In This Issue - December 2022

We Want to Hear from You!
Paid Opportunity: Join the PCAL Group
UPDATE:
- Vaccine Preventable Disease Program - Record Review
- Quit Smoking Support
- COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Illnesses in Pediatric Populations
REVIEW:
- Healthy from the Start
- Self Compassion for Healthcare Providers
- Respiratory Surveillance
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
- Primary Care and COVID 19 Support Community of Practice
- FREE WEBINAR: Leverage Digital Health to Enhance Cancer Screening
MEDICAL ADVISORIES & MEMOS

We Want to Hear from You!

Niagara Region Public Health and the Primary Care Advisory and Liaison (PCAL) group is evaluating efforts and continues to explore how best to engage and unite the voices of all family physicians and nurse practitioners in Niagara on Public Health-related issues.

The team is setting goals and priorities for 2023 and we want to ensure that the issues you are experiencing, as they relate to Public Health, can be addressed. To support this, the group has created a brief survey and are asking all family physicians and nurse practitioners who practise in Niagara to complete it.

The survey will only take 5 minutes to complete. To ensure your voice is heard, please take a few minutes to provide your feedback!

Start the survey - click here.

Paid Opportunity: Join the PCAL Group

Niagara Region Public Health is looking for two new members to join our Primary Care Advisory & Liaison (PCAL) Group for 2023. These paid positions require a time commitment of approximately 3-5 hours per month.

If you are a physician or nurse practitioner working in Niagara with a passion for Public Health and advocating for a strong relationship with primary care, we invite you to join us.

This group is in place to support improved two-way communication between Niagara Region Public Health (NRPH) and Niagara's primary care sector, including collaboration efforts, resource sharing and knowledge exchange. Throughout the year, the group will

Advise NRPH on the development of communication strategies to the primary care sector (e.g., catch up immunizations, program and referral changes, priority health issues impacting Niagara)
Hear directly from various NRPH program areas and advise on how best to integrate with primary care
Present Public Health with concerns or issues relevant to NRPH from primary care in a way that is solution focused
Represent primary care for specific geographies of Niagara,

PCAL members strive to equitably represent and be inclusive of all family physicians and nurse practitioners who currently practice in Niagara's diverse communities.

Please email HCP engagement if you are interested or for more information!

UPDATE: Vaccine Preventable Disease Program - Record Review

This is a friendly reminder that Niagara Region Public Health has sent 10,000 individualized Immunization Notices to high school students with incomplete immunization records.

Please ensure your practice has enough vaccine supply to manage the increased demand in getting students caught-up on missed routine vaccines:

When seeing school-age children in your practice, please enquire about any outstanding vaccinations, and ask if they have received any notice from Public Health about vaccination.

Read our November 8 memo for the record review timeline, implications for your practice and more information.

UPDATE: Quit Smoking Support

Healthcare providers play an important role in helping clients quit smoking or vaping. Physicians are eligible to receive payment for initiating smoking cessation discussions as well as smoking cessation follow-ups.

Initiating smoking cessation discussions- E079
Smoking cessation follow-ups- K039

If you have a client interested in quitting, encourage them to contact Niagara Region Public Health’s Tobacco Hotline.

The Tobacco Hotline will refer clients to a program in their community where they can access free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and additional counselling support.

To order Tobacco Hotline cards to distribute to your clients, visit our website or contact us at 905-688-8248 or 1-888-505-6074 ext. 7393.

UPDATE: COVID-19 and Other Respiratory Illnesses in Pediatric Populations

Ontario will face challenges this fall and winter due to the co-circulation of multiple respiratory illnesses (e.g., COVID-19, influenza, RSV). Special attention is required for pediatric populations.

Please read this statement from pediatric infectious diseases physicians across Ontario.

