practical technologies that can enable ageing in place materials available
    • Almost time for Election 2022
    • Member stories
    • Mental wellness supports, planning vaccination for the under 5-yr olds and more
    • Examining cannabis use and mental health concerns in youth
    • Reminder- seeking input on the structure of social work practice in primary care
    • Upcoming events including Clearing the Air on Asthma and COPD and more

    AFHTO 2022 conference abstract deadline tomorrow

    via GIPHY

    Run, don’t walk to submit your abstract. Your peers, colleagues from other health care sectors, non-profits, and the academic community are eager to hear from YOU. The deadline to submit for an #AFHTO2022 presentation is tomorrow, May 26, 2022, at 5:00 p.m.

    Confirmations will be sent within a business day of the deadline.

    Nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors are open until July 29, 2022

    Are you interested in serving on the AFHTO board of directors? The Governance Committee of AFHTO’s board invites anyone who works within an AFHTO member organization to apply. Please share this call for nominations with all who work in your team and with members on your Board. Find out more here.

    Title screenshot

    Practical technologies that can enable ageing in place materials available
    On May 19 Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health, and University Health Network (UHN) and Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) presented on Practical Technologies that can Enable Ageing in Place. Materials are now available here.

     

     

    Questions to ask MPP candidates: Do you support team-based primary care? How will you advocate for expanding access to team-based primary care in Ontario and in our community? How will you ensure there is a sufficient healthcare provider workforce to sustain our healthcare system now and in the future?

    Almost time for Election 2022

    Advanced voting has opened and it’s almost time for the provincial election on June 2. Healthcare is a top issue for all parties AND the public, so use all the resources available to make your voice heard.

    Share successes, pictures from candidate meetings, or pictures of patients with a voter card on social media. Broadcast what you do to deliver the best primary care in Ontario where It Takes a Team. Thank you to all the teams who have shared so far.

    AFHTO is tweeting regularly. We ask you tag @afhto when you tweet, and we’ll also retweet you! Don’t forget to use our campaign slogan #ItTakesATeam

    If you have any questions, please email advocacy@afhto.ca.

    Member stories

    Marathon FHT– Marathon FHT physician feted by medical school

    Summerville FHT – Help us fix family doctor shortage ‘crisis,’ GPs tell Ontario election candidates

    Upper Grand FHT– Care map workshop to help caregivers with burnout

    Mental wellness supports, planning vaccination for the under 5-yr olds and more

    Recent updates include:

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

    Examining cannabis use and mental health concerns in youth

    Dr. Toula Kourgiantakis from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto is conducting a research study titled Examining Cannabis Use and Mental Health Concerns in Youth from the Perspectives of Youth, Parents, and Service Providers: A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach. To participate, you must be a service provider (physician, social worker, psychologist, nurse, pharmacist, or psychotherapist) in a health and mental health care setting, who works with or occasionally treat youth and or young adults (aged 16-24). Read more here.

    Reminder- seeking input on the structure of social work practice in primary care

    Dr. Rachelle Ashcroft, an Assistant Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, is the lead investigator for a research study titled The Structure of Social Work Practice in Ontario Family Health Teams: A Mixed-Methods Study. It involves a provincial-wide survey and semi-structured focus groups with discussions focused on examining the daily practice of social workers in FHTs during the pandemic. Read more here.

    Ontario College of Family Physicians/University of Toronto DFCM CoP, May 27, 2022
    Starting at 7:55 a.m, a short update on what you need to know about Monkeypox will also be discussed. Register here.

    Clearing the Air on Asthma and COPD: When Undertesting Leads to Overdiagnosis, June 8, 2022
    What are the barriers to pulmonary function testing? And how might clinicians and patients be supported to avoid over-diagnosis and over-treatment? They’ll discuss these questions and more on June’s Choosing Wisely Talks. Register here.

    Advancing equity in cancer screening for gender-diverse clients June 17, 2022

    New, gender-affirming cancer screening guidelines have been developed to support the health and wellbeing of Transgender and Non-Binary clients. Register here.

