New Mobile App Provides Better Access to Care, Information

November 20, 2023admin

New Mobile App Provides Better Access to Care, Information

Healthcare services, resources, and information are now a tap away with a new mobile app that connects Nova Scotians with care.

YourHealthNS helps Nova Scotians better navigate the healthcare system – it is a one-stop shop to book services, navigate care, and find information easier and faster.

“If Nova Scotians can’t find the healthcare information they need, they can’t make decisions about how to access care,” said Premier Tim Houston. “YourHealthNS will help Nova Scotians find the right care when they need it, no matter where they are in the province.”

Key features of this first-of-its-kind app for Nova Scotia include:

a home screen that can be personalized with information most important to the individual

the ability to book blood tests, X-rays, flu shots and COVID-19 vaccine appointments

a search tool to find the nearest health services

predicted emergency department wait times

access to vaccination records

access to free, same-day virtual care

the option to chat with a care navigator to help find the best service or information needed and, if appropriate, direct people to a virtual care visit.

Accessing virtual care has also become easier for Nova Scotians. People on the Need a Family Practice Registry can receive comprehensive care from Nova Scotian healthcare providers who can order diagnostic tests and provide referrals to specialists. Those on the registry will also have access to general consults and prescription refills 24/7, 365 days a year through a partnership with Maple, one of Canada’s leading virtual-care platforms.

Nova Scotians who are attached to a primary care provider will also have access to virtual care, which will include general consults and prescription refills. The Province will cover two visits per year.

Nova Scotians without a mobile device can access YourHealthNS online at: https://www.yourhealthns.ca/

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Health Care

June 3, 2023admin

P.E.I. Nurses’ Union calls for more transparency, review of mobile mental health teams

The president of the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union is calling on the province to review its mobile mental health service and 24/7 mental health and addictions phone line.

“We’ve been running with one to three RNs [registered nurses] in the program as well as the … social worker positions,” Barbara Brookins said. “We just want to know what the follow-up is and who actually knows whether or not there have been RNs and social workers performing the tasks.”

The province launched the mobile mental health response service back in October 2021, contracting Medavie Health Services Inc. to operate the program.

The service includes three mobile mental health units that respond to people in need of mental health care, as well as operating a 24-hour phone line people can call to speak to a registered nurse or social worker.

Brookins said that under that contract, there should be six full- and part-time nursing positions and six social workers assigned to the project.

She said many of those positions have been vacant since the program started.

Three vacant positions to fill

The province says that as of May 26, nine of the nursing and social worker positions on the teams were filled and recruitment was underway to fill three vacant positions — two for social workers in Montague and Charlottetown and one for a nursing role in Montague.

Donna Galloway, manager of the mobile mental health program, said all staff members rotate working shifts, answering calls on the mental health phone line or going out in the mobile mental health vehicles.

A woman stands smiling at the camera in an office. — Barbara Brookins, president of the P.E.I. Nurses’ Union, says she’s tried to get information about how the mobile mental health teams are being staffed, but can’t get a straight answer from the province. (Brittany Spencer/CBC)

Since the program began, she acknowledges the

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Department Health

May 18, 2023admin

Stark health department gets mobile unit for overdose prevention

The Stark County Health Department has received a mobile care unit to bring overdose education across the county.
The vehicle was given to the department by the HEALing Communities Study.
It will provide overdose education, naloxone distribution and linkages to opioid use disorder services.

Transportation is one of the biggest obstacles keeping those affected by drug addiction from getting the care they need.

The Stark County Health Department is looking to bridge that gap by bringing services into the community with its new mobile integrated care unit. Employees with the health agency plan to take the 30-foot vehicle to community events and areas in need to provide overdose education, naloxone distribution and links to opioid use disorder services.

“It’s a way to take these services to the people that need them,” said Amanda Kelly, manager of health promotion and planning at the Stark County Health Department.

Opioid crisis:Stark County Health Department uses mapping technology to address epidemic

The mobile care unit has two exam rooms, a blood draw station, a bathroom and access for those who use wheelchairs. It was given to the agency by the HEALing Communities Study, a national initiative working to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths. Stark is one of several Ohio counties participating in the study, along with communities in Kentucky, Massachusetts and New York.

