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Fostering student engagement and advocacy

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By: Latitia Pelley-George, Dalhousie University School of Nursing

Thank you to the Dalhousie Global Health Office and the Johnson Scholarship Foundation Bursary for helping me offset costs to attend the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress in Singapore from June 27-July 1, 2019. I also had the privilege to attend the Student Assembly on June 26th with over 300 other nursing students across the globe. The Student Assembly and the Congress was a great opportunity to network internationally with other nursing students and professionals. The Student Assembly allowed for students to have their voices heard as to how ICN can involve students across the world and become more involved with ICN in general. The students were able to pitch ideas to help engage with us more.

Latitia Pelley-George

Latitia Pelley-George

I had the privilege to be able to speak to and listen to influential people in healthcare. Global experts, such as the Director General of the World Health Organization, the President of Singapore, the President of ICN and many more, gave talks on different subjects. A major theme that came out of the conference was climate change and how it is impacting healthcare and the health of people across the world. Another major theme was the dire need we are in for more nurses and healthcare professionals in general. We need over 18,000 more healthcare professionals by the year 2030 due to the aging populations across the world and climate change. Another thing I noticed while speaking with and listening to the different speakers at the conference is that nursing varies in different countries, such as professional bodies, regulatory bodies, unions, scope of practice but the goal is always the same, to help people, and the issues are very similar such as working short and limited resources.

Overall, this was an amazing opportunity! To all the nurses and future nursing students out there, ICN 2023 will be held by CNA in Montreal!

Learn more about the Diversity Conference Bursary Program

Learn more about the International Council of Nurses

Positive Experiences and New Opportunities through the Service Learning Program

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By: Tina Kim and Talia Bond, Dalhousie Medical School, Class of 2021

Student Experience

When it comes to migrant populations and healthcare, discussions of barriers, challenges to access and system flaws is a common narrative. Medical education focuses on teaching future doctors the inequities of healthcare and barriers to its access. While it is important to appreciate and understand the numerous unique challenges faced by newcomers to Canada, it is equally as important to share the successes in overcoming these challenges, in order to build on positive experiences and create new opportunities. During the past few months, we had the opportunity to do just this, through the Service Learning Program at Dalhousie University. This past year, we partnered with Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), a community organization that works to settle newcomers to Nova Scotia, to not only learn about the challenges newcomers face, but also to learn about the supports and services that are currently in place.

Talia Bond and Tina Kim

Talia Bond and Tina Kim

One of our most valuable experiences with ISANS was the opportunity to work with the Youth Life Skills Workers. The Youth Life Skills Program provides newly arrived government-assisted refugee youth, aged 15 to 25, with guidance and support as they adjust to life in Canada. It is offered within the first three months of arrivals and matches each refugee youth with a Life Skills Worker who speaks their language. Many of the Youth Life Skills Workers at ISANS are previous refugee youth who have also participated in the program, and through it, have gained confidence and independence in a new country. In collaboration with the Youth Life Skills Workers, we facilitated a “Welcome to Canada Orientation” session for 15 refugee youth from El Salvador, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the workshop focused on Canadian geography, currency, multiculturalism, sports and hobbies, and healthcare delivery, we were pleasantly surprised to receive questions from the youth on Canada’s history, tax system, Indigenous peoples, and political structure.

Afterwards, we collected feedback on how the orientation was presented and comments on the youths’ experiences since coming to Canada. The evaluations from the youth were overwhelmingly positive and the orientation was well-received. Many of their positive experiences since coming to Canada shared similar themes around the Life Skills Program and settlement support, friendliness of Canadians, and opportunities for education.

“I have learnt that here there is good education system.”

“I have liked the people in Canada because they are friendly.”

“I am going to learn computing and I like it!”

“I have enjoy the life skill support from other people.”

The week following the orientation, we organized a field trip to Bowlarama, which was a blast! It was an opportunity for all of us to get to know each other and have fun. This was the first time many of the youth got to experience bowling and was the perfect way to wrap up our time together.

Bowlarama Halifax

Bowlarama Halifax

Bowlarama Halifax

Bowlarama Halifax

Our experience with the Youth Life Skills Workers has highlighted for us the truly amazing work done by ISANS in our community. The Youth Life Skills Program has evolved into a self-sustaining program, creating connections for past refugee youth to support new refugee youth. It is an example of the resilience and strength that has emerged within our community and is an example of the response of organizations like ISANS to address some of the barriers and challenges that newcomers face when settling to Canada. It is our hope that sharing our experience with ISANS will provide insight for healthcare professionals on the programs available for their patients and be a reminder to continue to work on creating welcoming and supportive spaces for newcomers to access healthcare.

