Discovery Day: Tackling Health Disparities in Peel Region and Beyond

Time

Item

10:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.

Welcome

10:20 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.

Innovations for levelling the playing field in diabetes care and outcomes research

Keynote Speaker: Dr. David Campbell, MD, PhD, is a medical specialist in Endocrinology & Metabolism and a health services researcher focused on social disparities and their impacts on clinical outcomes of cardiometabolic diseases. He is the director of the Health Policy Trials Unit at the O'Brien Institute for Public Health at the University of Calgary. He conducts research that uses mixed methods, interventional approaches, community and stakeholder engagement, and knowledge translation to contribute to reducing the impact of social disadvantage on clinical outcomes by informing health policy and clinical practice.

11:20 a.m. – 11:35 a.m.

Refreshments and Networking

11:35 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.

Panel Presentations and Discussion: Reflections from Current Researchers

• Dr. Terence Tang: General Internal Medicine physician at Trillium Health Partners (THP), and clinician-scientist at Institute for Better Health.​

• Project: Reducing Health Inequities in Severe Diabetic Foot Infection and Amputation by Engaging At-Risk Communities to Optimize the Implementation of Evidence-Based Strategies​

• Dr. Calvin Ke: Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, a clinician scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, an adjunct scientist at ICES, and a staff endocrinologist at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network.​

• Project: Developing and Implementing a Personalized Care Pathway to Improve the Management of Young-Onset Type 2 Diabetes in Peel Region​

• Dr. Vasanti Malik: Assistant Professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto and she holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Chronic Disease Prevention and an adjunct position in Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.​

• Project: Increasing Knowledge, Reducing Risk: A Community-Integrated Nutrition Education Intervention to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Peel

12:35 p.m. – 1:35 p.m.

Lunch and Networking

1:35 p.m. – 2:25 p.m.

Documentary Screening of LOW

Low is a narrative film based on the lived experiences of people with diabetes who have been homeless. The film follows Bobby, a man struggling to manage his diabetes while experiencing homelessness; and Annika, an emergency shelter staff member caught in the chaos of the opioid crisis. The film is punctuated with anecdotes, insights and recommendations from a diabetes specialist and from people who have firsthand experience with this difficult situation.

Low is a powerful and realistic portrayal of the incredible challenges faced by those living with diabetes in the under-resourced emergency shelter environment. The story is informed by the research and lived experience of the Calgary Diabetes Advocacy Committee (CDAC), a group leading community-based research and advocacy projects to improve the experiences and outcomes of their peers.

The film trailer is available here: www.low-film.com

2:25 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.

Panel Presentations and Discussion: Planning and Collaborating with Community

Planning Grant Funded Projects:

1) Co-Designing a Community-Based Diabetes Screening Strategy for Peel: Road to Prevention

2) Diabetes Hub/Central Intake Project: Development and Evaluation of an Intake and Navigation Hub to Provide Coordinated Access to Comprehensive Team-Based Diabetes Care in Brampton

3) Enhancing Nutrition Equity: Assessing and Transforming Peel Region's Food Environment for Optimizing Health

4) Enhancing Sense of Belonging through Physical Activity: “Active Community, Connected Community”

5) Enhancing Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Among Young Adults in Peel: Mapping and Understanding Access to Physical Activity and Nutritional Supports

6) Meeting Dual Needs of Hunger and Diabetes: Scaling and Sustaining Skills-Based Nutritional Education Programs to Diverse Communities With or At Risk of Diabetes in Peel Region

3:55 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Closing Remarks