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Important Announcement Regarding the 2020 PHABC Fall Conference & AGM

Posted on September 24, 2020

2020 PHABC Conference & Annual General Meeting

Postponement of  PHABC’s Conference and Annual General Meeting due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

 

 

 

As you are all aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended almost every aspect of public health in BC and put a strain on our public health system. As the public health workforce in this province we can only imagine how hard you all have been working to keep British Columbians calm, safe and healthy through these unprecedented times. The Public Health Association of BC would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to every one of you for your sacrifice and determination through the past 6 months.

 

 

Each fall, PHABC hosts its annual conference and AGM, where public health professionals from across the province meet, mingle, and share the latest research and data available in public health. Given the success of transitioning the summer institute online, we convened with the Scientific Planning Committee (SPC) co-chairs to discuss transitioning the conference to an online format. It was during that conversation that the SPC co-chairs raised several concerns related to hosting the conference this fall. On the advice of the SPC co-chairs, the co-chairs of the Capacity Building Committee undertook an analysis of the pros and cons of postponing the conference and have summarized some of the concerns raised below:

  1. Several conferences and other events cancelled in the spring and summer have been rescheduled to online events this fall, including the CPHA’s annual conference in mid-October,
  2. The proposed dates for the fall conference are in the middle of what is expected to be the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and flu season. Many of PHABC employees and board members may be redeployed to COVID response again and be unable to commit to a multi-day online conference,
  3. Most of the participants who will be attending are public health professionals who may also be redeployed to COVID response and unable to submit an abstract for consideration or attend a multi-day online conference,
  4. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and overdose epidemic it is anticipated most abstracts will be unrelated to the chosen topic theme of public health and the Anthropocene; resulting in the rejection of a number of high quality abstracts due to the current scoring criteria.

 

 

In light of all the concerns raised during the analysis and the time commitment necessary to host an online conference, a recommendation was brought to executive to postpone the 2020 annual conference. Executive agreed with the recommendation as a risk management strategy and therefore the 2020 conference will be rescheduled until the fall of 2021 when we can meet together face to face and celebrate. The theme of the conference will be an expansion of the theme of our annual summer institute, public health in the Anthropocene, which took place in July of this year through the online platform Zoom.

 

In consideration of the cancellation of this event, we have decided to release the recordings of our summer institute along with our think piece and post-summer institute resource package for public viewing at any time. To access the recordings and documents, you can follow the link below. It can also be found under presentations in the resources tab on our main menu.

https://phabc.org/presentation/public-health-summer-institute-2020/

 

 

As a member-driver organization, we will still be hosting our annual general meeting online on November 19th, 2020. An agenda and connection instructions will be made available in the coming weeks for anyone interested in an update on PHABC’s operations over the past year.

 

Given the current pandemic much of the board’s mandated duties were postponed or cancelled to allow our volunteer board to focus on COVID response in their respective professions. Because of this, a decision was reached to extend all board appointments by one year and cancel the election of new board members for 2020. This will allow the current board to complete their mandated duties in the modified timeline while also considering the extenuating circumstances brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health emergencies arising. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our board for their extended service and commitment to public health in BC.

 

Thank you again for all your support of the Public Health Association of BC and we hope that you all stay safe and healthy while working together to keep British Columbia’s public health system operational and responsive to anything that may arise through the upcoming year. Together we can ensure all British Columbians weather the storm, no matter which boat they find themselves in.

How Parents Can Identify Anxiety Warning Signs as Students Return to School

Posted on August 31, 2020

When students across British Columbia head back to school, they’ll enter a new world of COVID-19 precautions and protocols. Consequently, students of all ages, from kindergarten to Grade 12, may experience higher levels of anxiety with varying symptoms and consequences.

Dr. Steven Taylor, professor at UBC’s department of psychiatry, a clinical psychologist, and author of The Psychology of Pandemics has some expert advice for parents of school-aged children.

Dr. Steven Taylor

What early warning signs of increased anxiety should parents look for in kids returning to class?

ST: Children tend to express anxiety through physical symptoms so parents should look for signs such as stomach aches, decrease in appetite, headaches, irritability and difficulty sleeping. Parents know their children and their behaviour and should have a good sense of when their kids are emotionally upset or preoccupied.

How can parents reduce their child’s anxiety and alleviate fears about COVID-19?

ST: In short, try to keep things as normal as possible while letting them know that it’s OK to be apprehensive. It’s also important to understand that the main concern for many students won’t actually be COVID-19; it will be about how their classes will be organized, their ability to adapt to new formats and new learning environments, and of course their grades. But children are most likely to be anxious during the first week or two of school and then, for most kids, their anxieties should abate as they get used to the new routine.

“Try to keep things as normal as possible while letting them know that it’s OK to be apprehensive.”
Dr. Steven Taylor, professor, department of psychiatry

Can well-meaning parents make things worse by saying the wrong things?

ST: Parents shouldn’t be too hard on themselves, but sometimes they may have to walk a fine line. Just because a child doesn’t initiate a conversation, doesn’t mean they aren’t feeling stressed. But obviously you don’t want to stoke fears by conjuring scary scenarios or planting seeds—it’s better to ask exploratory open-ended questions rather than feeding them lines. For example: “You don’t seem to be your usual self lately. Is something bothering you?”

When was the last time students in Canada faced anything like this pandemic?

ST: Young Canadians haven’t dealt with anything like this since the Spanish flu 100 years ago. Even in the 1950s during the Cold War, when kids did the duck-and-cover in the classroom, I don’t think they were affected like they are today.

In addition to talking, what other practical things can parents do to help their kids deal with the pandemic this school year?

ST: We’ll soon enter cough, cold and flu season, so it’s very important for students to get flu shots and wear facemasks. Without getting children tested for SARS-CoV-2, it will be very difficult to discern whether kids with symptoms actually have COVID-19, so we want to limit stress where we can. Flu shots and facemasks are a great way to do that.

International Overdose Awareness Day

Posted on
Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, a global event held on 31 August each year that aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of drug-related death. You can find more information or if you would like to commemorate somebody, please add tributes HERE.
Tributes will be posted on this website as soon as they are approved.

Request for Proposal

Posted on

The Public Health Association of BC is seeking proposals from consultants for a

VACCINATION STATUS REPORTING AND RESPONSE EDUCATION COMPONENT PROJECT

Purpose

Reporting to the Senior Director of the Public Health Association of British Columbia, the consultant will support the establishment of an e‐learning module to facilitate the implementation of section 7(1) of the Regulation in order to give parents/guardians and students identified by the medical health officer (“MHO”) the ability to complete the mandatory information session pertaining to vaccination education.

For full details and to submit your proposal go HERE,

or contact Craig Thompson, Senior Director PHABC

Email: craig.thompson@phabc.org 

Phone: (778) 397-3360 

Public Funds Should be for Public Health, not Private Profits

Posted on August 19, 2020

Around the world, governments fund critically important medical research and development using public money — including more than $1 billion already committed by the Canadian government to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as diagnostic tests and medicines.

Publicly funded research has led to dramatic healthcare innovations. In Canada alone, researchers have used government funds to support the discovery of an Ebola vaccine, insulin, the cardiac pacemaker and more.

Unfortunately, most countries — including Canada — rarely demand that the resulting health innovations be safeguarded for public health, or be made affordable and accessible to those who need them most.

In fact, these publicly funded vaccines, medicines and health technologies are often sold to private companies, who then determine who receives access to them — and at what price.

Tell Canada’s Minister of Health to take concrete steps to prioritize patient access over private profits: Sign the petition from Doctors Without Borders HERE.