What Does Your Daddy Do? Shows Kids the Cool Side of the Trades
Boston, October 5, 2022 — Career training opportunities and certifications offered in high school may not come soon enough for some students, posits Joshua Page, an electrician and author of the engaging new children’s book, What Does Your Daddy Do?
“For about the last five or six years, I was being asked to go to career days at high schools and speak about becoming an electrician,” Page said in a recent interview. “But I didn’t think I was making a big enough impact. I thought those kids were a little too old; they had already made up their minds; maybe they’re going to college.”
A children’s book seemed like the ideal way to reach an elementary school-aged audience.
What Does Your Daddy Do? introduces young readers to Ashton, whose fifth grade class is having career week. Ashton isn’t sure exactly what his dad does, so he goes home and asks him. Ashton then gets to learn about all the cool work his dad does as an electrician and all the interesting tools he gets to use. As career week continues, all the students get to share stories about what their parents do.
“I wrote this book to plant a seed in a younger generation’s mind about how ‘cool’ the trades are and to start the conversation young,” Page added.
About the Author
Joshua Page is a husband, father, electrician, entrepreneur and TEDx Speaker. With the release of his first book, What Does Your Daddy Do?, Page has also added “author” to his many titles.
An electrician by trade, Page is passionate about informing the younger generation of all the career options they have in addition to college. Page believes that choosing a trade and working with his hands saved his life and allowed him to have the life he loves. As a father of two, his mission is to teach his children and their generation about how fulfilling a career in the trades can be and to encourage them to follow their own path in life.
Launch of first-ever Canadian youth mental health platform will transform research and treatments
MONTREAL, Oct. 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A pioneering youth mental health project will enhance Canada’s overall understanding of youth mental health needs and advance new assessment and treatment approaches. Each year, one of out every four youth in Canada needs mental health services, making an initiative such as this urgent and critical for the well-being of our young people. The “Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight (CYMHI) Platform” powered by RBC Future Launch, will use open data, machine learning and other methods to improve communication between youth and families, researchers, clinicians and other service providers with diverse mental health experiences and specializations.
A specialized research team has been awarded a $5.13-million grant to create this platform to optimize mental health with and for youth across Canada. Generous funding has been provided from RBC Future Launch, Power Corporation of Canada, and the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada, through Health Canada, and Brain Canada.
Led by Dr. Sean Hill, Director of the Krembil Centre of Neuroinformatics, and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the team brings together diverse organizations across the country including academic institutions, community-based mental health services, hospitals, and youth and family advisories from Foundry, Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario, and other integrated youth services.
The Insight platform will provide an interactive web portal for youth, family members, clinicians, service providers, researchers, and policy makers to access shared data, analytics, and AI tools for optimizing mental health care. The portal will enable users to find data and connect insights from community and school prevention programs, youth mental health services, and clinical research studies. The portal will also provide access to AI-based services to help users navigate mental health services, personalized tools for monitoring mental health, identifying risks, and recommending services, and an interactive atlas of youth mental health service demand and availability to guide service providers and policymakers.
“Through this project, we are providing a state-of-the-art informatics platform that serves as a foundation to improve mental health for, and importantly, with youth across the country,” notes Hill. “It will facilitate high impact research and the development of youth mental health approaches that would otherwise not be possible.”
“The CYMHI is a fantastic development to empower youth and youth-involved initiatives to take ownership in paving the way for future mental health service implementation,” says Suchayte Bali, Youth Engagement Coordinator at Foundry. “At a grassroots level, this can allow for many youth-led not-for-profit organizations to garner an understanding for which supports are needed in their communities, now backed by machine learning data from across Canada.”
“Right now, 9 out of 10 provinces are funding services with research components, British Columbia can’t learn from New Brunswick, and Ontario is missing evidence from Saskatchewan and so on,” says CYMHI leadership team member Steve Mathias, Executive Director at Providence Health Care and leader of Foundry, a British Columbia network of centres that offer young people health and wellness resources, services and supports both in person and virtually. “It is about bringing everyone together to share and exchange what we are living, and learning.”
