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SIXTH ANNUAL

MCMASTER

HEALTH

ADVOCACY

Symposium

Hamilton, Ontario
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Registration for this year's symposium is open now!

Exploring & Inspiring Health Advocacy

About

The primary aim of this symposium is to stimulate dialogue between those who will be working in health care, policy, and research towards greater equity and health outcomes for all. We also hope to support students in healthcare-related programs in their development as ‘health advocates’, one of the core CanMEDS competencies for future physicians.

 

We hope our symposium will be an opportunity to explore the skills needed for effective advocacy, ideas around why and how to advocate responsibly, various shapes and forms of health-related advocacy, and the myriad possible roles of health professionals (as care providers, administrators, researchers, policy makers, etc.) in working to enable and restore health at the individual, community, and international levels.

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Note: An IPE Exposure Credit is available for McMaster students attending this event! For more information, please visit the PIPER website.

About
Speakers

Speakers

KEYNOTES
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RITIKA GOEL​

Ritika Goel is a family physician and activist in Toronto. She works with people from various marginalized communities in Toronto. Ritika has been involved with various social justice issues such as working for access to healthcare for uninsured migrants, defending our public healthcare system, and upstream policy change on the social determinants of health. She is Chair of the Social Accountability Working Group at the College of Family Physicians of Canada, a Board Member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare and a founding member of the OHIP for All campaign. Find her on Twitter @RitikaGoelTO.

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KAI CHENG THOM

Kai Cheng Thom is a writer, performer, and community worker based in Toronto. She has over ten years of experience in the LGBTQ health and social service sector, having spent time as a therapist, community organizer, consultant, educator, and program coordinator.  Her work as a writer and advocate combines expertise in mental health with  a passion for anti-oppression, transformative justice, and grassroots approaches to health education and promotion. Kai Cheng has been published widely in a variety of online and print platforms and is the author of four award-winning books, including the novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir and the non-fiction essay collection I HOPE WE CHOOSE LOVE.

WORKSHOPS​
CODE RED: 10 YEARS LATER

Ten years ago, the Hamilton Spectator started an important discussion in Hamilton with a project we called Code Red. Using data and maps, we showed the strong connections that existed down to the neighbourhood level between people’s health and people’s wealth. The results were shocking. A decade later, we’re back with new data, asking the question: So what’s changed? The answer, sadly, is not much. Despite a decade of awareness, enthusiasm and initiatives, the gap between rich and poor in Hamilton has actually worsened.

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Steve Buist

Steve Buist is an investigative reporter and feature writer at the Hamilton Spectator. He is responsible for producing large investigative projects, such as the highly-acclaimed Code Red project, which began in 2010 and has been examining the connections between health and poverty by mapping the health of Hamiltonians down to the level of neighbourhoods. Buisthas won four National Newspaper Awards and been nominated six other times. He’s also been named the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Investigative Journalist of the Year three times and been named Ontario’s Journalist of the Year five times. In 2014, Buist was the winner of one of the world’s most prestigious cancer journalism awards as he earned the Best Cancer Reporter Award from the European School of Oncology. He has a degree in human biology, a Master’s degree in journalism and a longstanding interest in science and science journalism.

LITTLE KWE: AN INDIGENOUS PATIENT JOURNEY THROUGH HEALTHCARE

Angela Naveau, Clinic Services Manager,  De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, shares the story of Little Kwe, an Indigenous patient journey through healthcare. The story follows Little Kwe’s earliest moments of healthcare, the impacts of historical trauma, colonization, and cultural safety.

 

*we have full consent from Little Kwe and her family to share their story*

Angela Naveau

Angela is Anishnaabe Kwe, Bear Clan and a member of Mattagami First Nation in Northern Ontario. Angela began her journey with the Aboriginal Health Centre in 2004 and is dedicated to the health and well-being of the Indigenous community. Angela's passion and commitment to the individuals and families of De dwa da dehs nye>s ensures their access to quality care through partnerships, advocacy and a patient first approach. Angela is dedicated to aligning Indigenous practices and ways of knowing and being to enhance the healthcare experiences and relationships for Indigenous people.

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Elene Lam

Elene Lam holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Law, with a specialization in Human Rights. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate at McMaster University where she is researching the harms associated with anti-trafficking initiatives. Elene has been actively engaged in work related to human rights, violence against women, migration, gender, and sex work justice for more than 20 years. Elene is the Executive Director and a Founder of Butterfly. 

LATER LIFE THROUGH AN EQUITY LENS: HEALTH ADVOCACY IN GERIATRICS

In the first half of the workshop, we’ll discuss five issues in aging from an advocacy lens: 1.
poverty, 2. caring as gendered work, 3. being LGBTQ identified, 4. the “livable” city, and 5. aging
at home. In the second half, we’ll discuss an approach for organizing for change developed by
public policy scholar, Marshal Ganz. We’ll generate a hypothetical example and work through
the four-step framework: building relationships, telling stories, strategizing, and acting.

Amina Jabbar

Dr. Amina Jabbar is a Health Policy PhD student and a recently complete completed her clinical fellowship in Geriatric Medicine. With a focus on populations that have been traditionally marginalized, Amina has facilitated anti-homophobia workshops in schools and community organizations with Teens Educating and Confronting Homophobia, delivered sexual health services at Planned Parenthood Toronto, and created tools to research neighbourhood-level health issues at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health.


Amina earned a Bachelor of Social Work from Ryerson University (2007), a Masters of Science in health research methodology from McMaster University (2009) and a Doctor of Medicine from University of Toronto (2013). She is currently also serving as a board member for Progress Toronto, a non-partisan organization focused on creating a socially just and progressive city.