Dalhousie’s Service Learning Program

Through its social accountability mandate, Dalhousie Medicine offers an optional Service Learning Program available to pre-clerkship Undergraduate Medical Education students in both Halifax and DMNB campuses. The Service Learning Program includes preparation, orientation, community-based service learning experiences, student assessment and program evaluation. Service Learning is a learning enrichment program integrated into the established undergraduate medical education curriculum and facilitated in partnership through the Global Health Office.

The goals of the Service Learning Program include:

  1. Enhance students’ learning by enabling them to practice skills and test classroom knowledge through related service experiences in the community
  2. Enable students to provide needed assistance to community organizations and to the people they serve
  3. Ensure students contribute to the Faculty of Medicine’s commitment to social accountability
  4. Assist faculty in their role as facilitators of service learning and in their engagement with the community
  5. Provide leadership training and scholarly activity to advance service learning in the Faculty of Medicine with our community organizations

PLANS Professional Profile: Dr. Tesia Rolle

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Written by: Nnamdi Chiekwe, Therapeutic Recreation Student
Interview with: Dr. Tesia Rolle, Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)

Promoting Leadership in health for African Nova Scotians (PLANS) is writing a monthly blog post highlighting “Faces of Black Health”. This post highlights Dr. Tesia Rolle and her role as a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS).  These profiles can also be found on our website in the Faces of Black Health Section.

Dr. Tesia Rolle

Dr. Tesia Rolle

What do you do?

I’m a dentist, defender of the oral realm.

What’s your role in your health Profession?

Education, prevention of what’s commonly known as gum disease, management of oral diseases, and restoring function through replacement of missing teeth. We also have a role to play in early detection of systemic diseases including cancer, diabetes, and others. These diseases can manifest signs in the oral cavity that, when detected early, can lead to early intervention and an improved prognosis.

If you have or feel comfortable sharing, can you explain your experiences as a Black Health professional in your field?

I’ve had tremendous support throughout my journey, and my overall experience as a Black Health professional in dentistry has been positive. This is a career that is richly rewarding and provides opportunity for meaningful interaction with thousands of people. My experiences as a dental professional run the gamut from stressful and challenging to humbling and exciting, and I have had the encouragement of my governing bodies and colleagues throughout.

I rarely express my challenges as a Black Health professional because, like many people of colour raised in Nova Scotia, these challenges represent a constant background noise that could potentially be debilitating, and I have learned to block it out. For example, I have had the unfortunate experience of being subjected to unprovoked threats and racial slurs from strangers. If this has never happened to you then you may not realize that those experiences never leave you and can impact your future interactions with strangers.

As a health professional, in my case early on in my career, insecurities would surface as I faced a room full of strangers and I wondered if the patient I called would be disappointed to have a Black health care provider. It didn’t help that a colleague of mine confided that he had a patient ask to only be treated by White practitioners. As I’ve matured in my career, I’ve actually gained a lot of confidence through my experiences with my wonderful patient population, and those insecurities no longer plague me. It’s almost embarrassing to admit that I was internalizing that ignorance, but I know that if it happened to me it is surely happening to someone else and sharing experiences is one way to help support those who are facing similar challenges.

Can you explain your experiences and ability to access health services;

What went well?

I have been privileged to have had access to quality care whenever I have required it. That said, my interactions have been primarily related to the births of my two children and my experience is limited. I will bring attention to one experience that required me to access emergency services at the hospital. There was a Black health care worker in the emergency department who I knew from the community and she treated us like family. It was an incredibly stressful time for me, and she really understood my needs and made me feel cared for. My intention in saying that is not to take away from the excellent care I received from the other team members. My point is that I felt an inherent trust and comfort with this health care provider who I knew to be culturally informed.

What could go better?

We need to see more of this inclusivity in health services in the future. There is so much turmoil surrounding access to health care at present and every opportunity for connection makes a big difference.

How have you found/finding community in your profession?

Becoming a dentist in Nova Scotia does feel like joining a family. This starts with amazing relationships formed in dental school and continues throughout the career via relationships formed with team members, colleagues, mentors, and friends met through continuing education and professional associations. I’m a member of a few study clubs that meet regularly to discuss cases and support each other. I’ve also found community through initiatives such as PLANS, Imhotep’s Legacy Academy, and the Black Student Advising Centre at Dalhousie. All of these programs exist to support Black learners and in doing so, they provide networking opportunities for Black health care professionals.

