Duane Hicks
Chronic pain management and addiction prevention will be the focus of a symposium the Fort Frances Chronic Disease Network will be hosting here Sept. 18-19.
The purpose of the symposium is “to promote a healthy lifestyle and to reduce chronic pain by other means than narcotics,” said Patti-Jo LeDrew, chronic disease management co-ordinator for the Fort Frances Community Clinic/Family Health Team.
The first half of the symposium on the Friday will be split into two parts—one aimed at students; the second for health care professionals.
District students will convene at the Townshend Theatre to hear presentations by three addiction recovery speakers being brought in by the local Substance Abuse Prevention Team.
SAPT co-ordinator Hugh Dennis said the three speakers will relate their stories of the road to addiction (including pain relievers) and their paths to recovery.
“Talking about recovery is a big part of overcoming addiction,” he noted.
In addition to the speakers, LeDrew said they’ll be having many community health providers, educators, and counsellors set up booths and provide information and resources to the students as far as what’s available in our community for addiction and support, and education on the effects of addiction.
“It’s going to be a great event that day,” she enthused.
Then on the Friday evening, organizers have set up a closed meeting at the Contact North site at Confederation College here for physicians and nurse practitioners with pain specialist Dr. Jackie Gardner-Nix, who will speak about chronic pain management.
“Dr. Gardner-Nix hails from the University of Toronto, and is excited to inform our community and Northwestern Ontario physicians via tele-health of the effects of prescription pain relief, the other pain modalities available, and to announce a pain management course available now through tele-health through her organization,” LeDrew explained.
“This, in itself, is an exciting opportunity as patients in our community need referral to Thunder Bay or Winnipeg for pain management clinics and require a six-week stay to attend the programs,” she noted.
“Now this can be offered in the convenience of their own community.
“This presentation allows our local physicians a learning initiative to curb the amount of prescription pain relief orders in our community,” LeDrew added. “We are all very well aware of the oxycontin misuse, addictions, and criminal offences related to these medications.
“It is our hope to decrease these addictions and provide a safe, drug-free community,” she stressed.
LeDrew noted the Fort Frances Chronic Disease Network is extending an invitation to other Family Health Teams in Dryden, Kenora, and Atikokan to participate via tele-health.
The on the following day (Sept. 19), the public is invited to attend a free chronic pain management and addiction prevention symposium at the Townshend Theatre.
“The symposium will provide knowledge and access to area health services, counselling agencies, prevention strategies, and traditional healing and wellness opportunities,” noted LeDrew, adding many groups will be represented there.
These include the Fort Frances Family Health Team, Northwestern Health Unit, Rainy River District Substance Abuse Prevention Team, Rainy River Valley Safety Coalition, Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Authority counselling unit, the Gizhewaadiziwin Access Centre, Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc. (Valley Diabetes Education Centre, the stroke prevention program, dietitians, and physiotherapy/occupational therapy), Sunset Country Métis, and area pharmacists.
“By partnering together, it is our hope to provide the knowledge and access to services to allow our community to make informed, safe decisions for their chronic disease management, and the opportunity to decrease the effects of illicit prescription drug use in our community and surrounding area,” LeDrew explained.
“Pain management and addiction prevention, awareness, and educating ourselves about what options are open to us—that will be offered at the symposium, and I encourage everyone to come out and raise their awareness and educate themselves,” echoed Dennis.
The doors for the Saturday symposium will open at 9:30 a.m., at which time everyone is welcome to visit booths of interest which will be set up in the high school cafeteria.
“They have a chance to go to those types of booths, learn about different services that are made available in our community, and take away some great giveaways and educational handouts,” said LeDrew.
Then at 10 a.m., the symposium program will begin inside the Townshend Theatre. It will include presentations on the physiology of pain by Dee O’Sullivan, medication safety by Renate Winkler, and an “eye-opener” session with Moss Yoga.
There then will be a lunch break, at which time a free bag lunch will be provided to the first 200 people who attend.
After lunch, there will presentations by addiction recovery speakers, then the Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Authority counselling unit, and finally the keynote speaker Dr. Gardner-Nix.
“We ask people to attend the full day,” said LeDrew, adding the whole event only will run until 2 p.m. so that attendees will “still have their Saturday to enjoy.”
Admission is free.
LeDrew said the symposium has come together thanks to the support of many partners.
“The sponsorship for the program has been made available through the LHIN [Local Health Integration Network],” she noted. “They’ve sponsored us to be able to bring in Dr. Nix.
“The Substance Abuse Prevention committee has been integral in providing our addiction recovery speakers.
“We have also received some funding from Kim Metke at Pharmasave, and we’re receiving some sponsorship from the access centre and health authority counselling unit,” she added.
LeDrew said the symposium is a direct follow-up to a health symposium the Fort Frances Chronic Disease Network hosted on March 29, 2008 at the Memorial Sports Centre.
That successful event focused on chronic diseases—and those at risk of acquiring them—and also featured a variety of exhibitors and presenters who addressed issues in chronic disease management, like healthy eating, smoking cessation, exercise, and medication safety.
“It actually came about as a result of that,” LeDrew said. “We had people asking about pain management, and Dee O’Sullivan from the hospital had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Gardner-Nix at a conference and found that she would be ideal to have in our area.
“So we ran with that.”
The Fort Frances Chronic Disease Network is a group of community partners—health educators, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, substance abuse prevention educators, health promotion educators, and others—who have come together in the past two years to fill gaps in area health care.