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ORGANIZING FOR HARM REDUCTION IN HAMILTON

The workshop will begin with an overview of Keeping Six's user led activities in the first year of its formation.  We will discuss some of the ways in which people with experience of substance use are stigmatized by the health care system and simple tips for reducing stigma and ways to positively engage professionally with

people who use drugs.  We will also discuss the ways in which health professionals have supported our work, and how they could be allies going forward. 

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Keeping Six

Keeping Six - Hamilton Harm Reduction Action League is a community-based organization that defends the rights, dignity and humanity of people who use drugs. It was formed in response to the ravages of the opioid crisis, by people who use drugs and those who love and care for them, for purposes of mutual protection and cooperation. For more information on K6 please visit keepingsix.org.

FATPHOBIA IN HEALTHCARE

Michele is here today to challenge the assumptions under-lying the current weight-centric model, promote a shift in thinking to a more patient-centered Health at Every Size model of care, leave you with tips and tools to reduce weight stigma in your practice, facilitate patient conversations around weight and engage patients and families in the adoption of healthy behaviours to achieve “best weight.”

Michele Werstuck

Michele MacDonald Werstuck is a registered dietician, Assistant Professor (Part-time) in the Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Chair of the Dietitians of Canada Primary Health Care Action Group (DC-PHCAG) and the Nutrition Coordinator for Practice and Community Development, Hamilton Family Health Team. Working with family health teams over the past 25 years has given her a wealth of experience and a passion for developing collaborative care opportunities to enhance patient self-management and improve health outcomes of vulnerable populations in primary care. From diabetes education to infant feeding, malnutrition screening to post-surgical bariatric care, gut health and mental health, she loves the variety of nutrition referrals she sees each day in family practice, the amazing primary care teams she gets to work with and the opportunity to improve health through team based care.

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CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ANTI-TRAFFICKING WORK: BUILDING CAPACITY TO BETTER SUPPORT MIGRANT SEX WORKERS

Human trafficking has received increasing international and national attention. Health care services providers are being called to participate in anti-trafficking initiatives by identifying “trafficking victims” when they provide health care services. However, anti-trafficking initiatives are often based on anti-sex work, sexist, racist and anti-migrant ideologies which increase the vulnerability of sex workers, causing harm and creating barriers for sex workers to access support and services.

 

In this workshop health professionals and students will develop a critical understanding of anti-trafficking initiatives, addressing the situation of migrant sex workers. They will come away with some of the practical information and skills necessary to offer relevant and adequate support and services to migrant sex workers and other marginalized communities.

Testimonials

Mac Health Advocacy Symposium was stimulating, engaging, and an all-around great experience! Come if you’re interested in getting involved in advocacy work and learning from people leading exciting initiatives in the area, no matter what discipline/profession you are from.

— MD Candidate, Class of 2018

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Motivating, inspiring, organized beautifully. I loved the progression of speakers; it was logical and supportive of our growth as advocates. It has allowed me to be more critical of my advocacy/activism techniques and biases.

— MD Candidate, Class of 2016

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The speakers and workshops had excellent, on-point, focused, relevant topics that were valuable. Having a wide variety of speakers with different & practical experiences gives valuable insight into how advocacy can be practiced. The food and environment/classrooms were also excellent.

— MSc (Global Health) Candidate

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It was a great opportunity to learn about exciting resources, along with meeting innovators that are bridging the gap between clinical medicine and health advocacy.

— David, MD Candidate, Class of 2018

Testimonials

Past Events

Past Events

Sponsors

KEYNOTE SPONSORS:

McMaster Medical Student Council (MMSC)
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WORKSHOP SPONSORS:

McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences
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EVENT SPONSORS:

Program for Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research (PIPER)

EVENT SUPPORTERS:

Want to see your logo featured here?
 
Check out our Sponsorship Package!
Sponsors

Accessibility

The Health Advocacy Symposium is committed to hosting an event that is accessible to people with a variety of abilities and disabilities, people of all gender identities, people with a range of dietary needs, and people of all socioeconomic statuses.

 

We welcome you to get in touch if an accessibility-related measure could support your participation in this symposium! Let us know if you’ll be bringing kids, need ASL interpretation, accessible parking, specific dietary requirements, free admission for a support person, assistance with admission fees, or any other accessibility-related measure on the eventbrite registration form or by contacting Alice Cavanagh, symposium co-chair, at alice.cavanagh[at]medportal.ca. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. We will do our best to arrange any other accessibility supports you require. The earlier you contact us, the more likely it is we will be able to meet all of your needs; please let us know before September 9, 2019.

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Note: The ChromeVox extension can be used as a screen reader with this website in the Google Chrome browser.

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Venue

Please see the map below for the event location. There is accessible parking on the north side of the building, an entrance with power-assisted doors, and an elevator up to the symposium area.

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David Braley Health Sciences Centre

100 Main St W

Hamilton, ON L8P 1H6

 

Accessibility for deaf and hard-of-hearing participants

If you require ASL interpretation to participate in the workshops or question and answer period of the keynote presentations, please email us before September 9, 2019 and we will do our best to arrange this.

 

Low-Scent Event

To provide a chemical and fragrance free event for people with multiple chemical sensitivities, we request that participants refrain from using colognes, perfumes, or scented body care products before or during the event. Please wear something that has had limited exposure to the items above, as well as chemical based and scented laundry detergents or fabric softeners. Finally, please limit exposure of other attendees to scents associated with smoking by washing your hands after smoking and wearing clothing that have limited exposure to smoke. If you’d like more resources to learn about how to go low-scent or scent free, you can check out this helpful link: http://www.peggymunson.com/mcs/fragrancefree.html.

 

We request that participants do their best to respect others’ pronouns — for information on what pronouns are and how to make sure we’re all using the right pronouns for other people, check out this link: http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/pronoun-etiquette/.

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Accessibility
Map
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