    Spirometry Testing for Diagnosing Asthma and COPD in Primary Care – The Why and the How, June 16, 2022
    The goal of Choosing Wisely’s Let’s Clear the Air campaign is to avoid unnecessary treatment and misdiagnosis that can occur without a proper breathing test. To help, the Lung Health Foundation is hosting sessions to explore the why and the how of spirometry testing for the diagnosis of asthma and COPD in primary care. Register here.

  • 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. 

     

    Handouts 

    For Families & Children

     

    Mental Health Virtual Supports

     

    Webinars, Chat Sessions and Courses for Healthcare Providers

    Virtual Supports for Healthcare Providers  

    Past Webinars

     

    Other resources (for Healthcare Providers & Public):

    Frontline Worker Resources
    Mental Health Resources for Specific groups in the public

     

    Some resources have restricted access: * Members-only resources

    Return to: Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates

    Disclaimer: The information in this resource centre represents general guidance developed by AFHTO and their partners, gathered through a rapid, non-systematic scan of relevant and valuable guidelines with an intent to support you in a timely fashion. The information reflects best knowledge at the time of writing and is subject to revision based on rapidly changing circumstances and conditions. As new best practice evidence emerges, recommendations may evolve. The resources above should be considered supplementary guidance and are not meant to replace clinical judgement or organizational directives.

  • Election 2022: It Takes a Team!

    Click here for the recording and deck from the advocacy webinar with Enterprise Canada on April 6  

     

    Click here for AFHTO’s ranking of all parties’ election platforms

     

    The 2022 provincial election wrapped up on June 2, and AFHTO is looking forward to working with the new government. 

    The pandemic exposed many gaps and problems in our healthcare system, so it is no surprise that health care is a top issue for all parties. AFHTO members are leaders and providers in the healthcare sector, so candidates are looking to hear from you. Your voices are powerful.

    Teams reached out to candidates. Shared success stories to encourage investment, shared challenges and solutions, and encouraged team members, family, friends, and patients do the same. The most powerful thing in an election is candidates hearing the same thing over and over from voters. If the central party hears something from enough candidates, it can become something they speak to — and perhaps even commit to investing in.

    But this takes your voices.

    And no one knows better than you that for people to receive the best primary care, it takes a team.

    Below are tools to help you with your local advocacy. We encourage teams include physicians and IHPs in the meetings.  

    Campaign Material

    1. Advocacy Toolkit

    • Key messages
    • How to participate in campaigns
    • FAQs
    • Email templates

    2. One-pager on team-based primary care

    3. How to Organize a Town Hall – Toolkit

    4. Social media graphics

    • Include a graphic with a succinct sentence about successes
    • Please always use #ItTakesATeam on Twitter. Other good hashtags are #ONelection and #onpoli
    • Please tag @afhto and we’ll retweet you!
    • Consider finding your candidates’ handles and tag them as well

    5. Social media animations

    6. Voter card

    • Share this with team members, patients, friends, and family
    • People can leave this by their door/phone to ask when a candidate reaches out, or it can be used proactively!

    7. Patient story map

    • This is to support patients who may join meetings – it’s not to give to the candidate

    8. AFHTO pre-budget submission

    • This speaks to challenges and solution in the healthcare sector
    • Please leave this behind at meetings!

     

    You’ve all been on the ground throughout a pandemic. Your voices are critical. And powerful. This election is an opportunity to be heard. The pandemic has exposed the weaknesses in the healthcare system, and it needs to be built back better with a focus on equity and assurance that primary care is its foundation. Every party knows health care is the priority, and they know speaking to people in the sector who can offer solutions – and committing to delivering on those solutions – is key to being elected.

    Think about success stories from your team to share with candidates and speak to why the care you provide is important to have available to anyone who needs it!

    If you have questions or need support, please contact advocacy@afhto.ca
     

  • Monkeypox Update, Planning Vaccination for the Under 5 and Please Fill in a Quick Survey

    Dear Members,
    We hope you are all doing well and staying safe as we all navigate through this current wave of COVID-19, while closely monitoring the situation concerning monkeypox cases that have been reported in Europe, the US and now in Quebec and Ontario. Please find attached the following information from the Chief Medical Officer of Health:

    As the Ministry continues to learn more about this disease, we will ensure that we will share any information that we do receive. In the meantime, we all know COVID-19 is not over and this particular wave has had a tremendous impact on HHR capacity. We hope you’re all staying safe and getting outdoors for some fresh air after a long winter.

