In this episode our guest is Judith Horn, a physical therapist. She came by to chat with us, not about physical therapy but about vision loss! Judith shares her experience with losing part of her vision to a rare condition called Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION). We get to learn about her diagnosis, how she would have preferred to hear the news that her vision may not improve, what she knows now that she wishes she knew before, (hint: abnormal vision is never normal) and so much more. Tune in for a great conversation!

About Judith Horn, PT DPT MS GCS

Judith Horn is a licensed Physical Therapist. She earned her BSPT from Northeastern University (Boston), MS in Health Education from St Joseph’s University (Philadelphia) and Clinical Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Drexel University (Philadelphia). Judith is a current American Board of PT Specialties Geriatric Clinical Specialist (GCS).

Her professional career settings have included Acute Care, Wound Care, Outpatient Rehabilitation, Home Health and Academic appointments at Stockton University and Atlantic Cape Community College.

As a Lifetime American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) member, Judith has published in peer reviewed journals and presented at APTA Combined Sections. She is a past recipient of the APTA NJ James Tucker Excellence in Clinical Teaching award and Drexel University’s Leadership in PT Practice Award.

Judith shares a love of golf with her husband Jeff and they try to spoil their six grandchildren whenever possible. 

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In this episode Stacie Lampkin, a pediatric pharmacist came by the cafe to discuss how to be an advocate for children in their healthcare. She shared a lot of great information such as the questions you should ask when prescribed medication, the right age to get children involved in their healthcare decisions and talking to children about their diagnosis. We even touch a bit on aromatherapy.  Tune in for a great conversation!

About Stacie Lampkin

After graduating from pharmacy school in 2009, Stacie pursued a pediatric pharmacy residency and a career in academia. As an associate pharmacy professor, clinical pediatric pharmacist, and aromatherapist, she uses her knowledge to educate future healthcare professionals. In 2019, she became a board-certified patient advocate after experiencing first-hand the difficulties of navigating a new health issue. Armed with education and resources; Stacie teaches people how to be better advocates for pediatric patients and provides pediatric medication education. As a patient advocate, she teaches families and pediatric patients how to convey their health and care needs, navigate the healthcare system and wellness spaces, and make informed decisions with confidence.

Stacie’s website: https://stacielampkin.com

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In this episode Dr. Ananya Banerjee came by the cafe to discuss the topic of COVID-19 Vaccine Equity. In rich countries, people who want to receive  the COVID vaccine have been able to receive it, the same is not true for people in less wealthy countries. Today we discuss the issue of vaccine equity and why it matters.  Tune in for a great conversation!

About Ananya Banerjee, PhD

Dr. Ananya Tina Banerjee is Assistant Professor of South Asian descent at the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupation Health, McGill University. Her interdisciplinary research embeds a strong emphasis on community-based participatory pedagogy and research, which is grounded in collaboration and partnership with her racialized students and their communities. She created and developed the first course on race and health in a school of public health in Canada. She is well known for her anti-racism and anti-oppression practice in the learning environment and providing critical mentorship for racialized students in public health programs. Dr. Banerjee has been prominent advocate in the media pushing for vaccine equity in Canada and globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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“Your health is your wealth” is a fairly common saying. In this episode we sit down with Dr. Zenobia Bryant of Black Health, Black Wealth to discuss health disparities, mental health, her tips and experiences navigating healthcare and why she founded her organization. Tune in for a great conversation!

About Zenobia Bryant, PhD, Founder and CEO

Dr. Bryant has 7 years of specific experience as a dedicated public health professional and epidemiologist, with a strong interest in mental health and adolescent health. She has significant quantitative research and statistical analysis experience, resulting in a number of publications. Dr. Bryant brings strong writing skills and editing experience to all of her work, and she serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences; The Journal of Nutrition; the Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health; and the American Journal of Public Health. She also is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and serves as an abstract reviewer for the APHA Annual Meeting and Expo. Dr. Bryant strongly believes that good Black mental health, good Black physical health, and good Black financial health are wealth!

To learn more check out: https://blackhealthblackwealth.org/ 

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WeCanVax is a community initiative to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by promoting COVID-19 vaccine confidence in diverse communities across Montreal. In this episode our guests are Tammy Bui and Nehal Islam, the founders of WeCanVax. We discuss the initiative, how it got started, the results, the community reaction and what’s next for the duo and this dynamic initiative. Tune in for a great conversation!

