With the added stressors placed on children, youth, and families by the COVID-19 pandemic, more attention has been focused on the adverse impact on the mental health and wellness of our young people. Protecting and mitigating the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) has been a prime concern for many physicians.    But there’s a long way to go to educate and build skills to mitigate ACEs, and to ensure supports are implemented to prevent them from occurring in the first place.  Dr Uyeda is a member of a Child and Youth Mental Health Community of Practice involving 270 physicians who work to improve care for BC’s children youth and families. She continues to educate parents, counsellors, teachers, and physicians with her research and findings.  Resources: Feelings First campaign Dr Nadine Burke Harris – How Childhood Trauma affects health across a lifetime Dr Vincent Feletti – How childhood trauma can make you a sick adult Collaborative Toolbox – ACEs Resources Beyond the Cycle of Trauma with Dr Erika Cheng The Brain Story - Alberta Family Wellness Therapist Uncensored PodcastRecommended episodes Episode 5 and 6: How Attachment Impacts Adult Relationship Part 1 & 2  Episode 75: Mentalizing - Critical Component for Secure Relating Episode 102: Finding Neurological Safety through Relationships Episode 112: The Life-Changing Science of Memory Reconsolidation with Guests Bruce Ecker & Tori Olds  Episode 141: How We Become the Persons We Are with Dr Sroufe, Attachements Through the Lifespan   Books: Becoming Attached by Robert Karen Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive by Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell What to Say to Kids When Nothing Seems to Work by Dr Ashley Miller and Dr Adele Lafrance The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk  The Boy who was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry and Maia Szalavitz 

DocTalks: A Doctors of BC Podcast

5: How understanding ACEs can change the way you practice

As the COVID-19 vaccines roll out across BC and the rest of Canada, there are significant concerns about vaccine hesitancy. If too many people are unwilling to get the vaccine because of those concerns, everyone’s safety is compromised.  In this episode of DocTalks, we speak to vaccine safety scientist, Dr Julie Bettinger, and family doctors, Dr Birinder Narang and Dr Baldev Sanghera, about the critical role doctors play in vaccine acceptance among patients. What are the best ways to approach patients about getting their shot? What are some of the issues that influence a patient’s decision to get vaccinated or not? How does race, culture, and religion play a part in these decisions? How has media and misinformation informed people’s view of the vaccine? Our guests delve into the complex subject of vaccine hesitancy, and share evidence-based information to help doctors feel prepared to have productive conversations with their patients. Interested in this interview, but don’t have time to listen to the podcast? A summary of the conversation can be found here. Resources This is Our Shot Campaign: https://thisisourshot.ca/  New immunization fee for vaccine advice: https://bcfamilydocs.ca/covid-19-immunization-advice-fee/ Doctors of BC resources about vaccines: Answers for patients: https://www.doctorsofbc.ca/covid-19-vaccine-answers-patients Answers for doctors: https://www.doctorsofbc.ca/covid-19-vaccine-answers-doctors Vaccine office toolkit: https://www.doctorsofbc.ca/covid-19-vaccine-office-toolkit COVID-19 latest news from the PHO: https://www.doctorsofbc.ca/covid-19-vaccine-latest-news#tab-0-0  Articles about the impact of historical trauma on vaccine hesitancy:  “Medical experimentation and the roots of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Indigenous Peoples in Canada.” https://www.cmaj.ca/content/193/11/E381 “Beyond Tuskegee — Vaccine Distrust and Everyday Racism.” https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMpv2035827 If you are a doctor who needs mental health support, you can call the Physician Health Program’s 24-hour helpline at 1-800-663-6729, or email info@physicianhealth.com.

4: Vaccine hesitancy: Talking to patients about the COVID-19 vaccine

As doctors across BC try to meet the unprecedented demands that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on them, reports of physician burnout are increasing. But what does burnout actually look like? How do you recognize the early warning signs so you can take steps to prevent it? And where do doctors go for help? In this episode of DocTalks, psychiatrist Dr Jennifer Russel and family doctor Dr Lawrence Yang share  their perspectives about how burnout affects doctors, how to recognize it, and what steps to take to minimize the impact. From personal coping strategies, to implementing leadership and QI methodology, and advocating for system-wide enhancements, our guests share what methods they’ve adopted  – both in their personal and professional lives – to stay well, and what supports are available to doctors that can really made a difference. Interested in this interview, but don’t have time to listen to the podcast? A summary of the conversation can be found here. Resources: Physician Health Program24 hour confidential helpline: 1-800-663-6729Doctors of BC Physician Burden policy paperCanadian Medical Protection AssociationPhysician Quality ImprovementSauder School of Business: Physician Leadership ProgramGPSC Leadership and Management TrainingPractice Support Program

3: Burnout and COVID-19: Warning signs and when to act

Amidst disturbing allegations of anti-Indigenous racism in BC’s health care system, the government appointed Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond to independently conduct a review. The findings were clear: Indigenous people are continually subjected to widespread, systemic racism which often results in negative experiences at the point of care, inequitable medical treatment, physical harm, and even death.    In this episode of DocTalks, we will speak to Indigenous family physician, Dr Terri Aldred, and Indigenous Cultural Safety Coordinator and Consultant, Len Pierre, about how we can define and understand cultural safety and the complexities of addressing this systemic problem. What steps can doctors and health care workers take to begin or continue the journey to address racism, both on an individual level and at a system-wide level? How can we measure our progress going forward? Resources:  San'yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training (PHSA) (https://www.sanyas.ca/ ) Addressing Racism: An independent investigation into Indigenous-specific discrimination in B.C. health care (https://engage.gov.bc.ca/addressingracism/)

2: Putting Indigenous cultural safety into practice: "The first step is admitting we have a problem with racism."

In the first episode of DocTalks, a new direction for BC’s primary health care system is explored. We’ve heard the names, but what really are patient medical homes and primary care networks? Host Dr Matthew Chow, with guests Drs Brenda Hefford and Shelley Ross, take a deep dive into the current primary care landscape to unpack ideas about: how patient medical homes and primary care networks relate to and work with one another what it means to adapt to system-wide change the benefits of a multidisciplinary, team-based care model of care how UPCCs enhance PCNs and increase access Join the conversation online through Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and at http://www.doctorsofbc.ca.

1: The Future of Primary Care: “Walking into this new system together”

DocTalks is a series of videos and podcasts from Doctors of BC that delve into relevant issues that matter to BC physicians. Watch. Listen. Connect.

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DocTalks: A Doctors of BC Podcast

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