Please join us at the UBC Learning Circle on December 4, 2012 from 1 to 3 p.m. as we welcome Will Morris (Tsartlip) and Susan Armstrong for a special online session on depression and suicide prevention and support.

Date: December 4, 2012
Time: 1-3 p.m.
Where: Via videoconference OR Adobe Connect in partnership with the UBC Learning Circle
*Pre-registration is required to attend this event*

Overview
The "Gathering Strength" program aims to build upon existing strengths to achieve health and healing in First Nations communities. This novel suicide prevention and support initiative involves four Saanich First Nations and incorporates a focus on mental health. According to Wayneo Sam of the Gathering Strength Initiative, mental wellness starts with talking about "taboo" subjects and the act of talking about it "takes a lot of heaviness off your chest." The Gathering Strength group plans activities such as sports camps and police camps to bring communities together to focus on the positive and provide youth with the tools they need for healing.

How to Connect
There are now two ways to join us at the Learning Circle.

• To join this interactive, online presentation via videoconference, please call 1-877-666-2311 and ask for the UBC Learning Circle. You will still need to pre-register for this session. To register, please click here


• You can also participate via Adobe Connect from the convenience of your office, school, or home computer. To register, please click here . Further information on how to connect with the Learning Circle via Adobe Connect will be distributed on the morning of the event (December 4).

Dr. Laetitia Mulder, a social psychologist from the University of Groningen will be discussing recent research findings on the topic of "Escalation in Unethical Behavior". It concerns how such escalation is influenced by the process of escalation of commitment, and moderated by locus of control.

The talk is sponsored by the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics.

Lecture: 4:00 pm
Reception: 5:00 pm

Belize deployed the world’s first country-wide fully
integrated encounter-centric health information system, with eight embedded disease management protocols, in 2007 for $4 (CDN)/citizen. Uptake of this e-health system, mortality pre- and post- BHIS deployment and public healthcare expenditures over the past decade were evaluated. The BHIS captured over 90% healthcare encounters by Year 1, 95% by Year 2. Mortality analyses revealed a significant decrease for the eight BHIS protocol disease domains (versus an increase or little change in three domains without protocols). The maternal mortality dropped such that Belize reached the Millennium Development Goal four years in advance of the goal date, and is likely to be the only MesoAmerican country able to achieve this goal. Deaths associated with hypertension also dropped by over 50%. Health care expenditures have leveled off and slightly declined since deployment of the BHIS. Thus, for modest investment, BHIS was well accepted nationwide and following deployment, mortality in the eight BHIS protocol disease domains declined significantly and expenditures on public healthcare stabilized.

Speaker:
Dr. Noni MacDonald is a Professor of Paediatrics and of Computer Science at Dalhousie University, with a clinical appointment in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax Canada. She is a former Dean of Medicine at Dalhousie University: the first woman in Canada to be a Dean of Medicine. Her current major areas of interest are vaccines, especially vaccine safety, mitigating pain with vaccines, and vaccines and policy; MicroResearch, building capacity in community focused research in developing countries (www.microresearch.ca); and in the application of health information systems in developing countries to improve health outcomes. She has published over 300 papers, is the founding Editor in Chief of Paediatrics and Child Health - one of the most-read Canadian specialty journals and a former Editor in Chief of CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). She is an elected fellow of Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and serves on many professional organization, federal government and international advisory committees. Dr. MacDonald has long been recognized in Canada, as an advocate for children and youth health and as a leader in paediatric infectious disease.

RSVP here

Join us as we welcome Aboriginal eMentoring BC for an exciting and interactive online Youth Circle! The Youth Circle is oriented towards Aboriginal youth aged 12 to 29 throughout BC. There are approximately two Youth Circles per month. The Circle gives young Aboriginal people a place to express themselves, to be entertained and to learn and teach others about what’s going on and what they want to do in their communities.

Aboriginal eMentoring BC is an online career mentoring program for Aboriginal youth. Using the internet, mentees (youth in grades 6-12 across British Columbia) are matched with mentors (UBC students in health sciences programs) who are 100% dedicated to helping them figure out what they want and how to get there. eMentoring’s online platform gives mentors and mentees a chance to meet despite geographical distances.