Mental illness disproportionately affects young people between the ages of 15 and 29 worldwide. It accounts for approximately half of the overall burden of disease in this age group, making it the leading cause of disability in Canada.
“More than ever, brain research is critical in helping us, as a community, recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its effects on the brain and our mental health,” says Dr. Viviane Poupon, Brain Canada President, and CEO. “We must invest in projects like these that will lead to concrete impacts on brain health for youth in Canada.”
“The stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have disproportionally impacted the mental health of young people in Canada. With so many children and youth still struggling, it is essential that we accelerate our efforts to ensure that young people have access to appropriate supports when and where they need them,” says The Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health. “This ground-breaking mental health platform will continue to improve youth mental health services by listening to youth in order to base our response on a much better understanding of youth priorities, needs and treatment approaches.”
“It’s important to us that youth across Canada have the best opportunities to thrive and reach their fullest potential,” says Mark Beckles, Vice-President, Social Impact and Innovation, RBC. “Through our partnership with Brain Canada, we’re focused on increasing and accelerating access to services for youth who are facing mental health concerns, while facilitating digital solutions for practitioners and researchers.”
“At Power Corporation we recognize how critical it is to strengthen access to mental health services and supports for young Canadians and their families, wherever they live. We are proud to be able to support the Canadian Youth Mental Health Insight (CYMHI) Platform. This advanced digital platform and pan-Canadian partnership between researchers and practitioners promises to fill gaps in support and ultimately enhance the quality of youth mental health care in every region of the country,” says Paul Genest, Senior Vice President, Power Corporation of Canada.
This project was awarded funding through the 2021 open call for applications to the Brain Canada Youth Mental Health Platform, powered by RBC Future Launch, with generous support from Power Corporation of Canada.
Funding for the Brain Canada Youth Mental Health Platform has been made possible by the Canada Brain Research Fund (CBRF), an innovative arrangement between the Government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada Foundation.
From Making Mistakes to Making It Big: The Pitch Queen Unveils Imperfect Journey to the Top
Brooklyn, NY, Oct. 5, 2022 — Precious Williams is a self-described “full-figured diva from St. Louis” who admits she made every mistake in the book before making it big as a bestselling author and CEO of Perfect Pitches By Precious. Today, she shares the power of creating the perfect pitch with audiences that number in the thousands, but she climbed a higher mountain than most people realize to get there.
“You can make every mistake in the world. You can fail a lot of times and still wind up on top because persistence beats resistance,” Williams said in a recent interview. “There’s no way I should be where I am today.”
As recently as 2018, Williams was living in a women’s center in New York City, battling depression and addiction. She shares her profound transformation — and her empowering philosophy — in her latest book, The Pitch Queen: A Woman’s Journey From Poverty To Purpose & Profits. In it, she paves the way for others who are struggling by proving there is power in embracing one’s authentic self — flaws and all.
“My journey has been about showing others how to give birth to their next beautiful now, right now,” Williams said. “I want you to take the things that people say are your flaws and make them your secret weapons.”
In ThePitch Queen, Williams takes readers inside the biggest challenges of her life, revealing that she once dated a former drug kingpin, battled with her sexuality, lost her mind, got evicted twice and was kicked out of law school. She refused to give up, and she rebuilt her business empire with the very bricks that once blocked her path.
Key takeaways from ThePitch Queen include:
-The importance of resilience and how to overcome adversity
- How to develop a winning mindset
-The power of focus and consistency
- How to take control of your life and create the future you want
“The Pitch Queen is more than just a story; it’s a call to action,” Williams said. “It's time for you to take control of your life and create the future you want.”
About the Author
Precious L. Williams is a 13-time national elevator pitch champion. She has also been featured on Shark Tank, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence and the movie LEAP. Her current clients include Microsoft, LinkedIn, Google, NBCUniversal, Federal Reserve Bank, Intuit QuickBooks, Yelp, Harvard University and more. Williams is an international professional speaker, corporate trainer and bestselling author. Her other books include Pitching for Profit and Bad Bitches and Power Pitches.
