February 2022 | Issue 3
Prepared by: Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management Network at Nova Scotia Health
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Recognizing the Pressures of the COVID-19 Pandemic |
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The Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management Network recognize the pressures faced by Nova Scotia providers, teams and leaders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the Omicron variant, many teams and departments are facing staffing shortages in addition to increased service volume. There have been frequent changes, service reductions, and redeployments to support the COVID response.
Our Practice Support Program is still here to support you and your practice, and will continuously monitor and adjust program and service offerings to ensure participating providers and teams can maintain their focus on providing high-quality care to patients and families. This Newsletter focuses on new practice support resources and upcoming program options, and also includes links to resources to support mental well-being during these challenging times.
Thank you for the work you are doing and your dedication to your patients.
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NEW:
Community COVID Management Resource Index for Primary Health Care Providers
- Navigate to the “I’m working in” tab and select the "Family Practice & Primary Health Care" page
- Click on the green box titled "PHC-ABCs for Community COVID Management: Resource Index"
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REMINDER:
Post-COVID in Primary Health Care Practice Supports
The current pandemic wave has directly impacted more Nova Scotians than ever before. Some of these patients may continue to experience lingering symptoms past the infectious stage. We have resources to support you to care for your patients experiencing post-COVID symptoms.
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It is too early to know whether the Omicron variant will lead to substantial increases in the number of Nova Scotians that experience persistent, post-acute COVID symptoms compared to previous variants. As we learn more, we will keep our post-COVID practice support resources updated.
Support options available to you on demand include:
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Resource Hub: containing self-directed tools and resources for providers as well as patients.
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Post-COVID Providers Forum: an online peer learning platform that uses TimedRight for discussion and support. Providers interested in joining can complete the Post-COVID Providers Forum Request.
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Recorded Webinars: A two-part webinar series recordings are available for viewing on demand as CME-accredited self-learning modules.
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Webinar 1: Post-COVID and the System of Care in Nova Scotia
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Webinar 2: Post-COVID Treatment and Management
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Post-COVID supports are available for your patients, too!
www.MyCOVIDRecoveryNS.ca is a website with up-to-date information available for community members about managing or treating the lingering symptoms of COVID-19.
Watch this video to learn more about the website. |
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Resources to support providers and teams during COVID-19
COVID-19 Hub: The COVID-19 Hub is a resource for all employees and physicians across Nova Scotia to access clinical information to guide the care and management of COVID-19 patients, and includes other information to guide the COVID-19 response, including the latest versions of policies and guidelines.
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New Practice Support Resources and Upcoming Programs |
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Adult Mental Health
Practice Support Program
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Interactive modules for family physicians and nurse practitioners to develop the skills and confidence in diagnosing and treating patients with mild to moderate depression and anxiety. |
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Key Updates
Seventy primary care providers have completed the Adult Mental Health Practice Support Program since its launch in December 2019.
In addition to regularly scheduled programming, the Adult Mental Health Practice Support Program is currently being offered to family medicine faculty and residents at Dalhousie University as part of a research project in partnership with the Mental Health Commission of Canada.
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What's Next
Registration is open until March 16th for the fifth program cohort. This Group Learning Program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to 31.5 Mainpro+ credits. All sessions are mandatory and will be held virtually on the following dates:
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Learning Session 1: Wednesday, March 23, 2022, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm
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Learning Session 2: Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm
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Learning Session 3: Wednesday, June 15, 2022, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm
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Atlantic Mentorship Network - Pain and Addiction |
Enhancing the capacity of primary care providers to manage chronic pain and substance use disorders in primary care through collaborative education and mentorship. |
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Upcoming Events
The Safer Opioid Prescribing Program: The program beginning March 8, 2022 assists physicians, nurse practitioners and medical residents in acquiring knowledge and skills in chronic pain management and opioid
prescribing. The format consists of three live webinars and a full-day virtual workshop.
- Participant costs are: $500 Physicians, $250 Nurse Practitioners, $200 Medical Residents.
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Follow this link to register.
Alcohol Use Disorder and Benzodiazepine Virtual Workshop: Taking place on March 4, 2022 the focus of the workshop will be office-based management of Alcohol Use Disorder and the Use of Benzodiazepines. Details and registration information will be posted on www.atlanticmentorship.com on Monday, January 17, 2022.
Motivational Interview Workshop: This accredited two day in-person workshop taking place May 13 and 14, 2022 will look at how healthcare providers can work with patients to elicit and strengthen motivation to change.
- Participant costs to attend both days are: $50 Physicians & Allied Health, $25 Medical Residents and Students.
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Follow this link to register.
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Did you know an Addictions Medicine Consult Service is available to support you? |
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The Nova Scotia Health Mental Health and Addictions Program is gathering information on primary care provider awareness and experience with the Addiction Medicine Consult Service. Please take a moment to complete this brief, five-question survey. All the information is confidential and will help with future planning for the service.
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Attachment and Panel Identification in Primary Health Care: Resources are now available! |
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Attachment and Panel Identification in Primary Heath Care is a new quality initiative to support Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioners and teams to better understand their patient panels. The approach has been co-designed and tested with Nova Scotia Nurse Practitioners and will support teams to identify, monitor and maintain patient panels and support quality improvement. This will enable better, more efficient care for patients and increase provider satisfaction and work-life balance.