With ongoing support from mentors, mentees complete a personal quest that was developed in partnership with icouldbe.org and is informed by Aboriginal ways of knowing and learning. This Youth Learning Circle will include a discussion on how eMentoring can best support the academic success of Aboriginal students, empower them to realize their potential, and encourage them to keep their options open for a career in health.

Visit the eMentoring website for more information about the program.

To check out an article in the Georgia Straight about this unique initiative, click here.

How to Connect
There are now two ways to join us at the Learning Circle.

• To join this interactive, online presentation via videoconference,please call 1-877-666-2311 and ask for the UBC Youth Learning Circle. You will still need to pre-register for this session. To register, please
  click here.


• You can also participate via Adobe Connect from the convenience of your office, school, or home computer. To register, please
  click here. Further information on how to connect with the Learning Circle via Adobe Connect will be distributed the day before the event.

Abstract:
Timely access to effective contraception care has the potential to reduce unwanted pregnancies and subsequent abortions. Since 2000, an extensive multi-methods research program has been undertaken in BC to evaluate the public health impact of pharmacist provision of emergency contraception (EC), and the subsequent switch to behind- and over-the-counter access of these agents. This presentation will describe diverse findings from the BC administrative databases demonstrating a doubling of EC use within two years of pharmacist provision, a qualitative study of barriers to EC use among Asian and South Asian youth, and an economic evaluation of EC use in the province. Over time, the research focus has broadened into barriers to contraception access among rural and northern youth, and the impact of gender, place and cultural on decision-making. To engage youth, health care professionals and knowledge users in utilizing study findings, dissemination strategies such as creation of a YouTube video on “Your Birth Control Rights”, in-service webinars utilizing virtual patients, a community launch of a new OPT clinic, and face-to-face meetings with decision makers will be described.


Speaker: Dr. Judith Soon, BSc (Pharm), RPh, PhD, FCSHP
Assistant Professor, UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Associate Member, UBC School of Population and Public Health
Associate Member, UBC Department of Family Practice
Pharmacy Coordinator, Interprofessional Curriculum

Judith Soon is a Pharmacy researcher with a focus on informing the development and evaluation of interventions at the community and population-level to improve sexual and reproductive health. Dr. Soon has developed an extensive research program into the public health impact of increasing access to contraception using a combination of BC administrative databases, surveys and ethno-cultural fieldwork in urban and rural settings. Currently, Dr. Soon is disseminating the findings from two interdisciplinary ethnographic studies into experiences with contraception among youth in rural and remote northern BC.

This course reviews of our known understanding of fever’s purpose in living organisms. Beginning with an overview of the history of fever, we then explore views on fever from around the world. Also explored are the wide variety of animal studies that reveal the beneficial effects of fever during infections. Finally, there is an examination of human studies demonstrating fever’s benefits; concluding with a discussion of how a fever, and associated symptoms, should be appropriately supported rather than suppressed.

Instructor:
Stephen A Hoption Cann
Clinical Associate Professor
School of Population and Public Health

Opportunities to use internet technology for better communication, documentation and learning are expanding daily. Opportunities for online communication tools to improve health care, especially mental health care, are slow to follow the curve.

Given the lack of accessibility, quality, and capacity in the mental health care system, do we have any other suitable alternative to a paradigm shift?

We invite you to study, see, and discuss what is already possible and what needs to happen right now so we can serve our clients in the most efficient and appropriate way.

This conference will focus on possibilities of online screening and assessments, online cognitive behavioural treatment, online smoking cessation sites, and online games as online tools.

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
Michael Krausz (Canada)
Bjorn Meyer (Germany)
Sarah Lord (USA)
John Cunningham (USA)
Kathy Griffiths (Australia)

You are invited to the UBC Aboriginal Youth Learning Circle on December 12, 2012 from 1 to 3 p.m. for an exciting presentation by Indigenous role model Trevor Mack. Trevor is Tsilhqot’in from Williams Lake, BC. He is a writer and an award-winning director/filmmaker (or as he calls himself, a storyteller).

Trevor began video editing in 2005 while he was still in high school. He started with editing videos of people playing the popular video game Halo with montages accompanied by music. Since 2005, his montages have garnered more than one million views via the Internet. Trevor also works with a freelance group called Viral Design. He has travelled to Dallas, Texas and other events to shoot video and do photography for various companies. Trevor’s “Get Up, Move Up” public service announcement recently won the $5,000 first-place prize at the First Nations Health Council ‘Active Spirit, Active History’ video contest.