The Happy Clam Treads New Waters in Search of Harmonious Life
Boston, October 5, 2022 — Like clams finding nourishment from filter feeding, Rosemary Schmidt derives strength from taking in the bits and bytes of information swirling all around her and weaving it into a cohesive mosaic. Putting thoughts and ideas into a logical sequence that tells a story helps her make sense of a sometimes senseless world.
“It’s as satisfying as kneading and shaping a bread dough,” she writes in the introduction to her latest book, The Happy Clam. “It’s both an itch and a need. What’s inside needs to be put in order.”
The Happy Clam is a direct reflection of how Schmidt approaches life — by using the parts and pieces to form a cohesive whole. And it’s in that wholeness where harmony is possible, Schmidt posits.
Weaving research from the fields of sociology, psychology and neurology with deeply personal, relatable anecdotes, Schmidt contemplates what brings people joy, how change happens and what makes people tick.
The first half of the book lays the groundwork, ruminating on the benefits of being happier and why it is a worthwhile goal, and the myriad subtle but deliberate changes people can make to move the needle a tick or two.
The second half pivots to a more narrative style, as Schmidt shares stories related to her time as a supervisor, the sudden loss of her sister, and her mother’s gradual decline and eventual passing. In its final chapters, the book takes a more philosophical and theological turn, getting at the heart of human relationships and how to make change happen.
“Without telling you what to do, The Happy Clam offers a roadmap and allows you to chart your own course,” Schmidt adds. “It will make you think and leave you smiling.”
About the Author
Rosemary A. Schmidt is a Boston-area author, blogger and geologist. She published her first book, Go Forward, Support! The Rugby of Life, in 2003, which explores life lessons drawn from the sport of rugby.
Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the University of Dayton and a Master of Science in geology from the University of Illinois. She works as a professional geologist. Originally from the Chicago area, Schmidt now resides near Boston with her spouse, Susan.
Visit her blog at www.happyclam.net, or follow her on Twitter at @GainlineRS.
The Happy Clam
Publisher: Gainline Press
ISBN-10: 0970852827
ISBN-13: 978-0970852823
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com, and many other online sellers and independent bookstores
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What Does Your Daddy Do? Shows Kids the Cool Side of the Trades
Boston, October 5, 2022 — Career training opportunities and certifications offered in high school may not come soon enough for some students, posits Joshua Page, an electrician and author of the engaging new children’s book, What Does Your Daddy Do?
“For about the last five or six years, I was being asked to go to career days at high schools and speak about becoming an electrician,” Page said in a recent interview. “But I didn’t think I was making a big enough impact. I thought those kids were a little too old; they had already made up their minds; maybe they’re going to college.”
A children’s book seemed like the ideal way to reach an elementary school-aged audience.
What Does Your Daddy Do? introduces young readers to Ashton, whose fifth grade class is having career week. Ashton isn’t sure exactly what his dad does, so he goes home and asks him. Ashton then gets to learn about all the cool work his dad does as an electrician and all the interesting tools he gets to use. As career week continues, all the students get to share stories about what their parents do.
“I wrote this book to plant a seed in a younger generation’s mind about how ‘cool’ the trades are and to start the conversation young,” Page added.
About the Author
Joshua Page is a husband, father, electrician, entrepreneur and TEDx Speaker. With the release of his first book, What Does Your Daddy Do?, Page has also added “author” to his many titles.
An electrician by trade, Page is passionate about informing the younger generation of all the career options they have in addition to college. Page believes that choosing a trade and working with his hands saved his life and allowed him to have the life he loves. As a father of two, his mission is to teach his children and their generation about how fulfilling a career in the trades can be and to encourage them to follow their own path in life.
New York, NY, October 5, 2022 — Social media, cell phone cameras and video conferencing apps like Zoom and Teams drove a significant uptick in facial plastic surgeries over the past couple of years. Now, the trend is pivoting back to the body, says top New York City plastic surgeon Dr. Richard Westreich.
“Body contouring is surging and in demand,” said Dr. Westreich. “Now that we're getting a level of normalcy, the boom from Zoom is switching back to focusing on the body.”
Also on trend? Bundling more than one procedure in one surgical appointment — liposuction and rhinoplasty, for example. This approach can save money and time for cosmetic surgery patients.
