CAMH’s Tobacco Control Projects go North!

CAMH’s tobacco control projects, which are based out of the satellite offices at 175 College Street, recently made the trip to “the Paris of the North” (Sudbury, ON) among other northern destinations, to provide smoking cessation workshops for both healthcare practitioners and clients living in Northern Ontario.

Local partners, including the PEHP regional offices, welcomed staff from STOP on the Road, the Training Enhancement in Applied Counselling and Health (TEACH) Project and the CAN-ADAPTT network to Sudbury, North Bay, Sturgeon Falls and Thunder Bay from June 21-25 to provide workshops and educational trainings.

Staff and faculty of the TEACH Project at the Big Nickel in Sudbury, ON. From L-R, Stephanie Sliekers (Education Associate, TEACH), Dr. Marilyn Herie (Director, TEACH and Advanced Practice Clinician, Concurrent Disorders), Dr. Peter Selby (Executive Director, TEACH and Clinical Director, Addictions Program), Alexandra Andric (Nurse, Nicotine Dependence Clinic) and Rosa Dragonetti (Manager, TEACH and Nicotine Dependence Clinic).

One hundred health practitioners travelled from as far as Kenora, Red Lake, and Moosonee to obtain knowledge and skills in offering intensive interventions with clients who use tobacco. TEACH staff welcomed two guest faculty from the Sudbury area, who enriched the training by sharing a local perspective on smoking cessation: Richard San Cartier, a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner working at the North Shore Tribal Council; and Dr. Amanda Hey, the Regional Primary Care Lead and Clinical Lead, Preventive Oncology and Screening at the North East Regional Cancer Program.

“At the wickedly fast pace of our modern lives, time has become an increasingly valuable and scarce resource. What I’ve appreciated more than anything else about the TEACH program is its appreciation of how valuable my time is.” The level of expertise is exemplary, the organization of the sessions flawless, and the knowledge imparted priceless. I can’t begin to express appreciation for the help TEACH has been for me, and for those I counsel,” said participant Richard Kokovai, BA, BPA.

Staff from the CAN-ADAPTT network were also attended to disseminate information to health practitioners on the development of Canadian smoking cessation guidelines. More information on the guidelines, and instructions on how to sign up for the discussion forum, can be found at www.can-adaptt.net.

While TEACH trainings continue to build local capacity through health education, STOP on the Road’s objective is to partner with local Public Health Units and Community Health Centres to offer workshops for adult, daily smokers who live in Ontario and are interested in quitting smoking. In this trip to Sudbury and North Bay, STOP on the Road, in collaboration with the Sudbury and District Health Unit and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit offered five workshops in English. Two Francophone workshops were offered, made possible through new partnerships with the Centre de santé communautaire du Grand Sudbury and the West Nipissing Community Health Centre/ Centre de santé communautaire de Nipissing Ouest.

Faculty members of the TEACH Certificate Program in Sudbury. The program was, held at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s East Campus, and broadcast to the West Campus from June 21-25, 2010. From left-right Dr. Amanda Hey (Regional Primary Care Lead and Clinical Lead, Preventive Oncology and Screening at the North East Regional Cancer Program in Sudbury), Dr. Peter Selby (Clinical Director, CAMH Addictions Program and Executive Director, TEACH) and Dr. Charl Els (Addiction Psychiatrist, University of Alberta).

In addition to high participant interest and enrolment for these workshops and trainings, STOP and TEACH workshops also attracted much attention from local media. The Sudbury Star, which has the largest newspaper circulation (paid) in northeastern Ontario, published an article on page 3 of Monday June 21^st’s newspaper.

A special thank you to the CAMH regional program consultants, Gilles Brideau in
Sudbury, Kim Karioja in Thunder Bay and Michelle Ott in Kenora, whose local expertise helped the workshops to run as smoothly as possible. The fall of 2010 will see the TEACH Project travel to Ottawa to offer the Certificate Program in collaboration with the University of Ottawa. For more information on any of the tobacco control projects at CAMH, please e-mail us at teach@camh.net.

TEACH is a continuing education project that offers training in intensive smoking cessation counselling. The TEACH Project collaborated with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine to offer their accredited Certificate Program on location in Sudbury, and via videoconference to Thunder Bay.