In addition to this data, please see Fraser Health’s list of COVID-19 exposures at Abbotsford schools here. Sixteen schools have had exposures since December 1, 2020. An “exposure event” is defined as “a single person with lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection who attended school during their infectious period.” (via Fraser Health)
“Several helplines for women experiencing violence at home are reporting dramatic increases in calls since public health measures aimed at fighting the spread of COVID-19 came into effect last spring. The urgency and severity of many callers’ situations have also intensified, said Angela MacDougall, the executive director of Battered Women’s Support Services based in Vancouver. ‘What women are saying is that it’s like a pressure cooker in the house and there isn’t a valve,’ she said in an interview. The United Nations has called violence against women and girls a ‘shadow pandemic’ as the COVID-19 crisis fuels social isolation and tensions caused by concerns over health, safety and financial security.”
— via Calls to Canadian domestic violence helplines jump during pandemic (CTVNews).
Family Practice Residents may want to learn more about their local services providing assistance for women and children. SARA (Support, Acceptance, Resources, Action) is a feminist non-profit society providing safe refuge and community-based resources for women in Mission and Abbotsford. This includes counselling, outreach programs, The Warm Zone, and transition and long-term housing. They promote and support women’s efforts to achieve domestic, political, and social equality.
Visit SARA.
Taq Kaur Bhandal is a Ph.D. candidate at UBC, and works with theories & practices of intersectionality and anti-racism. She is part of the Mahwari Research Institute team, an independent think tank studying pleasurable living, pelvic health, and periods.
She’ll be speaking on:
Topic: Anti-racism Praxis in Canadian Health Education: Reflections and Directions
Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2021
Time: 12:00pm to 1:30pm
Zoom ID: For connection details, please email ches.communications@ubc.ca.
During this presentation participants will:
“We need to broaden our understanding of consent and start thinking of it as a verb, not a noun. To consent is an active, ongoing agreement, not a checkbox to be ticked. When talking to young people, we have an opportunity to show them what it’s like to communicate with care for another person, checking in and respecting them as the authority on what they’re feeling. If we normalize consent everywhere, by the time someone is ready for a sexual experience, they will know that they’re allowed to ask questions, stop at any time, and most importantly, to enjoy themselves.
Children are our future, and they will learn to give care in the ways we give care. Sexual consent doesn’t have to be a mood killer or ‘the talk’ either. Like circus, it can be joyful, fun, and exciting. Our intimate experiences should not only be safe, but as thrilling as flying through the air.”
~ Adie Delaney
“B.C. Hydro says crews are getting ready for some stormy space weather Thursday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S. is predicting a G3 (strong) category geomagnetic storm on Thursday, and a G2 or moderate storm on Friday, according to an alert posted Tuesday.
SpaceWeather.com says it’s a noteworthy event. It’s apparently significant enough that B.C. Hydro said Wednesday they’re preparing for a strong solar magnetic storm, which could lead to power cuts. Solar magnetic storms are gusts of charged particles that come from the Sun, and can potentially cause serious damage to high-voltage transmission systems leading to outages, says Brett Hallborg, senior system control manager with B.C. Hydro.”
More on B.C. Hydro prepares for strong geomagnetic storm via Vancouver Sun.
You may want to consider charging your devices this morning. 🙂
“‘The process of image analysis in clinical practice, not just in B.C. but worldwide, is primarily qualitative,’ says Dr. Rahmim, the project’s principal investigator and senior scientist at BC Cancer Research Institute (BCCRI). ‘A specialist must view the image and make an assessment of disease from what they see. Our intention is to develop new technologies using AI that can help better identify and evaluate tumours, with the ultimate aim of impacting care and outcomes for our patients.’
The group plans to publish their research and openly share the developed AI models online, to make them available for researchers and physicians worldwide. As part of the agreement, the anonymized data shared by BC Cancer, and the AI models and methods developed within the partnership, cannot be used for commercial purposes. The initial application of the models will be for clinical research trials, and the possibility of their use in clinical practice will be investigated.”
More on UBC scientists partner with Microsoft to develop next generation of cancer imaging and treatment tools via UBC Faculty of Medicine.
“I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against COVID-19, it’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year. I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too!”
~ Margaret Keenan
Read more on Landmark moment as first NHS patient receives COVID-19 vaccination via NHS.
#COVID19 #Vaccinate
“In this episode Victoria Brazil interviews two clinical and educational leaders from Boston Children’s Hospital about their strategies for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Peter Waters (Chief of Orthopedic Surgery) and Peter Weinstock (Director, SIMPeds) describe the rapid and extensive changes that were made to clinical and educational practice to support the health and welfare of patients and caregivers at their institution.
We reflect on how these activities illustrated the principles of leadership and change management from John Kotter, and consider what this means for our future practice as educators and leaders.”
Happy Listening via HMI!
Huge fan of University of Ottawa’s pet therapy program that’s now gone virtual to help support members’ mental health and wellbeing during COVID-19. You can learn more about their dogs and activities here.
On the topic:
* How Animals Help Us During the COVID-19 Pandemic via Tufts.
* Pet therapy: Animals as healers via Mayo Clinic.
* Human-animal relationships and interactions during the Covid-19 lockdown phase in the UK: Investigating links with mental health and loneliness via PLOS.
Family Medicine Residency Site: Abbotsford-Mission 