 

I’m located at Nova Dental in Lower Sackville!

https://www.novadental.ca/team/dr-tesia-rolle

PLANS Professional Profile: Mario Rolle

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Written by: Nnamdi Chiekwe, Therapeutic Recreation Student
Interview with: Mario Rolle, Master of Social Work, Program coordinator Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative

Promoting Leadership in health for African Nova Scotians (PLANS) is writing a monthly blog post highlighting “Faces of Black Health”. This post highlights Mario Rolle and his work in Social work as well as the Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative.

Mario Rolle, Master of Social Work, Program coordinator Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative

Mario Rolle, Master of Social Work, Program coordinator Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative

What do you do?

I am a social worker; I work for the Nova Scotia Brotherhood (NSBI) as a wellness navigator.

What’s your role in your health Profession?

NSBI is a free health program for Black men. We provide [wellness and health] navigation, we have a family doctor, psychiatrist, and a psychologist. My job as a navigator is to help men of African descent navigate not only the health system, but anything that affects the social determinants of health. Any day it could be different, one day it could be health, the next day it could be justice, the next day it could be employment, it varies.

If you have/feel comfortable sharing, can you explain your experiences as a Black Health professional in your field?

Well it’s hard.

When I say it’s hard, I mean this organization is the only one in Canada, and so it’s a learning process. As we go, we learn, and we pick up stuff. The program is holistic, so it’s not an ordinary healthcare or community health team. I work with various people, so my work day can look different every day.

It is hard being the only Black organization. Some of the problems that we face and try to take to management, the understanding of the client’s needs and our needs is really complicated to resolve and comprehend.

Now is this a hierarchical, budget, or needs issue?

When we talk about systematic racism or institutional racism, for people of African descent when you’re dealing with an organization like Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), they want to see data. Some initiatives under this organizations may say “let’s try this initiative and see if it works”, but for us it’s almost like we have to provide data to prove that what we do works.

With the brotherhood, we work and create data. While I’m doing this job, I am creating programming, and I am creating a position in here to prove and show management, and to show the community that this program is necessary.

For instance, in the court system there isn’t a Black advocate for individuals of African descent. So, what I did I created a position in there through the Brotherhood where I can come in and advocate on behalf of individuals of African descent. Before an individual [of African descent] goes up before the judge, they would advise that individual to see Mario, and if it is a female [of African descent] they would advise her to see Mario, and I would refer her to a female organization or an organization that does not only deal with men.

So, for us, we use the H word, holistic. So, you know when you go to a doctor you see a doctor for 15 minutes, for us, it’s like you come in and we first have to build a relationship, because if we don’t build a relationship with clients, they’re not going to open up to us. So it will be 15 minutes or 5 minutes seeing the client, because when the client sees us, they basically already know who we are and how were are going to respond to them, if they feel like we’re going to be volatile or hostile with them they’re going to shut-down and barriers are going to be risen.

Can you explain your experiences and ability to access health services?

To be honest, as an ordinary person, it’s hard versus me being an employee of NSHA. Being a Black person, a lot of people they do talk about racism, and sometimes racism almost wants to be a taboo word, and no one wants to talk about it. When I go into the hospital, I’m treated differently than a NSHA employee. When I go in as an ordinary person, it takes a longer time for me to get the help that I need.

Recently, I [my wife] had a baby, and I wanted to try and see if it works. I went there one day dressed as an ordinary person in chill and comfortable clothing, and it was almost like I was looked down and shunned. Until the nurse came in and was talking to my wife and was asking what she did and what does her husband do, and when my wife told them what I did, the whole atmosphere changed, because now “he’s” a social worker. So now how I was perceived at the beginning has changed, everyone is now nice to me.

As Black people, especially for professionals, we have to do extra to prove ourselves, for a Lawyer, doctor, they can dress any way and they are respected regardless. Before I graduated from Dalhousie University, I went to Saint Mary’s. What I did while I was there, I never cut my beard and wear a sweater with my hood up. I would be looking like an old man and I was judged. But those people didn’t know what I did, and it’s the same way now 4-5 years later, I’m now a clinical social worker and basically I have to dress the part as a Black man to be respected, and sometimes I’m still not respected because I am challenged with what I know because of the letters I have behind my name, it’s like you have to do double as a Black health professional.

How have you found/finding community in your profession?