    In the meantime, vaccination continues for COVID-19. The Ministry has shared the most recent update on Vaccine Implementation in Primary Care (week of May 16th). In this slide deck you will see that vaccination numbers for fourth doses for 60+, third doses for over 12+ and second doses for 5- to 11-year-olds are seeing only gradual moves. Discussion is also just starting on planning for vaccination for the under 5-year-old age group, which will rely very heavily on primary care and pediatricians. To better understand the current state and to start the planning process, please take a moment and fill in this very quick vaccine survey so we can ensure we set up the sector is supported in this next phase of vaccination: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/May2022VaccineSurvey. Please fill in by June 3, 2022, if possible.

    In the meantime, please find below some additional information and updates.

    Evusheld and Paxlovid

    • Evusheld, a prophylactic treatment authorized for the prevention of COVID-19 in immunocompromised individuals, has been available for several weeks. From Ontario Health:
      • Memo on how to access Evusheld EN FR
      • Information about Evusheld (Tixagevimab and Cilgavimab) EN
      • Patient Handout EN FR
    • Materials related to prescribing Paxlovid, an oral antiviral medication that can help reduce the risk of hospitalization or death in people at higher risk of serious illness due to COVID-19, has already been shared but here are materials you may find of interest:
    • From Ontario Health:
      • Memo to primary care providers – Tools for identifying high-risk patients eligible for Paxlovid (April 29, 2022) EN FR
      • Guidance for health care providers: Access to COVID-19 antiviral treatment (April 11, 2022) EN FR
      • Patient handout – Antiviral treatment (April 11, 2022) EN FR
      • Paxlovid use in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and patients on dialysis with COVID-19 ( April 13, 2022) EN FR
    • From the Science Advisory Table and the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy – What Prescribers and Pharmacists Need to Know and Paxlovid for a Patient on a Direct Oral Anticoagulant
    • eHealth Centre of Excellence Paxlovid prescription form for Telus PS Suite, OSCAR and Accuro EMRs

    Vaccines

    • Updated COVID-19 Vaccine Administration guidance from the Ministry of Health (April 29, 2022) EN FR
    • Novavax is available through local PHUs for patients who are unable or unwilling to receive mRNA vaccines
    • From there Ontario Medical Association (for physicians) – a new resource on Indigenous patients and COVID-19 vaccine distrust (sign in to access), including practical steps to gain understanding and build cultural safety into your practice. This resource was co-designed with the IPHCC.

    Other Resources and Supports

    • From the eHealth Centre of Excellence, a new post COVID-19 condition EMR tool (for Telus PS Suite and soon Oscar) that captures and tracks the progression of symptoms associated with the condition over time. This tool will allow you build a comprehensive plan based on symptoms – you do need to log into the community portal to download.
    • A reminder of the excellent tools on the Confused About Covid by OCFP/UofT DFCM that has a number of practical resources for patients.

    Events
    PHO Primary Care IPAC Community of Practice

    Public Health Ontario is hosting a community of practice series that will review key concepts and support resources for Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) in Primary Care settings. Intended for those who oversee or implement IPAC in Primary Care settings, the series will be held over four sessions starting late May. Find your regions and more here.

    • Register here for the West Primary Care Series.
    • Register here for the Central West Primary Care Series.
    • Register here for the Central Primary Care Series.
    • Register here for the East Primary Care Series.
    • Register here for the North Primary Care Series.

    Ontario College of Family Physicians/University of Toronto DFCM Community of Practice
    Next COVID-19 Community of Practice will be held on Friday, May 27th starting at 7:55 a.m. and will include speakers:  

    • Dr. Jeff Kwong, Epidemiologist, Family Physician, Toronto Western Family Health Team, Toronto, ON
    • Dr. Gerald Evans, Infectious Disease Specialist and Chair of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON
    • Dr. Daniel Warshafsky, Senior Medical Consultant at the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Toronto, ON

    A short update on what you need to know about Monkeypox will also be discussed. Please register here.

    Ontario Health
    A reminder that the Primary Care and COVID-19 Support CoP Monthly Series is held every second Wednesday of the month from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. Click here to register.