Whatever procedure a person is considering, due diligence is the best defense against potential post-op problems, Dr. Westreich cautioned.
“My best advice to people is to go back to the mindset before the Zoom boom,” he said, explaining that virtual consults have streamlined the process and tightened the timeline between concept and completion. “Don’t rush into something just because it’s easy or convenient.”
Popular procedures include breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery and facelifts. Less invasive procedures like Botox injections are skyrocketing.
If you’re considering any cosmetic procedure, these safety tips from Dr. Westreich can improve your chances of a better outcome:
Tip 1: Make sure any doctor you schedule through a virtual visit allows you to cancel AFTER an in-person meeting for surgery. There is no substitute for face to face.
Tip 2: Your health doesn’t belong in the bargain bin.
Tip 3: Medical tourism can be dangerous. Laws may differ; regulations may differ; problems with after care may arise.
Tip 4: Understand informed consent. Ask for examples of not only the good outcomes but also the potential bad ones. Ask for data specific to the procedure and the doctor performing it (complication rates, death rates).
Tip 5: Surgery belongs in accredited operating rooms. Ask to see accreditation certificate (AAA, AAAA, JCAHO).
Tip 6: Make sure the board certification of a doctor makes sense for the procedure they are performing.
Tip 7: If significant issues arise after a procedure (surgery or office injection), seek a second opinion on management.
More on Dr. Richard Westreich
Dr. Richard Westreich graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Biological Basis of Behavior, Neuroscience concentration in 1995 from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his medical school training at the New York University School of Medicine in 1999 with an M.D. and Honors in Cell Biology Research. Dr. Westreich then did his post-graduate training in Facial Plastic Surgery and Otolaryngology at the prestigious Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
He has been selected multiple times by Castle Connolly and New York magazine as one of the top doctors in facial plastic surgery. He is an assistant professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and is on staff at Lenox Hill and Mount Sinai Hospitals. He is a faculty member and teacher at a fellowship in Facial Plastic Surgery at Mount Sinai. His private practice is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where he specializes in rhinoplasty, septoplasty, secondary and reconstructive rhinoplasty, facelifts, eyelid surgery and nonsurgical procedures.
He can be seen regularly on several national news programs, including ABC, CBS, FOX and Newsmax.
Dr. Westreich is also an accomplished artist and musician. His band, Big Rich Energy, is currently touring, making limited stops across New York City. For more information on his band: https://bigrichenergy.com/.
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How to Bridge the Gap From College to Career: New Book Maps The Next Great Step
New York, October 5, 2022 — Job openings are near record highs, and unemployment is close to a generational low. But recent college grads face their own unique challenges. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released data that the jobless rate for those ages 22 to 27 with a bachelor’s degree has surpassed the national average every month since January 2021. What does this mean for parents of new grads? What can these young adults do to prove their worth to prospective employers? And will they ever make enough money to move out of the house?
The competition for finding a job after college can be fierce, but career coach and former Fortune 500 consultant Beth Hendler-Grunt says there is reason to be hopeful.
Her new book, The Next Great Step: The Parents' Guide to Launching Your New Grad Into a Career, provides a proven, step-by-step approach for successfully guiding young adults through the transition from college to career.
Filled with tips, job aids and insightful stories, The Next Great Step addresses everything from how parents can help their young adults get “unstuck” and navigate the hiring process, to how students and grads can stand out from the rest of the graduating class. Hendler-Grunt shares the secrets of how to “network” the right way and excel in interviews, and how parents can offer solid career advice to their grad.
“Navigating the post-college job world is all about developing and implementing the right strategies,” Hendler-Grunt said. “This book is required reading for families looking to navigate a changing world from college-to-career. Companies need new grads. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots.”
About the Author
Beth Hendler-Grunt is the founder and president of Next Great Step. She is a dynamic leader, advisor and facilitator who has extensive experience consulting with startups, Fortune 500 firms, universities and individuals. She founded Next Great Step with the sole focus of guiding college students and recent grads to help them land the job they deserve. Hendler-Grunt leverages techniques and insights from hiring managers and CEOs and brings those secrets to students to help them stand out and get the job. She has enabled hundreds of clients to achieve success, with 90% of her clients landing the job of their choice. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, SiriusXM radio, Kiplinger, CNN, Fortune and many other media outlets. She is also the mom of a recent college grad and college sophomore … so she gets it.