About Tammy and Nehal:

Tammy Bui is a public health graduate. Being the daughter of two Vietnamese refugees, she was inspired to work with the broader multicultural community to promote public health. She co-created WeCanVax with the intention of empowering racialized communities in Quebec to get vaccinated.

Nehal Islam is a MSc Epidemiology student at McGill passionate about supporting meaningful change for community health. Nehal’s family immigrated from Bangladesh to Montreal, QC before later settling in Ottawa, ON. He also brings experience interpreting and leading drug safety & effectiveness studies. With WeCanVax, he aims to tie his research and community involvement to empower Canadian health.

To learn more check out: https://www.wecanvax.ca/

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In this episode Jeannette Valmont, a long time volunteer and recipient of a Governor General Caring Canadian Award came by the cafe to share her experiences. She describes herself as a full time plus volunteer but also states that she has a PhD in personal suffering. During her visit to The Good Health Cafe Jeanette shares the remarkable story of how she turned her various health challenges into a thriving volunteer career and the lessons she has learned in health care navigation that she thinks people should know. Tune in for an inspiring conversation!

About Jeannette

For the past 38 years, Jeannette Valmont has volunteered for Hope & Cope for the past 38 years, a psycho- social support organization for cancer patients and their families based at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. Despite suffering from debilitating chronic back pain from four failed back surgeries, thyroid cancer and an inflammatory disease, Jeannette has made it her life’s mission to support patients through the trajectory of their cancer diagnoses.

When Jeannette first became ill with her back, she created her own pain management strategy and re-invented the way that she works. Jeannette believes that because of her own pain and suffering, she is able to relate even more to the patients that she works with at Hope & Cope.

As a volunteer, Jeannette has held multiple roles including: helping patients navigate their cancer diagnosis; scheduling out patient clinic volunteers; training new volunteers; leading Look Good Feel Better workshops that teach women how to manage the appearance-related impact of cancer; and even a term as Co-President. Hers is a true example of how to live a rich, rewarding, fulfilling and meaningful life with chronic illness.

In recognition of this volunteer career, Jeannette was awarded a Governor General Caring Canadian Award in 2001 for outstanding and selfless contribution to the community, and a Hope & Cope Distinguished Service Award in 2015 for her exemplary service and leadership.

Hope & Cope

Website: https://hopeandcope.ca/en/

Phone: 514-340-3616

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In this episode our guest Karen Warner Schueler came by the cafe to share how she adapted when her life suddenly changed and she became a caregiver to her husband. She outlines some of the recommendations she has for resilient caregiving and shares how her experience led her to document a roadmap for others in her book, The Sudden Caregiver. Grab your warm drink and tune in for a great episode!

About Karen 

On the day Karen Warner Schueler became a sudden caregiver, she was a wife, a mom, a consultant and business owner, a coach, a runner, a friend, and a consumer of too much Starbucks coffee. She was not a caregiver. Until she was. On that day when her late husband was diagnosed, out of the blue, with stage IV cancer, Karen had no idea that she had instantly joined a silent army of informal, unpaid family caregivers around the world who had also been pressed into sudden service. She felt completely at sea with the realities of caregiving.

In the US alone, an estimated 43.5 million caregivers have assumed the responsibilities of care for a parent, child, spouse, sibling, neighbor, or friend who suffers from chronic illness, disease or immobility. Even before the global pandemic, this number has been expanding daily, as 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 each day, and will do so until 2030.

Like all caregivers who came before her — Karen made it up as she went along, even when the stakes were at their highest. All the while, she promised herself that when her caregiving journey ended, to honor Joel’s legacy, she would try to create a roadmap for sudden caregivers. With it, she means to hold up a lantern for all caregivers following behind her. A caregivers journey takes grit, but it can also be a source of resilience, well-being, and grace.

Connect with Karen 

Email - [email protected] 

Website for the book- TheSuddenCaregiver.com 

Other website- TangibleGroup.com

Phone- +1(843)941-0384

LinkedIn - in/KarenWarnerTangible  

Facebook- SuddenCaregiver

Instagram- @TheSuddenCaregiver  

Skype - Karen_20516

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Have you heard of the term young caregiver? According to a study by V. Stamatopoulos there are over 1 million young caregivers in Canada. Today’s guest Kabisha Velauthapillai came by to share her experience as a young caregiver and the types of supports she thinks young caregivers need from the system and those around them. Grab your warm drink and tune in for a great episode!