Trevor is currently attending Capilano University’s ‘Motion Picture Arts’ program in Vancouver where he is pursuing his Bachelor’s degree. Check out Trevor's website at: http://www.trevormack.ca/

How to Connect
There are now two ways to join us at the Learning Circle.

• To join this interactive, online presentation via videoconference, please call 1-877-666-2311 and ask for the UBC Learning Circle. You will still need to pre-register for this session. To register, please click here


• You can also participate via Adobe Connect from the convenience of your office, school, or home computer. To register, please click here . Further information on how to connect with the Learning Circle via Adobe Connect will be distributed on the morning of the event

_____
The Youth Circle is oriented towards Aboriginal youth aged 12 to 29 throughout BC. There are approximately two Youth Circles per month. The Circle gives young Aboriginal people a place to express themselves, to be entertained and to learn and teach others about what’s going on and what they want to do in their communities.

Speaker: Elisabeth Ormandy

Abstract:
Given the recent calls for the democratization of science, public engagement (including exploration of public attitudes) on issues related to animal research is important. This talk will explore public attitudes to changing practices in the use of animals in research by

• describing a bibliometric analysis of changing patterns in animal use, and by documenting the increasing use of genetically modified (GM) animals, especially mice and zebrafish,


• presenting two online engagement experiments that investigated how acceptance of animal-based research is affected by genetic modification, regulation, invasiveness, and the species used,


• discussing an interview study that examined the views of researchers, research technicians, and members of public toward the creation and use of genetically modified animals in biomedical science.

The talk will conclude with the following key policy recommendations:

• improve scientific reporting,


• improve data and animal sharing,


• improve recording of national animal statistics,


• improve animal welfare assessment, and


• supplement the Three Rs.

Are you interested in becoming a student in one of the School of Population and Public Health's graduate programs?

Come and join us to learn about SPPH graduate programs and the admissions process!

All prospective students are welcome!

Please RSVP to spph.msc-oeh@ubc.ca by Friday, December 7.

Time: 5:00 - 6:00 pm
Location: Room 143, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver BC

Blood and body fluid (BBF) exposures pose major health risks to healthcare workers (HCWs) because of potential transmission of diseases such as hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV. Since January 2008 WorkSafeBC regulations have mandated the adoption of safety engineered medical devices (SEMDs) in all healthcare facilities to reduce the potential for BBF exposures. The ability of SEMDs to reduce injuries to HCWs depends on a number of factors including SEMD availability ease of use and of activation of the safety mechanism, and users’ views regarding the risks associated with BBF exposure and SEMD use.

The ‘Safety Engineered Medical Devices Activation Study – The BC Experience’ was conducted in six participating hospitals in three health authorities (HAs) (Fraser Health Authority (FH), Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), and Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)) from 2009 to 2011.

The primary objectives were to assess:

1. the number of SEMDs relative to the number of conventional (non-safety-engineered) medical devices used in participating hospitals;


2. the activation rates of SEMDs; and


3. nurses’ physicians’, and phlebotomists’ perceptions regarding the risks associated with exposure to BBF and regarding barriers with the use of SEMDs.

Detailed results and recommendations will be presented for this recently completed study.

Speaker: Dr. George Astrakinakis

All faculty are invited to attend

Thesis Title: Finding safe spaces: Historical trauma, housing status and HIV vulnerability among young Aboriginal people who use illicit drugs.

Kate's thesis supervisor is Dr. Patricia Spittal, and committee members are Dr. Martin Schechter and Dr. Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes. Dr. Chris Richardson will be the chair and external examiner for the defence.

Hope For Mental Health For All In Africa – Working Together: Challenges and Opportunities

Speaker: David M. Ndetei, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, Africa Mental Health Foundation
Professor of Psychiatry, University of Nairobi


Presented by the School of Population and Public Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry and NextGenU.org

Thesis: “Effect of a Controlled Diesel Exhaust Exposure on Airway Oxidative Stress in Humans: Analysis of Exhaled Breath Condensate”

Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Christopher Carlsten

Committee members:
Dr. Karen Bartlett
Dr. Michael Brauer
Dr. Kay Teschke (Chair and External Examiner)