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Quebec
Help for teens
MONTREAL —
The Douglas Hospital has begun a program aimed at children
aged 13 to 17 who require intense mental health treatment
but not hospitalization, the Gazette reported.
The youths will have access to a team of specialists
for group and individualized care, as well as family
therapy. "Up to now the only option for teens was to
be hospitalized, which can be difficult for both adolescents
and families," hospital psychologist Karina Beland told
the Gazette. DB
Hot
Spot
Party safely please
MONTREAL —
Doctors and other healthcare workers gathered in downtown
Montreal last weekend to brainstorm care and treatment
options for partygoers for events like the recent 15th
annual Black and Blue X-treme Ball. The summit, organized
by McGill's director of student health services, Dr
Pierre-Paul Tellier, discussed ways to deal with these
kinds of large-scale events. The 15-hour dance party
and other similar events are plagued by use and abuse
of the highly addictive stimulant crystal methamphetamine
(aka crystal meth), which remains the party drug of
choice. DB
New
Brunswick
The buzz about the
blues
FREDERICTON —
Don't tell Tom Cruise this, but researchers Dr Nicole
Letourneau and Linda Duffett-Leger of the University
of New Brunswick have released a study that shows that
women tend to suffer postpartum depression in silence
and rarely seek professional help. The Canadian Institute
for Health Research study, which compared mothers in
Alberta and in New Brunswick, found that women in the
ocean-tossed province suffered more serious postnatal
depression than those out west. A lack of resources
and a social stigma in the Maritime province were shown
to be the main reason behind this disparity. PL
Nova
Scotia
Web link to blast
wait list
HALIFAX —
A new website launched on October 7 by Health Minister
Angus MacIsaac will offer Nova Scotians and their healthcare
providers access to information about wait times. The
site will help patients and doctors make informed decisions
about testing and treatment options. "Being transparent
with our wait lists... is an important first step,"
Dr Romesh Shukla, president of Doctors Nova Scotia,
told Halifax Live. He added that this kind of
information will help healthcare decision makers target
wait time problems. PL
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Magic
of mother's milk
HALIFAX —
A new information program from the Nova Scotia Health
Department will encourage mums to breastfeed exclusively
for the first six months. Health Minister Angus MacIsaac
launched the program at the Mi'kmaq Child Development
Centre, where seven out of 10 mothers breastfeed for
longer than 18 months. Research has proven exclusive
breastfeeding for at least six months, and up to age
two, lowers the risk of infectious diseases, obesity,
allergies, asthma, cancers and heart disease later in
life. PL
Prince
Edward Island
Wannabe MD backlash
O'LEARY —
Not everyone is in favour of nurse practitioners (NP)
in Canada, despite their growing numbers. The recent
collapse of an Island pilot project, which caved under
the weight of the professional infighting, is one example.
"The nurse practitioners were called 'wannabe doctors,'"
PEI Nurses Union President Margaret Duffy told the Canadian
Press. Dr Herb Dickieson, president of the Island's
medical society, has some doubts about the NP program.
"It needs to be a complementary relationship," he explained,
"where the expertise and skills of both professions
can be used." PL
Newfoundland
Ambulances need
cash for fuel
ST JOHN'S —
Private ambulance operators, who provide service in
rural areas of Newfoundland and Labrador, have asked
the province to consider giving them a fuel rebate to
offset higher gas costs this year. Wade Smith, vice-president
of the province's ambulance operators association, told
the Telegram that his weekly diesel bill for
three vehicles is about $1,500. He estimates the increase
for his service over last year is about $800 a month.
DSS
The
Territories
Hot Spot
Rare STI claims
life
NUNAVUT —
An extremely rare STI called Human T-cell Lymphotropic
Virus Type 1 (HTLV-1), which is more common in Asia
and Africa, has claimed one life in Nunavut. "Many health
professionals would have trouble recognizing the name
of this virus," Dr Isaac Sobol, Nunavut's chief medical
officer of health, told the Nunastiaq News. HTLV-1
is a retrovirus in the same category as AIDS and is
spread through unprotected sex, needle-sharing or from
mothers to their babies. Only 4% of people who are infected
with the virus become ill, but if one becomes ill there
is no cure. HY
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