Check out this two-page summary, and speak to your Health Services Manager or Health Services Lead to discuss the right time to implement in your practice.
The following resources are available to support you and your team:
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Behaviour Change Counselling Development Program |
The Behaviour Change Counselling Program focuses on supports and strategies to build provider knowledge, skills and confidence to work collaboratively with patients to elicit behaviour change to improve health.
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Key Updates
Nova Scotia Health Primary Health Care staff have access to eight interactive LMS e-modules and monthly virtual workshops focusing on specific behavior change skill sets. See the updated schedule here.
Two self-directed e-modules for patients on goal setting have been created. They can also be found at www.HealthyNS.ca:
A Health Goal Coaching intervention is being implemented in 4 different Collaborative Family Practice Teams, as well as the Community Health Teams. This program provides targeted, individualized support for individuals looking to start and sustain health behaviour changes. This proof of concept project will run until early 2022. Findings will help inform next steps in terms of wider implementation.
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What's Next
Behaviour Change Counselling Development Program for Family Physicians and Nurse Practitioners to launch in early 2022. This program will be CME accredited, and include self-directed content and live virtual workshops. Stay tuned for more information and how to register in the new year!
A fulsome evaluation of the overarching Behaviour Change Counselling Development Program will be done in early 2022. This will help inform next steps in terms of program delivery, spread, and scale.
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Online Health and Wellness Resources: HealthyNS.ca |
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Comprehensive information about staying well, prevention, and living a healthy life with chronic conditions for your patients, including online wellness programs offered by Primary Health Care. Anyone with a valid Nova Scotia health card can participate in these online sessions.
The winter program schedule is now available at HealthyNS.ca.
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NEW! Online Resources for Managing Type 2 Diabetes
A new website has been developed to support individuals living with type 2 diabetes. Visit DiabetesNS.ca for more information on type 2 diabetes, management tips, accessing care, and online supports and resources.
A series of self-directed educational modules have been developed and are available for viewing on demand.
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Annual DCPNS Insulin Pump Education Day
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2022 DCPNS Insulin Pump Education Sessions
The Diabetes Care Program of Nova Scotia (DCPNS) is pleased to open registration for Insulin Pump Education Sessions. Hosted annually by DCPNS, these sessions bring together diabetes care providers from across Nova Scotia and are designed to foster networking and promote information sharing in support of quality insulin pump therapy.
This year 2 separate free virtual learning/networking sessions are being offered:
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Introductory Session: To provide participants who are less familiar with a broad overview of insulin pump initiation and management considerations. Thursday March 24, 2022 from 12:45 - 4:30pm via Zoom │ Register here before March 17, 2022.
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Main Session: To explore advanced topics relating to insulin pump therapy, with a focus on health disparities and social determinants of health. Thursday March 31, 2022 from 1:00 - 4:30pm via Zoom │ Register here before March 24, 2022.
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Looking for more?
Learn about additional practice support resources and initiatives available for you below:
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Employee and Physician Wellness Resources |
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e-Mental Health and Addictions Tools |
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Nova Scotia Health’s Mental Health and Addictions Program (MHAP), has free e-Mental Health and Addictions tools available to all Nova Scotians including health care workers and physicians. These tools include:
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Mindwell U – free online support that takes just five minutes a day, and can be accessed anywhere and on any device. This service is available in English and French.
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Therapy Assistance Online (TAO) – free and private online resource that includes interactive activities and videos for people having challenges with their mental health. This service is available in English and French.
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Gambling Support Network – online support for those experiencing gambling problems and/or harms.
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Wellness Together Canada – mental health and substance abuse support that contains free online. resources, tools, apps and connections to trained volunteers and qualified mental health professionals when needed.
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Nova Scotia Health also offers LifeSpeak, a health and wellness resource available for health care workers and physicians to maximize mental health and total well-being.
You can access LifeSpeak from any computer or mobile device:
You can also download the LifeSpeak app for free:
- CLIENT NAME: nshealth
- CLIENT PASSWORD: lifespeak
Use Microsoft Edge web browser to access this link, and not Internet Explorer. If your default browser is Internet Explorer, please copy and paste the link into Microsoft Edge or another browser.
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Staying Well in Stressful Times Webinar Series |
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Dr. Jackie Kinley, Director of the Nova Scotia Health Mental Health Day Treatment Program, offers three free webinars that explore healthy and adaptive ways to reduce stress, deal with emotions and remain connected in our personal and workplace relationships.
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The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has launched the CMA Physician Wellness Hub, a searchable collection of nearly 300 resources, tools and studies on topics such as physician burnout, depression, peer support and organizational wellness. It’s also a place for physicians, residents and medical students to connect with colleagues interested in wellness.
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Doctors Nova Scotia Professional Support Program |
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LifeWorks by Morneau Shepell is also available to members and their families affected by the events in Portapique and surrounding communities. The crisis support line is open 24-7. Call 1-844-751-2133.
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Primary Health Care and Chronic Disease Management Network, Nova Scotia Health
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