For more information, please visit www.nextgreatstep.com, or follow the author on TikTok (next_great_step), Instagram (next_great_step), Facebook (nextgreatstep) or LinkedIn (bethhendlergrunt).
The Next Great Step: The Parents' Guide to Launching Your New Grad Into a Career
Publisher: Merack Publishing
Release Date: September 20, 2022
978-1-957048-13-0 (Paperback)
978-1-957048-14-7 (eBook)
978-1-957048-15-4 (Hardcover)
Available from Amazon.com, BN.com and many other online retailers
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Finding Solutions: New Interactive Tool for Families and Friends of a Loved One Living with a Mental Health Disorder
QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 3, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - A diagnosis of mental illness in the family can have the effect of a tsunami; all members can be seriously affected. Every year, in the face of the unknown, many families do not know how to react, seek help, or find resources. To counter this, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network is launching an innovative tool to help them.
Behind every face, a story... In front of every person, a solution!
The Réseau Avant de Craquer network is there to help anyone—a parent, a child, a brother, a sister, a spouse or a friend—who has a loved one living with a mental health disorder—find personalized solutions in one of its 49 associations in Quebec. As part of Mental Illness Awareness Week, from October 2 to 8, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network reminds us that there is a solution for everyone. Every family member or friend of a loved one living with a mental health disorder:
Will react differently
Has a unique background
Must face their own challenges
Must take care of their own mental health
Must discover solutions adapted to their own situation
Through an interactive online journey and the inspiring stories told by Olivia, Christiane, Jade, and Martin, family members and friends can better understand mental illness and the solutions offered by the associations of the Réseau Avant de Craquer network. The Finding Solutions tool includes:
Four powerful testimonies affected family members and friends can relate to
Twelve information capsules with two experts from the Réseau Avant de Craquer network to learn how to better react
One complete resource bank with 36 practical tools
One hour of videos and resources to better understand mental illness
Quotes:
"As people close to someone living with a mental illness, we all have different ways of coping with their challenges. In my case, I needed to feel useful for my mother. But how can you help someone who sometimes refuses to be helped? It's really hard to tailor our support to their needs and our ability to manage the pressure of a difficult situation. Don't hesitate to reach out. The Réseau Avant de Craquer network can help you see things more clearly. The solutions are right in front of you!" — Jean-Philippe Dion, Réseau Avant de Craquer network spokesperson.
"With the interactive Finding Solutions tool, we want to send a strong signal to family members and friends of a loved one living with a mental health disorder that there are possible and positive solutions. Specialized resources and qualified workers can help them find personalized solutions. The mission of our 49 associations located throughout Quebec is to provide support to family members and friends who are helping a loved one living with a mental illness while making sure they don't forget their own needs."— René Cloutier, Executive Director, Réseau Avant de Craquer.
Active for 37 years, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network brings together 49 associations located throughout Quebec. Its mission is to provide support to family members and friends of a loved one living with a mental illness by offering a range of free services, including psychosocial support, information, training, self-help groups, and respite care. With its unique expertise, the Réseau Avant de Craquer network remains the only group in Quebec exclusively dedicated to family members and friends of a loved one living with a mental illness. Its member associations support more than 20,000 affected family members and friends.
SOURCE Réseau Avant de Craquer
Whirlpool Brand and Magnusmode Collaborate to Assist Autistic and Neurodiverse Canadians Navigate Home-based Skills
Whirlpool brand and Magnusmode announce collaboration during Autism Acceptance Month, launching 10 Home Care digital guides, making domestic activities more accessible for autistic and neurodiverse people.
TORONTO, Oct. 3, 2022 /CNW/ - Today, Whirlpool brand announces collaboration with Magnusmode®, a social enterprise leveraging technology to help autistic and neurodiverse people gain independence in their daily lives. To help make everyday chores around the home more accessible, Whirlpool brand and Magnusmode are launching 10 new Home Care digital guides ('Card Decks') in Magnusmode's app, MagnusCards®.