One thing I love about NSHA is that they have allowed me to create this program. I am not micromanaged, I have an amazing director, and they just let me go with it. We held a men’s conference in November, we didn’t have a conference plan, but they wanted us to do an event, and the director assured that whatever the men wanted to do we could make it happen. So, I want to say that I have great support when it comes to management at NSHA.

I also rely a lot on the Association of Black Social workers (ABSW), and if I need an organization to advocate on my behalf, as well as HAAC (Health Association of African Canadians).

Where I’m at right now is amazing. For management the Brotherhood has amazing supports, and the community groups (ABSW & HAAC) are very supportive. Also, other organizations like justice and housing supports us as well because we do a lot of work with them. One day I could be working in health, the next day I could be working with someone from justice, the next day someone from housing, someone from child protection. That’s one thing that I like about this position that I do, it is not restricted just to health.

Announcements for the audience?

We are planning the second annual Men’s Health conference, so stay tuned for details.

What is the Men’s Health league?

It is an organization where we bring 1 male figure from each community to sit at our table to discuss issues that are affecting our communities. For example, if incarceration rate is affecting our community, we talk about how we deal with a situation like this. Once we devise a plan, the groups might say we need to do some workshops on employment for persons re-entering into community from incarceration. It is what the community wants, my job is to take their ideas to management and make sure it happens.

Our programs are free, if you want to see a doctor it’s free, if you want to see a psychiatrist or psychologist it’s free, but you have to be referred by our doctor. The brotherhood is something like a quick fix, we’re that service that addresses the gap in the system for people until they can find a more permanent solution.

Simulated Patient Educators Experience with Indigenous Health Program

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Written by: Madeline Kubiseski, Master of Health Administration

Jacquie Thillaye and Emily Armstrong are Simulated Patient Educators in the Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research (C3LR), providing programming support for the faculties of medicine, dentistry and health. They have been heavily involved the Indigenous Health Program through various programs and the health sciences youth summer camps. I had the opportunity to sit down with Jacquie and Emily to learn more about their experience with the Indigenous Health Program.

Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research staff

Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research staff

Can you describe your role in the C3LR as simulated patient educators?

Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research

Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research

As simulated patient educators, we support the simulation side of programming for the Faculties of Medicine, Health and Dentistry. We focus on educational design and implementation for experiential learning to ensure the simulation meets the needs of the faculty and the faculty members designing the program. We assist with the development of the program and the case studies to meet the specific, and often changing, programming needs. We also focus on communication skills and help to create a safe learning environment, where our simulated patients learn how to provide feedback to the student learners. Lastly, we work on design and implementation of assessment using simulated encounters.

Overall, simulation fills a huge gap between learning and practice, allowing students to practice their skills in a safe space before entering the clinical setting.

What has been your experience working with the Faculty of Medicine’s Indigenous Health Program?

Our experience working with the Faculty of Medicine’s Indigenous Health Program has primarily been through the youth health sciences camps. In our roles we have also reached out to the program to help us find simulated patients from the Indigenous community to meet specific requirements and to build a more diverse, representative group of simulated patients. We also run a specific program called Parent Tot, where parents bring their children in to allow medical and/or nursing students to work with them. We really needed to increase our diversity in that program, and Joe MacEachern, the program manager of the Indigenous Health Program, was a very big help in sending out the message to increase participation. We are continuously working with Joe to increase our diversity of simulated patients, but we still have a long way to go.

What are the benefits of having Indigenous participants participate in your program? What have been some of the challenges and successes of this?

One of the benefits is that we are striving to be reflective of the community as much as possible and offer a presence for the students to recognize the importance. There isn’t a whole lot of programming that is specific to the Indigenous community in terms of simulation, but we are hopeful that will be coming.

Additionally, it has been a great benefit to our staff, faculty and simulated patients themselves who are seeing our pool of participants change and seeing the increased diversity and representation.

Also, from a training perspective, when you are in the room of simulated patients from various backgrounds, it increases the discussion and perspectives of the case.

Some of the challenges we have faced have been around recruiting and retention. We find that those who are keen to join are often people who are being tapped into for many other initiatives and are very busy. They are very engaged in their community and comfortable participating in these situations. Recruiting and retaining more Indigenous simulated patients is something we are working on for the future.

One of the major successes we have seen is the number of Indigenous people in the health profession. In addition to simulated patients we also have standardized health professionals, and we have seen an increased diversity in these health professionals, and we have great representation in that as well. We have received the most feedback from the standardized Indigenous health professionals about how happy they are be part of this program, and to have the students see themselves in these roles.

