Annual Report 2018-2019 – Primary Health

Annual Report 2018-2019 (MENU):
What’s New? | Primary Health | Mental Health | Community Health | Diabetes | Aging at Home | More! | Statistics | Contact Us

 

Primary health care professionals, including doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, chiropractors and dieticians, provide care through prevention, promotion and education activities. They help clients take charge of their health in order to prevent the onset or aggravation of diseases.

Learn more about the CSCE’s primary health sector

Chronic Pain

To better equip individuals suffering from chronic pain, offer an alternative to opioids and help them better understand medication, the CSCE offered the Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Pain program for the first time this year. This six-week workshop is designed for individuals suffering from chronic pain, whether it be lower back pain resulting from a car accident, or due to arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc. Those interested in following the program can register without a referral from a health professional.

Chronic Illness

Moreover, the CSCE continued to deliver the Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions program. It too is a six-week workshop, however, it is intended for people living with a chronic disease (i.e. diabetes, heart or lung disease, arthritis or other chronic diseases) as well as for their families and caregivers.

Registration is open to all and no referral from a health professional is required.

Low Back Pain Project

Heavy demand and high customer satisfaction led to permanent funding for the Low Back Pain Project. Since the spring of 2018, this project has been an integral part of the services offered by the CSCE. By providing chiropractic services at the Cornwall and Alexandria locations, the CSCE has improved access to treatment for low-income or uninsured clients who would otherwise not be able to benefit from these services.

Learn more about the Low Back Pain Project

Why Consult a Dietitian?

Whether you are seeking professional advice on nutrition questions or need help making sense of the abundance of food-related information and beliefs, the dietitians at the CSCE can help by providing individual consultations and follow-ups free of charge for all age groups. Dietitians dispense personalized advice on healthy eating with the purpose of creating gradual and sustainable changes in eating habits and behaviours.

Learn more about the CSCE’s nutrition sector

Canada’s New Food Guide:
The Dietitians at the CSCE Can Help You Gain a Better Understanding!

Canada’s New Food Guide, last updated in January 2019, is a reference tool to help generally healthy individuals eat well. It helps you choose foods that:

  • improve your health;
  • meet your nutritional needs;
  • reduce the risk of nutrition-related diseases.

Simplified and with lots of pictures, Canada’s New Food Guide reminds us of the importance of eating plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grains and protein foods (which include the former food groups “Meat and Alternatives” and “Milk and Alternatives”). Among protein foods, plant-based proteins should be consumed more often.

Processed or prepared foods and beverages, which often contribute to excessive consumption of sodium, sugar or saturated fats, are detrimental to healthy eating. This is why they should not be consumed on a regular basis. Moreover, water should always be our beverage of choice.

The new guide also highlights several eating habits that provide the basis for a healthy balanced diet. Taking the time to enjoy our food, learning to recognize hunger or satiety, cooking more often and eating with others are just a few examples.

Nurse Practitioners at the CSCE

A nurse practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse who has completed advanced university studies and who works both independently and in collaboration with other health professionals to provide quality health care services. NPs consider the physical, emotional, mental and social aspects of their clients’ health needs.

NPs help to keep their clients, their clients’ families and communities healthy. They provide care for people of all ages, with an emphasis on disease prevention.

As a member of your health team, NPs can:

  • diagnose and treat diseases and injuries;
  • carry out health examinations;
  • request and interpret diagnostic tests;
  • provide counselling and educational information;
  • provide treatment;
  • request interventions;
  • refer clients to other health professionals and specialists;
  • prescribe medications;
  • manage chronic diseases, such as diabetes, obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, etc.

Studies related to the benefits of consulting NPs and patient experiences reveal that the NP:

  • involves the patient in decisions related to his or her care;
  • improves access to primary health care services;
  • reduces strain on the health care system;
  • is appreciated and trusted by patients;
  • ensures excellent chronic disease management (i.e. diabetes, hypertension, etc.).

Health Equity

The CSCE works continuously to advance health equity. A report drafted by the Champlain Regional Planning Table for Trans, Two-Spirited, Intersex and Gender Diverse Health Services identified significant gaps in health care, mental health services and community services. To ensure that the professionals at the CSCE provide better care and safe treatment to this population, Rainbow Health Ontario offered two training sessions on gender diversity to staff members in the spring of 2018. Physicians and nurse practitioners at the CSCE are now able to meet the primary care needs of this population.

The executive director and members of the management team also received training on Indigenous Cultural Competency (ICC). This training is the first of its kind in Ontario. The ICC online training course is designed to increase knowledge, strengthen self-awareness and develop existing skills to build a culturally safe system of care for Ontario’s Indigenous communities.

ConnectingOntario

In 2018, the CSCE implemented the ConnectingOntario clinical viewer, a secure web-based portal that provides real-time access to digital health records. This includes dispensed medications, laboratory results, hospital visits, Local Health Integration Networks’ (LHIN) Home and Community Care Services, mental health care information, as well as diagnostic imaging reports and images.

The ConnectingOntario clinical viewer, available to health care providers, provides a complete view of the client’s journey through the health care system, allowing providers to make faster and more informed care decisions.

Annual Report 2018-2019 (MENU):
What’s New? | Primary Health | Mental Health | Community Health | Diabetes | Aging at Home | More! | Statistics | Contact Us

Skip to content