MagnusCards is a life skills library that provides step-by-step instructions and visual cues for everyday tasks and experiences with collectible Card Decks. Using proven educational methods, every Card Deck is carefully crafted as a how-to guide for day-to-day tasks like brushing teeth, taking public transit, going grocery shopping, personal care, and much more. Whirlpool brand's new Card Decks will be the first in the app's 'Home Care' category.
"We are thrilled to collaborate with Whirlpool brand to provide Home Care Card Decks for autistic and neurodiverse Canadians," says Nadia Hamilton, Founder and President of Magnusmode. "Having support for daily living activities removes barriers to independence in the home, and empowers people to care for their personal space, their family, and themselves."
As the pandemic exacerbated the need for virtual care for home-based skills, Magnusmode and Whirlpool brand worked to develop the Home Care Card Decks which break down and simplify kitchen and laundry tasks. The Card Decks cover practical life skills such as loading the dishwasher, how to store and organize food in the refrigerator, washing clothes in a washer, how to read laundry symbols, and more.
"MagnusCards provide the opportunity to show people that you can cook on the stove or do laundry, and do it successfully," says Kathy, parent of a Magnusmode app user. "The collaboration between the Whirlpool brand and MagnusCards has made me feel that my daughter Rachel will be able to manage, she will have a good life and she will be able to do things because she can learn them."
With 1-2%* of the Canadian population on the autism spectrum, these 10 Home Care Card Decks provide the tools for hundreds of thousands of Canadians to live with greater independence.
"Whirlpool brand is committed to helping families thrive," says Janice Ryder, Senior Manager of Brand Experience at Whirlpool Canada. "As the Exclusive Homecare Sponsor of Magnusmode in Canada, we see this partnership as a natural fit for the brand, putting our brand purpose into action to serve Canadians better."
MagnusCards by Magnusmode is available to download for free in the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Magnusmode's mission is to create practical tools that improve everyday experiences and enable people with neurodiverse abilities to participate in the world in ways that are meaningful to them. Founder Nadia Hamilton was inspired by her autistic brother to create Magnusmode and the award-winning app, MagnusCards. MagnusCards is an innovative app that provides digital, step-by-step visual guides (in the form of collectible Card Decks) to support home and community living for autistic and neurodiverse people worldwide. Each Card Deck is sponsored by enterprise clients including Trader Joe's, CIBC, Kraft Heinz, M&T Bank, New York City Transit, Colgate-Palmolive, San Francisco International Airport, A&W, and WestJet who offer MagnusCards to make their products and services autism-friendly. Companies across North America have joined the Inclusion Revolution!
About Whirlpool Brand
For more than one hundred years, Whirlpool brand has been inspired by how people care for their families. Whirlpool brand is designing home appliances that are focused on improving how families give and get the care they need with the latest technologies and innovations – whether that means flexible refrigerator storage for all types of family needs, induction technology for efficient cooking and easier cleaning, or laundry pairs that allow you to customize the way you wash and offer the latest in connected technologies. Whirlpool Canada and its Whirlpool brand are part of Whirlpool Corporation, a leading appliance manufacturer committed to being the best global kitchen and laundry company, in constant pursuit of improving life at home. For more information on Whirlpool, please visit whirlpool.ca/everydaycare or find us on Facebook at facebook.com/whirlpoolcanada or Twitter at @whirlpool_ca. Additional information about the company can be found at whirlpoolcorp.com.