Medical and health problems present in every community and we need to make sure we have people in roles that reflect every community. We are continuously working towards this.

What changes have you seen over the years of involvement with this program?

Overall the growth of the Indigenous Health program with the number of students, the number of camps, and how far they are reaching has been very impressive. We are also now seeing some students from the camps express interest in becoming simulated patients or students in the university which has been great. The students in the camps are coming each year and are so excited about entering the health professions and see themselves in these roles to give back to their community.

How long have you been participating in the Indigenous Health Sciences Camp programs? As an experienced camp program facilitator, what has been your experience working with the Indigenous youth participants?

We have been working with the Health Sciences Camp since they began. Working with the youth in these camps has been very interesting experience seeing the students grow and come back each year. We often see some of the same students coming back and we are able to see their growth, increased engagement, and strong interest in the health professions. Through the camps we also see the students picturing themselves here at Dalhousie in the health professions one day.

What future changes would you like to implement or see happen? I.e. bigger groups? More indigenous facilitators? More regular camps for this group? Longer camps?

We would love to see increased growth of the program. We want to continue to develop the curriculum for all the different schools to implement more around Indigenous health. Additionally, we also try to highlight the Indigenous research that is ongoing and the various opportunities for Indigenous students to get involved and perhaps lead the research themselves.

I know our role is to expose the students to new opportunities but what have you learned from working with this group?

We have learned so much through the increased contact with people from the Indigenous community and the students themselves. For example, learning what smudging truly is, when it is done, why it is done, and that there are no rooms to do this at the hospital.

Developing awareness goes both ways; the students learn and develop awareness of opportunities in the health professions, and we learn about the communities and the specific needs of the communities.

What is your favourite part of what you do?

The best part about this role are all of the different people that we get to work with; not only the simulated patients, but everyone from the community, inside and outside of Dalhousie, the students, and the learners are constantly changing. The job itself is constantly changing and challenging and we are continuously learning from the students and the Indigenous Health Program. We never stop learning and we do feel like we are contributing in a meaningful way!

Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research

Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research

For more information on the Indigenous Health Program.

For more information on the Centre for Collaborative Clinical Learning and Research.

 

PLANS Professional Profile: Kelly Carrington

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Written by: Nnamdi Chiekwe, Therapeutic Recreation Student
Interview with: Kelly Carrington, Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) & Doula

Promoting Leadership in health for African Nova Scotians (PLANS) is writing a monthly blog post highlighting “Faces of Black Health”. This post highlights Kelly Carrington and the professions of Registered Massage Therapist & Doula.

Kelly Carrington, Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) & Doula

Kelly Carrington, Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) & Doula

What do you do?

I am a dad of three boys primarily, a husband, and also a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT), have been for 18 years, and I run my own mobile massage therapy company. I am also a birth doula.

What’s your role in your health Profession?

As an RMT I provide massage therapy services, but my company model is mobile, so I go to companies and I go to people’s residence to provide services. As a birth doula I provide education to families, prenatally, I provide physical and emotional support during the the birth day itself, and then provide postpartum support for the families as long as they need afterwards, but nothing clinical. Doulas do not deliver babies, which is the biggest misconception, that is for the OB/GYN and midwives.

A lot of it is education, so before the baby comes we will go through prenatal education, so pretty much anything they want to know about, whether that is the physical changes in the body or the physiology of the actual act of birth and what happens, all the hormone changes, etc., and during that time we make a plan on how they would like to see the outcome of this happen. Obviously, they’d want mom, baby and family healthy, but how do you actually go about doing that? Now it is often very medicalized, and it doesn’t always need to be, and people don’t know that.

Most people think that you get pregnant, go to the hospital, have your baby and go home, but you don’t have to do all of those things. You have choice along the way and people need to know about their informed choices and what decisions they can make, and that’s where I come in to give them all of those options that are there for them to choose from. If they decide to choose them or not, it is [more] about them having the option to know what they can actually do, because a lot of people go in and follow what the doctors say. The doctor’s job is to keep mom and baby safe, but sometimes in that, people feel that at the end of the day they weren’t really listened to, they did not have much choice, and feel that they have given over their own power about their own body, and for women that’s important for them to know that it is their body and anyone that is going to touch you does need informed consent.