Vaccination is a crucial component in minimizing the impact of COVID-19, influenza, and other vaccine preventable diseases on populations and the healthcare system
Currently we are seeing an increase in children being hospitalized with influenza. All children age six months or older are strongly recommended to be vaccinated with the influenza vaccine
As of Dec. 7, 2022, COVID-19 vaccine coverage among children under age 5 years is very low in Niagara
- 4.6% received at least one dose and
- 1.7% completed their primary vaccine series)
Primary series completion in children of other ages
- 33.5% for age 5-11 years and
- 87.0% in adolescents age 12-17 years
Vaccination should be strongly recommended against respiratory pathogens for which vaccines are available (e.g., COVID-19, influenza, pneumococcus, pertussis) for all eligible children
Prioritize vaccinating students with all routine childhood immunizations to minimize the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases

REVIEW: Healthy from the Start

Healthy from the Start is a weekly drop-in prenatal program for eligible expectant parents, delivered in partnership with Strive Niagara.

Pregnant individuals with nutritional, social, or financial needs can access healthy lifestyle and nutrition information as well as

Food gift certificates
Nutritious snacks
Vitamin vouchers
Group education sessions
Access to a registered dietitian and public health nurse

Weekly drop-in programs and services are available in person at various locations across Niagara and online through Zoom.

If you have patients who would benefit from this program, please use the Family Health Referral form

REVIEW: Self Compassion for Healthcare Providers

Healthcare providers are seen so often as helpers that we may forget that they are also humans who need support. Burnout and fatigue are very real issues facing healthcare providers. There is evidence to show that an antidote to burnout can be a focus on self-compassion, and research indicates that physicians who approach the practice of medicine with a self-compassionate mindset experience better professional well-being, greater work engagement and felt less exhausted due to work demands.

Self-compassion expert, Dr. Kristin Neff, outlines three components to self-compassion: self-kindness versus self-judgment, a sense of common humanity versus isolation, and mindfulness versus over-identification. Check out her exercise – self-compassion for caregivers.

Your mental health and well-being are as important as the patients you serve.

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Jack Kornfield.

REVIEW: Respiratory Surveillance

Surveillance Update: Influenza still at moderate levels

Public Health Ontario’s most recent respiratory laboratory surveillance data indicate activity for influenza A is moderate while activity for influenza B is low
Provincially, RSV is the most commonly-circulating virus, other than influenza
In Niagara, there are 637 cases of influenza so far this season; 12,830 across Ontario

2022-2023 Respiratory Season

Data source: Public Health Ontario’s Ontario Respiratory Pathogen Bulletin, data as of December 9, 2022. Please note: Coronavirus refers to non-pandemic human coronaviruses, not the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Niagara reports flu activity surveillance information weekly on Fridays

For more detail on the 2022 to 2023 respiratory season, please visit Public Health Ontario’s page for the Ontario Respiratory Pathogen Bulletin.

Primary Care & COVID-19 Support Community of Practice

Do you sometimes find it challenging to know where to look for the latest guidance and support? Ontario Health is here to help! Please join us as we discuss the latest primary care clinical guidance, share information about new primary care initiatives, and learn practical tips that can be used to enhance your practice workflow to keep up with the demands of providing care to your patients, including those with COVID-19, other influenza like illnesses and other life limiting conditions.

Monthly Series - Second Wednesday every month (8 – 9 a.m.) from Jan. to July 2023.

Register once for the series and attend the ones you can!

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FREE WEBINAR: Leverage Digital Health to Enhance Cancer Screening

This session is aimed at providing primary care providers AND their administrative support staff information on

Using EMR data to identify patients for cancer screening
Workflows for documenting cancer screening activities
Processes for tracking outstanding cancer screenings
Understanding current state and implementing changes to achieve your cancer screening Quality Improvement goals

Presented by Melissa Bastin, OMD Practice Enhancement Consultant

Date: Wednesday, Dec. 19, 12 - 1 p.m.

To register email Laurel Broski by Dec. 18, 2022.

MEDICAL ADVISORIES & MEMOS

December 9: MEMO - Highlights of Canadian TB Standards 8th Edition and Updated Latent TB Reporting Tools
December 2: MEMO - Expanded Access to Influenza Antivirals

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