    Once again thank you for all you are doing to keep your patients and the community safe. If you need any assistance or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Stay safe.

    Yours in good health,
    The AFHTO Team

  • AFHTO 2022 Conference: just ONE week to submit your abstract

    AFHTO 2022 Conference: just ONE week to submit your abstract

    Reconnect and Reimagine: moving forward together

     

    Submit your abstract- deadline May 26, 2022, at 5:00 PM (EDT)

     

    via GIPHY

    Run, don’t walk to submit your abstract. Your peers, colleagues from other health care sectors, non-profits, and the academic community are eager to hear from YOU. The deadline to submit for an #AFHTO2022 presentation is May 26, 2022.

    Helpful links:

    All are welcome. Please pass this along to your peers, colleagues and network including those from other healthcare sectors, non-profits, and the academic and research communities.

    Conference key dates:

    • May 26, 2022– Deadline for abstracts
    • June 15, 2022 – Bright Lights nominations
    • July 2022- Conference registration opens
    • September 28, 2022– Early bird registration deadline
    • October 12, 2022– AFHTO 2022 Conference

     

    For more information, you can contact us by phone (647-234-8605 x1200) or e-mail (info@afhto.ca).

  • Bits & Pieces: advancing equity in cancer screening for gender-diverse clients and more

    Bits & Pieces: advancing equity in cancer screening for gender-diverse clients and more

    Your Weekly News & Updates

    In This Issue  
    • Advancing equity in cancer screening for gender-diverse clients June 17
    • Welcome to Abisola Otepola
    • Reminder- Practical technologies that can enable ageing in place webinar May 19
    • Just a couple weeks left for Election 2022
    • Clinical systems renewal funding guidelines and template
    • National Physiotherapy Month
    • Access to Evusheld, guidance for routine immunization and more
    • Impacts of transitioning cancer survivors to primary care
    • Updates to antimicrobial stewardship program & antimicrobial resistance comparison tool
    • Upcoming events including Inuit Wellness and Prosperity and more

     

    Advancing equity in cancer screening for gender-diverse clients June 17
     

    New, gender-affirming cancer screening guidelines have been developed to support the health and wellbeing of Transgender and Non-Binary clients. These groups often have lower screening rates than their peers due to outreach that misses eligible clients and screening practices that can trigger gender dysphoria.

    We will hear from Ed Kucharski, a family physician who has led this work at Ontario Health and is a physician at SETFHT, about the guidelines and what needs to be in place to enable their use.

    We’ll also hear from two Alliance members who are leaders in care for 2SLGBTQ+ care and members of our 2SLGBTQ+ Health Equity Committee: Celeste Turner, an outreach worker, and Michelle Hurtubise, an executive director, will share their perspectives on how implementing these guidelines will affect health care planning, delivery, and outcomes at the individual and community levels.

    Register here.

    Abisola OtepolaWelcome to Abisola Otepola

    We’re happy to introduce Abisola Otepola, our new Director of Policy and Stakeholder Relations.
    Abisola joins AFHTO from the Ontario Public Service where she worked as a Manager to the Associate Deputy Minister of Health. She also previously worked as a Team Lead with oversight of the funding, policy, and performance of Ontario Health Teams, a population health model designed to end hallway healthcare and build a connected provincial health care system.

    At the Ministry of Health, she led and developed projects from design to scale, including a multi-year plan for scaling bundled care across the province. She brings a strong understanding of integrated care programs and a wealth of experience delivering on complex policy and programs across hospital, community, and primary care settings.

    Welcome Abisola to the team!

    Reminder- Practical technologies that can enable ageing in place webinar May 19
    Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Geriatrics at Sinai Health and University Health Network (UHN) and Director of Health Policy Research at the National Institute on Ageing (NIA) will be presenting on Practical Technologies that can Enable Ageing in Place on May 19, from 9:00 – 10:00am EDT.

    Presented by Sinai Health, in partnership with the NIA, UHN, and the Primary Care Collaborative, the webinar will aim to give health care professionals a better understanding of:

    • The risks and impacts of at-home medical emergencies
    • Why older Canadians want to age in place, now more than ever
    • Practical technologies that can enable ageing in place

    Register here.