*According to the Canadian Medical Association and National Autism Spectrum Disorder Surveillance System
SOURCE Whirlpool Canada LP
'Don't let our children fall through the cracks!' – Women physicians urge Ontario government to take additional steps to fix crisis with school vaccinations and increase HPV immunization
Shots missed during pandemic need to be caught up quickly to prevent future serious illnesses, including meningitis and cancer
TORONTO, Oct. 3, 2022 /CNW/ - The Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) is calling on the Government of Ontario to take additional steps to further expand programs to alleviate the crisis of missed routine immunizations of school children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
School vaccinations are used to prevent many serious illnesses such as meningitis and cancer, not only during school years, but throughout an individual's life. One of the important vaccines is against human papillomavirus (HPV) which is the cause of nine out of 10 cases of cervical cancer in women, and causes other cancers in both men and women.1
However, as of the 2020-21 school year, only one per cent of 12-year-olds in Ontario were up to date with their immunization against HPV, due in large part to school vaccination programs being disrupted by the pandemic. The HPV vaccination rate is the lowest of the three major school-based vaccination programs monitored by Public Health Ontario. The others, for hepatitis B and meningococcal meningitis (MCV4), are both at 17 per cent.2
By comparison, the rates for 17-year-olds who received school-based vaccinations prior to the pandemic were 94 per cent for MCV4, 77 per cent for hepatitis B and 63 per cent for HPV, indicating how much work is needed to catch up.3 The latter rate of HPV vaccination was well below Canada's international commitment of achieving a target of 90 per cent vaccination of young people for HPV.
The week of October 3 is HPV Prevention Week in Canada and the FMWC is encouraging the Ontario government to act: "Don't let our children fall through the cracks – help prevent HPV and cancer now!" The government has put in place a preliminary plan and invested in public health to help address missed vaccinations. However, more can be done and the FMWC is calling upon the Ontario government to better support health system stakeholders to ensure all eligible school children are able to receive HPV vaccinations.
The great speed of and the lessons from the success of the COVID-19 vaccination program should be leveraged to solve this new public health vaccination issue, including wider access to vaccines in non-traditional locations, strong public communications and an enhanced immunization registry accessible to all health care providers like the COVAX system.
All of these tools should be harnessed again for HPV vaccinations and the FMWC is calling for the government to implement the following key steps in collaboration with health system stakeholders:
Adopt HPV vaccination targets and monitor: Set clear catch-up goals and ensure effective tracking of progress to achieve them.
Facilitate access to HPV vaccinations and track: Expand the HPV vaccination program to high schools to allow students who missed shots to catch up, allow pharmacists to deliver the vaccinations and track progress through a new centralized electronic immunization registry.
Communicate: Implement a robust and coordinated communications plan to increase public awareness of the need for vaccinations and how to get them.
"Building on the success of the COVID-19 vaccination program, we can do better and ensure children are caught up with the vaccines they missed during the pandemic," said Dr. Vivien Brown, a Toronto family physician who is Chair of the HPV Immunization Task Force and Board Member of Immunize Canada. "We have an opportunity to achieve a high HPV immunization rate. This will protect our children and our healthcare system from paying a very heavy price in the future. If we immunize now, we prevent cancer and other serious diseases."
It appears Ontarians are anxious to be given the tools to meet this challenge. A recent survey of Ontario parents with children aged 10 to 18 showed they are worried about the issue with more than three-quarters (77 per cent) saying they are somewhat or very concerned about the vaccines their children have missed at school.4
"While COVID-19 was the cause of the slipping in our HPV and other school vaccination programs, it also shows us what we need to do, and can do, to solve it," said Liz Ellwood, a cervical cancer survivor from Ottawa and long-time advocate for HPV education and vaccination. "We really can spare our children from having HPV-related cancers if the Ontario government, the medical community, schools and parents all work together and urgently to ensure they get vaccinated as they should."
As part of HPV Prevention Week, the FMWC is supporting, along with Merck Canada Inc., a Longwoods Leadership Discussion with clinicians and public health experts on this important public health issue on Monday, October 3, 1:30-2:30pm (EDT). For more information and to register to this event, which will be moderated by The Globe and Mail's health news reporter Kelly Grant, visit: https://bit.ly/3xGcx2u. A recording of the event will also be posted to Longwoods YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/longwoodstv
About the Federation of Medical Women of Canada
The Federation of Medical Women of Canada (FMWC) is a national organization committed to the professional, social and personal advancement of women physicians and to the promotion of the well-being of women both in the medical profession and in society at large. Founded almost 100 years ago and with branches across the country, FMWC seeks to be the networking and professional development home for all Canadian women in the medical profession while being the preeminent advocate for women's health across Canada. For details visit fmwc.ca.