Kelly said the HEALing Communities Study has provided mobile units to other communities, but this is the first for the county.

Amanda Kelly, health promotion and planning manager for the Stark County Health Department, shows the interior of the department's new mobile care unit.

Why is a mobile outreach unit needed?

One hundred and fifty-six Stark County residents died of overdoses last year, according to the county health department. In December, the department issued a warning that Stark had seen an uptick in suspected fatal drug overdoses.

Kelly said the department intends to have a full-time and part-time outreach specialist to bring the

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Health Care

April 17, 2023admin

Moncton mobile health unit brings care to homeless

Hoping to meet the rising demand, outreach programs in the Moncton area are expanding outside of the clinic walls to help reach clients where they are.

The idea took off during the pandemic when health-care professionals realized how challenging it would be for people living rough or homeless to receive care.

“It could be on the side of the street. It could be in shelters,” said nurse practitioner France Maillet-Gagnon. “So it’s really connecting with the services they are already going to sometimes.”

The Salvus Clinic, a not-for-profit organization, has been providing shelter services for three years. However, a new collaboration between Vitalité and Horizon Health Networks has allowed them to expand to all four homeless shelters and have more resources available.

“The goal is always to be impactful, meaning that you also want to help them exit homelessness, right? So you want to make sure you connect them with other services even if they would have a provider already,” said Maillet-Gagnon.

“You can initiate the treatment, but also kind of encourage them to have those follow-ups.”

Last fall, Salvus was able to purchase a mobile health unit which allows them to drive to each city shelter once a week. The team on board is made up of members from Salvus, Vitalité and Horizon.

The Salvus mobile health clinic outreach team is pictured standing in front of the mobile clinic on April 12, 2023. (Alana Pickrell/CTV)

“We have had over 250 unique individuals accessing the service and over 400 unique types of appointments,” said Melissa Baster, executive director of Salvus Clinic.

“It can be anything from wound care to regular primary health-care treatment to a conversation with the peer health navigator to housing needs.”

The goal is to provide wrap-around services.

“It’s not just to give care in that moment,”

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Health Advice

March 22, 2023admin

Mobile wellness caravans rally the Western Balkans to COVID-19 vaccination, bringing well being advice closer to wherever people are

Around the study course of 2022–2023, 4 cell health caravans have been touring remote and below-served spots in the Western Balkans to make sure vulnerable persons have accessibility to COVID-19 vaccination and the public overall health information they have to have to defend on their own. To carry vaccination, well being treatment and wellbeing suggestions to the heart of communities, with the aid of WHO and associates, countrywide and equal general public well being authorities have arranged health and fitness caravans in Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo*. In addition to rising entry to a variety of health and fitness solutions, the health and fitness caravans supply an chance for danger communication and group engagement (RCCE). When they take a look at, 2-way dialogue in between overall health care suppliers and community members signifies that caravan team can response questions and superior fully grasp the requires of communities and their limitations to accessing overall health treatment.

Expertise in the Western Balkans showcases just why wellbeing caravans are this kind of an significant community overall health intervention in emergencies.

Overall health caravans minimize geographical and useful barriers to vaccination

In March 2022, supported by WHO, the United Nationwide Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Company for International Growth (USAID), a caravan travelled to 14 urban and rural communities all through North Macedonia where by COVID-19 vaccination uptake was reduced than the nationwide typical. Nearby civil culture businesses delivered precious enter by going doorway-to-door to notify persons about its arrival. Cell health caravans can assist to increase vaccination fees in communities that have constrained obtain to health care services by overcoming limitations to vaccination, such as a lack of transportation, prolonged distances, and time constraints. New assessment by WHO/Europe exhibits a return on investment in RCCE for wellness authorities the North

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Tag: Mobile

Three vacant positions to fill

Why is a mobile outreach unit needed?

Overall health caravans minimize geographical and useful barriers to vaccination