IHA on Disaster stress: four tips for coping with wildfires, smoky skies
Smoke, evacuations, loss, worry – B.C.’s wildfires affect us all. If you are feeling stressed or anxious, you are not alone. The fear of having to flee your home, leave possessions behind and relocate can cause distress, fear and anxiety for you and your loved ones. Even the prospect of living with smoky skies during wildfire...
Seniors Advocate: Home Support Falling Short
A report submitted by the office of the Seniors Advocate: British Columbia’s Home Support program is unaffordable for most seniors, offers too little service for high-need clients and has created a workforce where 75 per cent of staff are casual or part-time, says B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie. In a comprehensive...
Temporary service change: KBRH nuclear medicine
Starting today, work begins to replace old nuclear medicine technology at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH) with a new SPECT CT camera, which will provide better images and enhance patient care. Redeveloping the nuclear medicine department is also part of this $1.63 million project, funded by the Province of B.C./Interior...
Overdose deaths would be at least twice as high without emergency harm reduction and treatment response
The rapid expansion of harm reduction services in response to B.C.’s overdose crisis prevented more than 3,000 possible overdose deaths during a 20-month period, suggests new research led by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). The study estimates that without access to and rapid scale up of harm reduction and treatment...
Blood donation waiting period for men who have sex with men reduced to three months
Health Canada has approved Canadian Blood Services’ request to reduce the blood donation waiting period for men who have sex with men from one year to three months. The change will take effect across the country on June 3, 2019. Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec, Québec’s blood operator, will make the change at the same...
Why Words Matter When We Talk About Addiction
Ed. note: The following is a press release issued by Toward The Heart, the harm reduction arm of the BC Centre for Disease Control: Words and language matter – especially for people who use substances. The terms we use to describe people who use drugs and the conditions associated with drug use can play either a supportive ...
Want Better Health Care? Have Your Say.
The Centre for Rural Health Research wants to hear from YOU. To provide useful evidence for health care planning in BC, the “Rural Evidence Review Project” is seeking input from everyone who cares about the quality of health care in our rural communities, and has ideas about how to improve it. The project is led by Dr. Jude...
PSA: Making it simple to be protected against measles
Following outbreaks of measles occurring around the globe, the Government of British Columbia launched a Measles Immunization Catch-Up Programto ensure children in B.C. are protected from measles. There are currently no active confirmed cases of measles in Interior Health. As part of this provincial program, Interior Health...
New Emergency Alert System for RDKB Residents
Floods? Wildfires? Residents can register for emergency alerts about these, or other imminent threats, delivered by smartphone app, email and voice or text to a landline or cell number. The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has launched a new emergency alerting system powered by Voyent Alert! —a Canada-based notification...
Autism: Awareness and Acceptance
April is Autism Awareness Month, and April 2, 2019, was the twelfth annual World Autism Awareness Day. In Rossland, students at Rossland Summit School (RSS) engaged in activities to learn about autism. Teachers Wendy Phillips, Jenn McKay-Hadley and Kim Deane spoke about autism to the school while individual teachers showed...
