Our meetings are usually held semi-annually in the spring/summer and fall/winter time frames. To date they have all been held in the Albrechtsen Research Centre at St. Boniface Hospital which is wheel chair accessible. Prior to the guest speaker(s) there is an informal reception with light refreshments. Many guests have told us how beneficial it is to be able to visit with other ICD patients and family members. We generally have one or more guest speakers who present on topics applicable to our group. Our speakers to date include: doctors from the Defibrillator Clinic, Pharmacists, Dieticians, ICD patients, representatives from travel insurance industry, Manitoba Public Insurance, The Reh-fit Centre, The Wellness Institute and others.
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
NEXT MEETING DATE – TBA
RECENT MEETINGS:
November 3, 2018
Our guest speaker was Dr. Alexander Tischenko from the Pacemaker/Defibrillator Clinic at St. Boniface Hospital. He provided us with an update on ICD/CRT-D pacing technology. A recap will be available in our upcoming Volume 22 newsletter.
June 9, 2018
Our speaker was Alexandra Nataluk, BSc, CSEP-CEP, Kinesiologist for Chronic Disease Program Management and Special Populations at the Wellness Institute at Seven Oaks General Hospital. For more details on her presentation see our Volume 21 newsletter.
December 2, 2017
Our speaker was Estrellita Estrella-Holder RN, NP, MScA, MN, CCN(C), CHFN. Estrellita works as a nurse practitioner in the Cardiac Sciences Program’s Heart Failure Clinic. See our Volume 20 newsletter for more information.
May 27, 2017
Our guest speaker was Emily Hyde RN, BSN, BMSc from the Cardiac Sciences Program at St. Boniface Hospital. Information on her presentation is available in our Volume 19 newsletter. See “Newsletter” tab.
June 4, 2016
Our guest speakers were Dr. Bill McIntyre and Dr. Justin Cloutier who presented on “Patient Engagement in Healthcare and Research”. Dr. Seifer was also on hand for the reception and meeting.
What is patient engagement? It is patients, families and health providers working together to improve health. The presentation described Patients as individuals with personal experience of a health issue AND informal care givers, including family and friends. Engaging patients allows for better outcomes, more appropriate health care decisions and a greater understanding of strengths and weaknesses of current care processes. Several successful patient engagement initiatives from Hospitals across Canada were referenced during the presentation. While these were not specific to ICD patients they did highlight some significant improvements in various aspects of patient care in their respective Hospitals. So, what can be worked on locally that would directly impact ICD patients? Some suggestions put forward by the presenters were: How do we improve the visit experience in the Pacemaker / Defibrillator Clinic? Is there anything you wish you knew before you decided to have an ICD implanted? What do you wish your healthcare providers understood better?
As a support group we are committed to working with St. Boniface Hospital on these or other patient engagement initiatives. We will keep you informed going forward.
May 30, 2015
Once again we had over 100 patients and guests join us for refreshments, fellowship and information. Our first speaker was Kristin Millar, a heart transplant recipient since 2012. She was a very entertaining speaker as she shared her journey with us. Barry Guttormson was our second speaker. Barry is the President of Hotwinters.ca and he shared with us the ins and outs of travel insurance. More details on both presentations can be found in our Volume 16 newsletter. Just look under the “Newsletters” tab on this web site.