You have so many options of how you get to having your baby, people just need to be educated on how that process works, and that’s where I come in. I am there with them during the birth the entire time and helping them physically and making sure that both parties are fed, have water and if they have any questions. I am there with the family, so they feel like I am one of their team. Afterwards, it is hard because there is breastfeeding, and healing from possible surgery, and all those types of things, still in a non-clinical setting, but I am there to support them with all of that because I have been there since the beginning.

If you have/feel comfortable sharing, can you explain your experiences as a Black Health professional in your field?

I honestly don’t really have any. I am biracial, I grew in that household, so I don’t know what it’s like not to be, but I don’t think it’s ever been an issue, I mean I kind of stand out like a sore thumb, not only because it’s a very female dominated profession, both RMT and Doula, and I was the first male to be certified through DONA, first in Canada and Nova Scotia, and the fact that I am a Black guy, well I guess is a good thing, only because when you picture in your mind what a Doula is, this is not what you picture. I’ve always said I don’t think it matters that I’m a man, and it doesn’t matter that I am a Black man, it is my intention of what I’m doing that matters, it is the intention that the work is in the right place, that’s what matters. For me it’s the right fit for me and works well, what I look like I don’t think matters as much compared to the work that I do.

Can you explain your experiences and ability to access health services?

I have three boys, and with kids you’re always in the hospital at some point. There was one particular time where it was sort of a defining moment, and my wife and I dealing with the decision of who is going to go to emerg. I stayed home with all three kids when they were younger before they went to school and then ran my business in the evenings, and there was a time where my middle guy broke his arm at pre-school, so I had to take him to emerg and I was there for a long time, like a really really long time. Then my wife showed up and he was taken care of right away. I hate to read into it too much, it could have been circumstance, his arm wasn’t hanging off by a thread, but he still had a broken arm and the amount of time that I was there with him sitting in a room [where] he was watching an iPad that they gave us while waiting for x-rays, compared to the amount of time that she [wife] was there, where he got attended to, casted and discharged was significantly shorter. So since then, if there is something that needs to happen, like if we have to take the kids to the IWK, she [wife] goes. I’m not saying that one incident is indicative of the care that I get, or my children get when I go there, but I don’t know what other people’s experiences are, and that one experience changed the way that my wife and I decided who is going to go. It was nothing that was overt, but after the fact when I was driving home, I was mad, only because it’s not about me, it’s about my child, he needed to get some stuff done. I don’t know what was happening in that emerg at the time, but that was the only incident in my entire life that I ever was “oh”. So now, my wife and I do have that discussion that “well maybe you should go” and it really pains me to say that, but that’s the reality, we had to have that discussion because of that one experience.

That’s the only time that I’ve had any dealings with the healthcare system that I was like “hmmm interesting”, but I don’t want to make it a huge thing because I don’t know if that is what actually happened, it was just an observation, but is that observation enough?

Imagine all the other families that have to take their kids in there, or are being treated themselves, they do not know what it is not like to be a visible minority going into that same situation. The job of the hospital is to take care of whoever comes in, period.

How have you found/finding community in your profession?

Within the massage profession I’ve been around for a long time, so I’m very involved with the Massage Therapy association Nova Scotia, I’ve been on the board, served two terms as president and now vice president, I’m very involved in the massage community.

Within the Doula community, I was on the board for a short term. I am an accepted member of the community.  But I’m quite involved in my profession.

Where can we find you?

You can find me on my website; www.evolutionmassage.ca!

Winning Project for the World’s Challenge Challenge 2019/2020

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This week we have chosen to highlight the amazing work of 3 Dalhousie students, 2 of which are Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Scholars through the Global Health Office.

On March 14, Faculty of Health PhD students Justine Dol (Health), Brianna Richardson (Nursing), and Rachel Ollivier (Nursing) made a compelling case for their health innovation: Essential Coaching for Every Mother at the local Dalhousie competition of the World’s Challenge Challenge (WCC). The students won the round and were chosen to represent Dal at Western University in June 2019.

Brianna, Rachel and Justine.

Brianna, Rachel and Justine.

The goal of Essential Coaching for Every Mother is to share knowledge with mothers and improve their confidence in caring for themselves and their baby. The innovation will send daily text messages to moms in Canada and Tanzania containing information related to caring for themselves and their baby during the first six weeks after birth, when and where they need it the most: right at home. The one-way messages will be based on the best up-to-date evidence, existing World Health Organization guidelines, and local standards of postnatal care.

The full Dal News Story can be found here.

