Creating synergy in collaboration with other healthcare disciplines!
- chatyrbok4
- Jan 31, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 10, 2021
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Creating synergy in collaboration with other healthcare disciplines is a highly effective way in improving care and treating an individual holistically through every lens and not just through the eyes of our own discipline.
I had the opportunity to discuss my role with Emily Gresham. She is a Public Health Nurse in Ontario that works in a clinic dealing with sexual health and harm reduction. Our roles could definitely intertwine had we lived in the same province. I learned that Emily works with external community groups to help provide educational support related to birth control, STIs, pregnancy etc. She does provide presentations on education related to sexual health to a variety of different locations in the community including: Schools, correctional facilities, multicultural societies, programs for adults with cognitive or developmental disabilities and many more.
For myself working with children 0-18 years of age, I have dealt with issues of STI’s, teenage pregnancy and gender identity. If Emily and I lived in the same province we could collaborate on resources and education designed specifically for certain populations. It has made me research Winnipeg’s sexual health and harm reduction clinics. Here is a couple of links to local clinics and resources.
Finding the connection for hard conversations
As a clinician one of the hardest things I find when dealing with teenagers, is starting the conversation about these issues and ensuring they are protected and able to talk to someone that will listen and help. When I am in and out of the communities, it takes time to build that relationship with them and therefore they are not always ready to talk and open up about very private issues they are dealing with. Having the resources to be able to reinforce what you are saying is very beneficial. Emily was able to share a great resource for discussing sexual behavior with individuals with IDD as well as one with regards to working with diverse communities.
Building capacity to empower communities to promote better health
Her clinic is trying to build more capacity in the community. Rather than their nurses providing the teaching, they are trying to empower community members, teachers and staff to facilitate the education on the frontlines. This is the same for my job in the north. The idea of working to provide services in the north is to build capacity in those communities, so that they can eventually have the expertise within each community to be able to sustain each of those needs the children need. I am basically working myself out of a job.
Emily’s main role in sexual health is in the clinic environment. She works to complete case and contact management for reportable infections. Emily also provides coverage for our Outreach workers who run their “exchange works” program.
Here is a link to her harm reduction webpage:
Research has shown that individuals with IDD are more vulnerable and perhaps dangerously lacking sexual education which may in fact put them at an increased risk for unplanned pregnancy or sexually transmitted infections (Friedman & Owen, 2017). The more public health and resources made available for vulnerable age groups the better.
References
Friedman, C. & Owen, A. L. (2017). Sexual health in the community: Services for
people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Disability and Health Journal, 10(3), 387–393. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2017.02.008
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