In the News
Let’s Really Talk: Stigma Still Clouds Suicide Numbers
by Françoise Makanda, DLSPH PhD Candidate C. Dalrymple-Fraser wants the conversation on suicide to change. Dalrymple-Fraser [they/their] does not have answers—just questions about statistics, personal responsibility and disability that could help spark a frank conversation about how the stigma around suicide has not changed. Recent studies have shown that suicide...
Researchers to examine the experiences of female health care workers to address burnout, attrition
By Alisa Kim The COVID-19 pandemic has made worse the long-standing issue of burnout among health care workers. A brief prepared for Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, for example, reports prior to 2020 severe burnout—characterized by intense emotional exhaustion and decreased professional achievement—was found in 20 to 40 per cent...
DLSPH Open: Why I’m Feeling Hopeful Today
Dear Colleagues, With the worst of the pandemic behind us, the worst of winter starting to fade and the promise of better times ahead, I’d like to share why I’m feeling hopeful today. I know that our community is largely exhausted and many are feeling burnout. But when I think...
Meet DLSPH’s New Associate Dean, Public Health Sciences
By Heidi Singer In the early 90s, Carol Strike was working as an HIV researcher for Health Canada when she met a group of epidemiologists working directly with HIV-positive people to develop research most relevant to the community’s needs. Thirty years ago, the idea of community-based research was still fairly...
Celebrating International Women’s Day: A Q&A with surgeon-scientist-in-training Dr. Fahima Dossa
During medical school, Dr. Fahima Dossa thought she would specialize in neurology, but after some clinical rotations she discovered an affinity for surgery. “I remember leaving my surgical rotation satisfied at the end of every day that I personally had done something to contribute to helping the patient with their...
DLSPH Welcomes Inaugural Registrar
By Elaine Smith Throughout her career, Jabeen Aslam has cherished the opportunity to work closely with students. Now she brings her nearly 10 years of experience in student support and enrolment management to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health as its inaugural Registrar and director of Student Services. “The...
Managing Diabetes and Hypertension Remotely in Rural Pakistan
By Heidi Singer Researchers at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health are working to implement telemedicine for managing diabetes and hypertension in rural Pakistan – care that is urgently needed to replace traditional services disrupted by the COVID pandemic. Amid the chaos and calamity of COVID, the potential for...
Dr. Walter Wodchis awarded $1.5 million to lead pan-Canadian study of primary care teams
By Alisa Kim Research has shown interprofessional primary care teams, comprised of doctors, nurses, social workers, dieticians and other health professionals, improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary care. These teams were designed to provide value for health dollars through the provision of timely care and by offering various programs and...
“A Perfect Storm”: DLSPH Researchers Fight Vaccine Hesitancy in the Philippines
By Heidi Singer DLSPH researchers are working with NGOs, religious and other community leaders in the Philippines to build trust in COVID vaccines -- helping to address unique historical and geopolitical factors underpinning a vaccination rate that is among the world’s lowest. “COVID has been a big tragedy in The...
Antipsychotic Use Declining in Nursing Homes in Ontario: U of T Researchers
By Heidi Singer Residents of Ontario nursing homes are taking fewer antipsychotic medications and benzodiazepines, and more antidepressants and anticonvulsants, according to a study by researchers at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, the Faculty of Medicine, and colleagues. The findings, published Feb. 15 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMDA,...