PLANS Professional Profile: Crystal Watson

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Written by: Nnamdi Chiekwe, Therapeutic Recreation Student
Interview with: Crystal Watson, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist

Promoting Leadership in health for African Nova Scotians (PLANS) is writing a monthly blog post highlighting “Faces of Black Health”. This post highlights Crystal Watson and the profession of Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist.

Crystal Watson, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist

Crystal Watson, Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist

What do you do?

I am currently the Executive Director for Recreation Nova Scotia, a non-profit organization striving to improve connection within the recreation sector so that we can promote and advocate the benefits of recreation as part of the lives of Nova Scotians!

What’s your role in your health Profession?

Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS)

I am a Recreation Therapist by training, credentialed through National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). My primary role as a Recreation Therapist is to use recreation and leisure opportunities as a therapeutic tool. We consider the recreation interests and experiences of the individual we are working with, and we also take into consideration what their needs are or any kind of barriers that they experience that may be a consequence of their current health state. It really is about recreation and leisure and how we can make improvements to one’s overall health!

If you feel comfortable sharing, can you explain your experiences as a Black Health professional in your field?

I wish I could say it was easy. I was the first person of African descent to be a Recreation Therapist in Nova Scotia and I think with that alone comes a lot of expectations. We don’t necessarily have to explain the particular preconceived notions that some people may have of you when you go into these particular environments that you may not necessarily feel safe in. Healthcare is not something that folks of African descent are necessarily accessing or feel safe in those spaces, and for me that was a challenge that I had to overcome. At times, being the only one in the role that I was in, meaning that I was responsible for making decisions I was accountable for, sometimes you would have your judgements questioned, which made you think that you weren’t doing things right. So, for a period of time I second guessed my abilities to do the job and do the job effectively, but I quickly grew out of that and realized that I had the expertise and that there were opportunities for me to contribute in positive ways. I was reassured, as a result of my contributions by the reactions of the clients, which is, I think, what helped me to realize that I was doing ok and didn’t need to be validated by my co-workers because the work that I was doing with the clients spoke for itself.

Can you explain your experiences and ability to access health services?

I think as I matured, and because of my education, that made accessing health a lot easier, because I knew what kind of information I was looking for based on my own training. Of course, that puts you in a place of privilege because you kind of know, but at the same time your knowledge can be questioned by the health care professional, they may have some preconceived notions about you.

What tends to go well with me when it comes to healthcare is the fact that I try to equip myself a little bit when it comes to wanting to have the information that I need or that I feel that I need.

I’m not always sure that health care professionals sometimes think about the broader context of cultural competency. It’s really challenging because I think a lot of the times we are inundated with this information about cultural competency, and we think that “oh I took into consideration that this person is of African descent” and created this sort of checkbox system, but we don’t think about anything else that is going on in that person’s life. This is something that we could do better as health care professionals on a broader scale. If I’m a person experiencing a specific health issue, that may be one of many things that may be happening with me that has an impact on my health. So, if I’m caring for a parent, or I have young children, or I live in a really bad neighbourhood, or I don’t have a job, all of those determinants of health are what I think we need to be more conscientious of when we’re working with individual’s who specifically come from communities where there is a level of vulnerability or marginalization, or whatever terminology we choose, but they are just grossly impacted by a system that just wasn’t created for them.

How have you found/finding community in your profession?

It’s actually interesting because I graduated from my undergrad degree in 2000, and there were a few of us that went into Therapeutic Recreation and I’d say that we’re still very close today! We still connect, and so for me community in the profession begins there and having those key folks in my circle. The Therapeutic Recreation community is closely knit anyways, though at times I feel that I am a little removed from it now because of my current role, I know when I was in it there were fantastic mentors and professionals in the field that I felt comfortable connecting to and brainstorming and working with through professional organizations, which I think is really important. I think all students should become involved in their professional organization and maintain those connections as a professional.  It’s very valuable for us to maintain that network so that we establish appropriate communities of practice but also having that continuous learning that comes from understanding what your colleagues are doing and how they are contributing to the field.

To read other professional profiles and and more about PLANS please visit the PLANS webpage.

 

PLANS Professional Profile: Korede Akindoju

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Written by: Nnamdi Chiekwe, Therapeutic Recreation Student
Interview with: Korede Akindoju, Physiotherapist
Korede Akindoju

Korede Akindoju

What do you do?

Currently I have two jobs, I work primarily as a Wellness Facilitator a Community Health team and I also work as a traditional physiotherapist in a private clinic with Zoomers Health.

 What is your role in your Health Profession?

