Program
Speaker BIOGRAPHiEs and Session Abstracts
Dr. Mona SidhuCannabinoid Therapy in the Elderly Session Abstract
Speaker Biography Dr. Mona Sidhu currently practices Geriatric Medicine in Hamilton, through Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University. She is currently a Clinical Scholar pursuing a masters degree at McMaster University in Healthcare Administration. She completed her Internal Medicine training in North Carolina, a division of UNC Chapel Hill and later completed her Geriatric Medicine fellowship here at McMaster University. She then went on to pursue another fellowship in Geriatric Nephrology at UofT. Her research interests include pain management and she has been working with seniors to safely use cannabis to help their pain as well as improve their quality of life.
Dr. Luis VianaMindfulness for Pharmacists Mindfulness has been defined as moment to moment awareness of the everyday experience. It is an extension of reflective practice. Epstein (JAMA 1999) considered mindful practice as being present in everyday experience and open to all thoughts, actions and sensations. The mindful practitioner is aware of their own thoughts and mental processes while simultaneously being aware of the experience around them – the practitioner is aware of themselves, the patient/client and the context of the situation/interaction. Mindfulness enhances interactions with fellow health professionals, with clients/patient and facilitates better teaching. Mindfulness as a strategy to enhance the well being of health professionals, cope with practitioner stress and even help with reducing medication errors will be discussed. An exercise to introduce the practice of mindfulness will be demonstrated. Speaker BiographyLuis Viana is a clinical pharmacist with North West Telepharmacy Solutions, providing both hospital and specialized geriatric pharmacy services to facilities in Ontario. Luis was previously adjunct faculty at the School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo, where he was a course coordinator and instructor in the Advanced Geriatric Pharmacotherapy elective, and was involved with integrating geriatric content across the curriculum. Luis obtained his pharmacy degree from the University of Toronto, Master of Education degree from the Western University of Western Ontario, and Pharm D from the University of Florida. Luis is a Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist specializing in medication therapy older adults, and a past recipient of the Teva Canada Award of Excellence in Senior Care Pharmacy. | Greta Mah, RPh, BCGP
Comprehensive Care for Parkinson's Disease
82% of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) are ≥ 65 years old. It’s the fastest growing neurological disease, surpassing Alzheimer’s disease. The number of patients is projected to be doubled by 2040. As PD progresses, patients often suffer from motor fluctuation, freezing of gait and multiple non-motor symptoms such as cognitive impairment, mood problem, psychosis or orthostatic hypotension leading to falls. These complications can significantly affect patient’s function and increase caregiver stress. A study has shown 1/3 of patients with PD were admitted to the hospital in one year and about 50% were readmitted in the following year. They also had much longer length of hospital stay. Comprehensive care is vital to manage the more advanced stage of PD and to prevent hospital admission. Case discussion will be used to illustrate how to apply our specialized geriatric knowledge to provide better care to elderly patients with PD. Speaker Biography Greta Mah is the Board Certified Geriatric Pharmacist at North York General Hospital's Geriatric Clinic for Parkinson's, Geriatric Day Hospital and Coordinator of the Fanny Bernstein Living Well with Parkinson's Program. She is currently an adjunct lecturer at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto and a member of the Parkinson Canada's Medical Advisory Council. Her recent research projects include 'Emergency Department Visit Prevention through Telephone Intervention Service In A Comprehensive Geriatrics Clinic for Parkinson's' and 'Outcomes of the Inter-Professional Chronic Pain Management at a Geriatric Day Hospital'.
Dr. Chris BrymerEvidence-Based Review of the Top 300 Rx's for Ontario Seniors Learning objectives:
Speaker Biography Dr. Chris Brymer is an associate professor in the dept of medicine, division of geriatric medicine at Western University, London Ontario where he’s worked for the last 20 years, mostly attending on the medicine clinical teaching unit at university hospital, doing geriatric consults at university hospital, and running geriatric clinics at st joes hospital in london. He did med school at Univ of Toronto, and residency at Stanford. His research interests include appropriate prescribing and delirium prevention in the elderly, and presentation topics in the last year include Top Geriatric Papers, drugs in the elderly, and falls prevention in the elderly. |
