To improve care outcomes for Indigenous patients, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) has Indigenous Care Coordinators (ICC) available on site as part of the Miskwaa Biidaaban team. The ICCs are responsible for providing a range of health and mental health navigation, advocacy, and support services to Indigenous Peoples while an inpatient at TBRHSC.

The ICC program includes ICCs on site to support culturally safe, and quality care for Indigenous Peoples during their hospital stay. To be connected with an ICC, please ask your health care provider at anytime during admission.

For more information on ICC services, please refer to the video (below) or visit our website at https://bit.ly/Indigenous-Care-Coordinators-TBRHSC

(Via the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation)

---

Jennifer Miller has been thinking about hot air balloons lately. Actually, she’s been thinking about them for nine years now. That’s when she first heard about the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Five hundred balloons take off together into the skies over New Mexico.

“It sounded so exciting!” Jennifer said. “I imagined slowly rising up with all these other balloons, seeing more and more of the world below.”

As she will tell attendees at this year’s Tbaytel Luncheon of Hope at the Superior Inn on October 4, she had to put her balloon trip on hold. It was just after she had been diagnosed with breast cancer a third time – Stage 4, spreading to her bones.

From that moment until today, Jennifer has felt like she’s living in the unknown. At first, she waited for someone to tell her she could now relax. An undiagnosed heart issue revealed itself during chemotherapy, so doctors switched her to radiation and hormone therapy, and then started treatment for her heart. Despite all the treatments, her prognosis kept getting worse.

Once Jennifer finished her treatments, her healthcare team told her to call when she started experiencing pain. Until then, they said, go home and be with your family.

“I had two young children at the time. Sara was 4 and Shaun was 2,” Jennifer said. “I would wonder, what will happen to them? My husband was my rock through it all. I had to prepare to leave them, and it was heartbreaking.”

Sara was there helping Mom every step of the way including talking over the intercom during Jennifer’s radiation treatments.

Facing the unknown and the extreme side effects of cancer treatments weren’t the only challenges.

“The waiting is one of the worst parts of cancer,” she said. “Waiting for mammography results. Waiting for biopsy results. Waiting for two breast surgeries. Waiting on results after those surgeries. Your mind goes to dark places with all that waiting.”

That was eight years ago. Although nobody knows why, Jennifer is still here.

“We celebrated Christmas that year like it was our last one. And then the next one like it was our last one. At some point we said, ‘What’s going on here?’

“Over time, the question changed from, ‘When am I going to die?’ to ‘What can I do today?'”

She also stopped waiting. Jennifer opened herself up to new things such as Tai Chi, sewing, pottery, and a type of visual art called fluid art. She loved the randomness of the patterns, how you could see what you wanted to see in those patterns – and how it represented her cancer journey.

“Maybe what drew me to this artform was the fact that it embodies all my changing beliefs. Life is fluid. Life is abstract, allowing you to find your own meanings. And although you can set up the paints on the canvas just so, a lot of the beauty is left to chance.”

This past August, Jennifer and her family drove her daughter down to southern Ontario for college. They took a beautiful family picture – and hope against hope, Jennifer was in it. And that balloon ride? She’ll reveal a little secret about that at the Tbaytel Luncheon of Hope on Friday, October 4.

Find out more about the Tbaytel Luncheon of Hope, how to get tickets and details on the art auction at: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/luncheon

(Via the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation)

---

We’ve all felt stress in our lives. Maybe we’ll comfort ourselves with a Camomile tea or get a hug from a loved one. But for people experiencing an acute mental health event, those feelings can be overwhelming to the point of hospitalization. To make matters worse, the very things that might bring comfort can become unsafe for themselves or others.

But thanks to a great idea and your donations to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation Family CARE Grant program, you’re helping bring comfort and mindfulness to people when they need it most.

“Opportunities for mindfulness are important for relaxation,” said Donna Ross, a therapeutic recreationist in Adult Mental Health Services’ Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. “For example, if you’re playing with a fidget toy, your mind is focused on that, not what’s happening in the outside world.”

Ross along with Dr. Kristine Knauff, who is a psychologist with Adult Mental Health, and others within the unit put together a list of items that could safely bring comfort and distraction to patients.

“Sensory tools help people get those restless feelings out in a way that’s safe,” Knauff said. “Distraction can also help alleviate the stress that comes with those feelings.”

Thanks to a Family CARE Grant, the team purchased several materials including a mini-library of books, fidget toys such as stress balls and fidget spinners, jigsaw and mind puzzles including Rubik’s cubes, stuffed animals, playing cards, and wireless radios for music. All items were added to the list in consultation with staff and patients, and were vetted to ensure safety.