As mentioned above my primary work is as a Wellness Facilitator (physiotherapy) with Community Health teams. Community Health teams offer free health and wellness programs that focus on physical health, emotional health, and diet and nutrition. In our practice we also facilitate wellness navigation, which involves helping individuals find and discover resources within their community to help improve their physical activity, housing, parenting, financial needs, and other social determinants of health.

Secondly, I work as your traditional physiotherapist with Zoomers health, which is a private practice. In this role I assist patients improve their functional ability from a physical perspective. Some things that I do in my role as physiotherapist are to perform manual therapy, demonstrate and assist with resistance exercises, and educate on functional management.

Can you share your experience(s) as a Black Health professional in your field?

One thing I’d like to share is the lack of Black faces in the room. I truly enjoy my work and I work with wonderful people, however, there is some essence of finding and having that connection with another Black person in the field. Discussions around shared experiences become significantly easier to have and relate to one another. Having a discussion with a face similar to yours allows that sense of confidence and validation in your experiences.

Secondly, being a minority in the field, allows for the opportunity to share new ideas, perspectives, and experiences of overlooked populations with coworkers. These ideas range from ideas on how to improve access for minority groups to insight on cultural competence and intelligence ideas.

Can you explain your experiences and ability to access health services? What went well?

Personally, I haven’t had many issues with accessing the health care system. However, I’ve been recently involved with community organizations that are improving access for minorities. When patients that come share their experiences and stories it is very discouraging. They discuss how the health care system has failed to provide proper care for them. Especially, it is more troubling when patients suggest they were judged by their health care provider based on sex, race, ethnicity, and disability. As health care providers, it is our duty to provide the best quality of care for people seeking our services, thus, we honestly have to do better. This experience being involved with these organizations has helped me understand the importance and necessity of providing great healthcare to our community.

What could go better?

With the community health team, one of our main focuses is discussing and introducing behaviour change. Changing your behaviour is key to improving your lifestyle. I think that with any form of medical intervention, when approaching your patient, you always want to make sure you practice non-judgmental curiosity. You’ll find that you will build rapport with your patients and provide well rounded and improved health care.

How have you found/finding community in your profession?

In the physiotherapy profession, there are a lot of opportunities to take part in different disciplines. Prior to physiotherapy school, I thought physiotherapists only worked in clinics and provide care for physical ailments. I would never have imagined I would be where I am today, working with a community health team, which provides treatment that is not necessarily considered traditional physiotherapy work (i.e. manual therapy), but more educational and physical activity-based treatment. So, there are lots of opportunities to learn and jobs that will help enhance and expand your skillset!

Social media handles:

IG: rederehab

For more information on this and other African Nova Scotian initiatives please visit the PLANS section of our website.

Conference attendance inspires young minds to keep exploring

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By: Fola Akpan, Dalhousie student, Faculty for Health Sciences, Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology

Fola is a Dalhousie student studying Kinesiology in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Through the Johnson Scholarship Foundation funding Dalhousie’s Indigenous and African Nova Scotia bursary program is designed as an initiative for Indigenous students (First Nation, Inuit, and Métis) and African Nova Scotians at Dalhousie University. The goal of the program is to enable students to attend extracurricular programing such as conferences as part of their professional development.  Fola recently attended a local conference with the support of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation, here is her experience, in her words.

Fola Akpan

Fola Akpan

In August of 2018, I attended the Canadian Society for Biomechanics Annual Conference held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Earlier that summer I had been working in the Biomechanics, Lab at Dalhousie in a Summer Researcher Position. I had attended research days and listened to postgraduate students present on the research that they conducted, but I had little understanding of the research being conducted at other universities. While moving through the conference, I was able to interact with many individuals, varying from honors undergraduate students to seasoned veterans in the field of biomechanics. It was wonderful to listen to them speak about their research, watch the various stages of learning, and to hear about the things that people were passionate about. Going in with the mindset to simply observe helped me learn about academia through many lenses, from the scientific discoveries, to how to clearly present complex information.

Overall, my experience at CBS 2018 was educational in ways that transcended the simple translation of scientific information from one person to another. I watched skillful communicators take complex ideas and simplify them into pieces that were easy for me, a person with limited knowledge, to comprehend. I learned that scientific knowledge and new discoveries are built with tiny steps and contributions that may not seem significant at the initial stages. I was inspired to be a better researcher, not only for my sake, and the scientific community, but for the ones behind me who may see a path to pursue their passions.

The global health office has more information on our diversity programs.

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