    When it comes to keeping Ontarians healthy, it takes a TEAM

    Just a couple weeks left for Election 2022

    It’s only a couple of weeks until the provincial election on June 2. Healthcare is a top issue for all parties AND the public, so use all the resources available to make your voice heard.

    Share successes, pictures from candidate meetings, or pictures of patients with a voter card on social media. Broadcast what you do to deliver the best primary care in Ontario where It Takes a Team. Thank you to all the teams who have shared so far.

    AFHTO is tweeting regularly. We ask you tag @afhto when you tweet, and we’ll also retweet you! Don’t forget to use our campaign slogan #ItTakesATeam

    If you have any questions, please email advocacy@afhto.ca.

     

    Clinical systems renewal funding guidelines and template

    The FY 2022/23 Clinical Systems Renewal funding guideline and proposal template are now available.

    Interested OHTs, In Development Teams and other health care organizations should contact their OH Region (see below) to plan collaboratively and discuss their questions and the submission process. OH Regions are responsible for facilitating submission development and determining which should be submitted for funding approval.

    For more background see our February ebulletin.

    Scrabble tiles spelling out 'thank you' on a wooden ledge outside.

     

    National Physiotherapy Month

    For National Physiotherapy Month, we’d like to say THANK YOU to the amazing PTs in primary care teams – truly an example of the value that diverse professionals working together provide in healthcare.

     

     

    Access to Evusheld, guidance for routine immunization and more

    Recent updates include:

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

    Refugee Healthline

    The Ministry of Health is supporting newly arriving refugees and people arriving through other exceptional humanitarian authorizations (e.g., Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel) by providing a toll-free, multi-lingual, Refugee HealthLine where they can connect with health care providers who deliver transitional health care and services, including primary care, specialist care, and mental health supports. Find out more here and here.

    Impacts of transitioning cancer survivors to primary care

    Primary care providers are tasked with providing safe and effective follow-up care for many cancer survivors.

    Ontario Health has developed a short survey to better understand your practice, your comfort level providing care to cancer survivors, the challenges you face, and your experiences in providing care for cancer survivors. Their goal is to use the results to develop tools and resources to support you in providing care to survivors and improving patient care across the care continuum.  

    The survey will take about 5-10 minutes to complete, and your input by Friday, June 17th, 2022, would be greatly appreciated. For any questions, please contact Meaghan Wright (Meaghan.Wright@ontariohealth.ca).

    Updates to antimicrobial stewardship program & antimicrobial resistance comparison tool
    Public Health Ontario has updated the Ontario Antimicrobial Stewardship Program (ASP) & Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Comparison Tool to provide more data and increase functionality. It will include recent data on hospital ASPs, updated Antimicrobial Use (AMU) data and trending in Ontario hospitals, and new antimicrobial resistance/antibiogram data for hospital, long-term care, and community settings. For questions or more information contact asp@oahpp.ca.

    Inuit Wellness and Prosperity: The Importance of National Seal Products Day, May 18, 2022

    Hosted by the IPHCC and presented by IPHCC Knowledge Keepers Circle member Vicky auf der Mauer. Find out more here.

    Demystifying Insurance: What Nonprofits Need to Know to Protect their Operations, May 19, 2022
    Free webinar presented by HUB International in partnership with CharityVillage. Register here.

    Quadruple Aim Measures for Ontario Health Teams (Part II), May 24, 2022
    Hosted by HSPN, they will review the approach to provider experience measurement and results from the Couchiching OHT. Register here.

    Clearing the Air on Asthma and COPD: When Undertesting Leads to Overdiagnosis, June 8, 2022
    What are the barriers to pulmonary function testing? And how might clinicians and patients be supported to avoid over-diagnosis and over-treatment? They’ll discuss these questions and more on June’s Choosing Wisely Talks. Register here.

    Spirometry Testing for Diagnosing Asthma and COPD in Primary Care – The Why and the How, June 16, 2022
    The goal of Choosing Wisely’s Let’s Clear the Air campaign is to avoid unnecessary treatment and misdiagnosis that can occur without a proper breathing test. To help, the Lung Health Foundation is hosting sessions to explore the why and the how of spirometry testing for the diagnosis of asthma and COPD in primary care. Register here.