About Kabisha:

Kabisha Velauthapillai comes from a family and communities that taught them fundamental lessons about resilience, resistance, and love. Having been a young caregiver from early on, they are working to undo the erasure of young caregivers in healthcare systems, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. Currently, Kabisha is part of the Young Caregivers Working Group at Ami-Quebec in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal). They are also part of Healthcare Excellence Canada, working as a Lived Experience Advisor. Now in their second year of medical school at the University of Toronto, Kabisha started the Family Responsibilities Collective, a group that aims to support medical school applicants and current medical students. Wearing the hat of both caregiver and medical student, Kabisha is strongly committed to reshaping our healthcare systems into ones that prioritize patients and caregivers. They are always keen to connect. You can reach them through e-mail, [email protected], or follow their twitter, @Kabisha2.

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Have you heard of the terms functional medicine, or integrative and holistic medicine? Today’s guest Dr. Aaron Hartman is a specialist in those areas and he came by to explain to us what they are and how the adoption of his children led to the exploration of those fields. We even touch a bit on toxins and long COVID. Grab your warm drink and tune in for a great episode!

About Dr. Aaron Hartman

Dr. Hartman's journey with functional medicine started when he & his wife adopted their first daughter from foster care. She has cerebral palsy & countless dietary issues. They went from specialist to specialist and, even as a physician, he felt let down & confused. His daughter's health struggles forced him to confront an uncomfortable realization: Our current healthcare system doesn't have all the answers. His wife, however, refused to give up hope. She ultimately pointed him to functional medicine. His daughter & other two kids began to thrive. After years in family practice, he felt called to make a dramatic shift.

He now helps patients identify leverage points in key areas of their lifestyle & health that harness their body's remarkable power to heal and begin living the vibrant life they deserve. He has become the ‘go to’ doctor for difficult and hard cases in central Virginia.

As a clinical researcher, Dr. Hartman has been involved with over 60 clinical studies, he is the founder of the Virginia Research Center, and currently is serving as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at the VCU School of Medicine.

In 2016 he founded Richmond Integrative and Functional Medicine.

Dr. Hartman’s social links

www.RichmondFunctionalMedicine.com 

www.facebook.com/rvaintegrative

www.instagram.com/rvaintegrative

https://twitter.com/aaronhartmanMD

https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-hartman

https://www.youtube.com/c/AaronHartmanMD

Link for Free Gift 

https://go.richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/brguide-pod

Resilience has become the key concept in 2021 for health and wellness. In this free eBook, Dr. Hartman addresses the foundations of functional medicine and how they can change your health trajectory today.

In this guide you'll learn:

• 7 KEYS to the resilience of blue zones
• ​Basic preventative health strategies of functional medicine
• Lifestyle measures to boost your resilience and improve your immune system function
• Ways to improve your health if you or your loved one have acquired a chronic illness
• ​A new trajectory for your health and wellness!

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If you’re a regular listener you know that we have had the term doula come up in at least two prior episodes, episode 21 with midwife Shani Robertson and episode 23 with Kimberly Seals Allers. On today’s episode we had a doula visit The Good Health Cafe, Ms. Tamara Mason, to tell us all about what doulas are, what they do and why they are such a valuable part of a birth team. Grab your warm drink and tune in for a great episode!

About Tamara Mason

Tamara Mason, MPH, CHES is a public health professional, consultant, and advocate who works to improve the health and well-being of marginalized communities. Tamara graduated from Brown University in 1998 with a B.A. degree in Health and Society, with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. She earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree, with a concentration in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education in August 2003 from the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University. Tamara has held several research and program management positions within Emory University, including serving as the Director of a breast cancer education and outreach program for over a decade. Currently, Tamara works for the March of Dimes as the Director, Maternal and Child Health Collective Impact where is she leading the efforts in the Atlanta area to reduce inequities in preterm births and maternal mortality. Tamara is also a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) and certified labor doula.

Tamara's website - https://www.masonconsultinginc.com/

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