The items represent a wide range of sensory tools including tactile, mental, and aural (listening) stimulation. Not only does this long list help ensure the unit will have the right object for the person, the element of choice can be therapeutic and empowering in itself.

“Giving choices is always very important,” Ross said.

“Providing a variety of choices also helps people remember the things that have helped them in the past,” Knauff added. “We’re more likely to have something that’s familiar to them and therefore comforting, rather than trying to introduce new ideas to people who are already experiencing intense stress and emotions.”

This patient-centred approach to psychiatric care follows the Safewards model of care designed for acute mental health inpatient settings. Safewards promotes interventions that help calm patients through positive actions including through the use of sensory tools. The goal is to provide immediate help to patients in crisis by meeting them at their level, calming them in a safe space, and providing them with stimulation to keep their minds active and off the stressors that triggered the crisis.

“Sometimes the simple act of offering them an item makes them feel cared for,” Ross said. “That human connection – reaching out to a person in need – can be huge.”

Funding for sensory items is one of the many ways your donations to the Family CARE Grant program supports patients at our Hospital. Every day, you help fund less expensive projects suggested by staff that can make a huge difference to patients and family members. To find out how you can donate to the Family CARE Grant program or to read about other great projects like this, please visit: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/familycare

Shared on behalf of Quality and Risk Management

---

Please aware that a bear was sighted on property on the morning of September 22 near G North Staff parking. Please be mindful of your surroundings and remain on high alert while travelling within the Hospital perimeter areas, especially near garbage cans. 

Should a bear be seen, Security will have a guard attend the nearest exit to inform staff and visitors of the sighting, and offer escorts as required. In situations of immediate danger, please call 9-1-1.

While black bears are generally shy by nature and tend to avoid human contact (attacks are extremely rare), we still ask that staff, patients and visitors follow these precautions to stay safe:

• If possible, arrange to walk in pairs or groups while traveling from building to building or to a parking lot;
• Be aware of your surroundings and take an alternative door if you witness a bear at  the Hospital access points;
• Do not approach a bear;
• Contact Security by calling 684-6509 if you should witness a bear on property; and
• Familiarize yourself with what to do if you should encounter a bear at: https://www.ontario.ca/page/prevent-bear-encounters-bear-wise

Thank you for your cooperation.

Clear your Junk/Trash folder

• Does not auto deleted.
• Keep your folders clean by going to Setting > General > Storage and selecting Empty on both the “Deleted Items” and “Junk Email” folders.

Recurring Meetings

• Schedule end dates on recurring meetings.
• To change an entire series of meetings, cancel the original meeting and create a new one.
• To change one instance, cancel just that meeting and create a new one to replace it.
• Avoid frequent changes.

Tasks

• Go to the To Do section on the navigation panel, enter a name for the task in the “Add a task” field, then select Add.
• The task will then be added to your “To Do” list.
• You can also share lists with others!

Drop-In WebEx Training Sessions

• September 25
• Join the below Webex Meeting anytime you are free between 9:00am-3:30pm
• Webex link: https://thunderbayhospitals.webex.com/thunderbayhospitals/j.php?MTID=m4453b0295f7ea4a872da9b78493e6ecd

On November 13th, the Screen for Life Coach will be parked at our Hospital to provide cancer screening services to our staff, professional staff, learners and volunteers.

The Coach offers:

Breast screening: Most women, Two-Spirit, trans and nonbinary people, ages 50 to 74 years, should have mammogram every two years.

Cervical screening: Anyone with a cervix aged 25 to 69, who has ever been sexually active, should complete a Pap test every three years.

Colon screening: People aged 50 to 74 with no first-degree family history of colon cancer should complete a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) every two years.

Services can be accessed without a referral and are available even if you have a primary care provider.
If you’re due for breast, cervical or colon cancer screening, call (807) 684-7777 to book your appointment.

Shared on behalf of Kristi Judge, Facility Planner

---

The Spirit Garden, the courtyard between Units 1A and 1B, will be closed from Monday, September 23 to Friday, October 4, to facilitate landscaping work in the space. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Kristi Judge in Capital Planning by calling extension 7031 or via email at kristi.judge@tbh.net.

The iCare Impact Awards program is open to all employees, professional staff, Patient Family Advisors, and volunteers of Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute. It provides a forum for peer-to-peer recognition of positive impacts on our patients and their families. 

Nominate now for 2024 to recognize a peer and for a chance to win exciting monthly participation prizes! https://icare-awards.tbrhsc.net/