  • Refugee HealthLine: Request for Health Care Providers to Provide Transitional Care for Refugees

    The Ministry of Health (the “ministry”) is supporting newly arriving refugees and people arriving through other exceptional humanitarian authorizations (e.g., Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel) by providing a toll-free, multi-lingual, Refugee HealthLine where they can connect with health care providers who deliver services funded by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), the Interim Federal Health Program, or through provincial programs such as transitional health care and services, including but not limited to primary care, specialist care, and mental health supports.

    To help make these connections, the ministry maintains a registry of health care providers who can provide these services for patients. Transitional care includes initial assessment(s), care, and/or referral(s) to other health services.
    All health care providers interested in participating should contact the Refugee HealthLine at 1-866-286-4770 to add their name, contact information, registration type (i.e., individual or clinic), address, service, number of prospective patients they are able to accommodate, length of time they are able to provide transitional care, and language(s) in which the services can be provided.
    Health care provider information will be matched with requesting refugees, people arriving through other exceptional humanitarian authorizations, and sponsor/settlement groups through the Refugee HealthLine.

    For more information, please refer to the Refugee HealthLine Fact Sheet: Request for Health Care Providers to Provide Transitional Care for Refugees found in English and French

    Click here for more information and click here for the French version

  • Nominations to the AFHTO Board of Directors are open until July 29, 2022

    Dear AFHTO members:
     
    Are you interested in serving on the AFHTO board of directors? The Governance Committee of AFHTO’s board invites anyone who works within an AFHTO member organization to apply. Please share this call for nominations with all who work in your team and with members on your Board.

    Four (4) positions are to be elected for a 3-year term on the 14-member AFHTO board. The AFHTO by-law calls for balanced representation on the board to include the various forms of governance, the regions of the province, and the mix of the professions/individuals working within FHTs, NPLCs and other interprofessional models of primary care.

    Given the composition of the continuing board members, priority for the directors to be elected will be given to candidates who are:

    • Family Physicians and Nurse Practitioners, especially individuals actively involved in OHT development and understanding of the broader health care system;  
    • Board members, especially community members in the position of Chair of the Board;
    • Interprofessional Health Care Providers, especially those actively involved in OHT development; or
    • Experienced in finance, including accreditation as a financial professional (e.g., CA, CPA, CMA).

    To apply:

    The Governance Committee of the AFHTO board will review all applications to assist the AFHTO board to determine the slate of candidates to recommend to the AFHTO membership for ratification at the AFHTO annual general meeting.

    • Nominees will be informed of their status after September 14th, 2022.
    • The slate will be presented to the members at the Annual General Meeting which will be conducted in-person this year at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel:

      Tuesday, October 11th, 2022
      (time TBD)

       

    Sincerely,
    Sara Dalo, Chair, AFHTO Governance Committee

  • Examining Cannabis Use and Mental Health Concerns in Youth

    Dr. Toula Kourgiantakis from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto is conducting a research study titled Examining Cannabis Use and Mental Health Concerns in Youth from the Perspectives of Youth, Parents, and Service Providers: A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach. 

    The aim of this confidential study is to advance our understanding of cannabis use in youth/young adults (aged 16-24) from the perspectives of youth/young adults, parents/caregivers, and service providers. We would like to use this information to generate recommendations that will strengthen and inform policies and practice guidelines related to cannabis use and mental health in youth and young adults. 

    To participate in this study, you must be a youth/young adult (aged 16-24) who uses cannabis regularly (at least one time per week) or a parent or caregiver of a youth aged 16-24 and you perceive that the youth you are supporting is using cannabis regularly (at least once per week) or a service provider (physician, social worker, psychologist, nurse, pharmacist, or psychotherapist) in a health and mental health care setting, who works with or occasionally treat youth and or young adults (aged 16-24).

    If you agree to participate, we will be asking you to attend an online zoom or phone interview which will be approximately 60 minutes. If you would like to participate in the study, you can find the consent form here.

    You can contact the project coordinator Dr. Sandra McNeil-Marshall for more information at sandy.mcneil.marshall@mail.utoronto.ca. 

    See here for Youth/Young Adult Recruitment Flyer.

    See here for Service Provider Recruitment Flyer.

    See here for Parent/Caregiver Recruitment Flyer.