Riley Hammond is a graduate student at the School of Public Health within the College of Health Sciences, working at the Inner City Health and Wellness Program (ICHWP). This program is dedicated to improving outcomes for structurally vulnerable populations, including people who are experiencing homelessness or those who use substances. YouAlberta sat down with Riley to learn more about his experiences at the program and how he is making a difference in our community.
Can you tell us more about yourself and your research?
I was born and raised in Treaty 4 territory in the rural municipality of Grassy Creek. I am an artist of multiple mediums including paint and ink, horticulture and movement and have been instructing yoga since 2016. Having volunteered and travelled throughout multiple countries, I am a self-learner with a growth mindset and am keenly interested in local and global affairs. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan, a Bachelor of Science in Psychiatric Nursing from Brandon University, and am entering my second year as a Master of Science student at the U of A’s School of Public Health.
I am a proud registered psychiatric nurse with community and clinical practice in various rural and urban settings including intellectual and developmental challenges, forensic psychiatry and restorative justice, addictions medicine and harm reduction and acute stabilization for adults with psychiatric disorders at one of Edmonton’s inner city hospitals.
My research experience includes behavioral neuroscience with rodent models; rural and urban mental health; intimate partner violence experiences in Manitoba during COVID-19; and urban HIV health and service accessibility in Cape Town, South Africa. These projects fostered my passion for population health policy research and health equity, and inform my current research investigating how the urban built environment impacts the health and harm reduction behaviors and practices of people who use drugs in central business districts. The complex nature of this research examines how both physical and social dimensions of the built environment can be modified to promote health and wellness while also reducing the risk of toxic drug poisoning events and infectious disease spread.
What motivates you to work in this area?
As a youth growing up in a rural setting throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, I watched as people in my community affected by mental health and substance use challenges were often ostracized from their peer networks and unable to access the support they needed. Having since worked in a variety of community-based roles that have sought ways to minimize barriers and enhance facilitators to accessing health and social services, I am motivated to identify and advocate for changes to key areas of policy to better promote equity, diversity, and inclusion for equity-seeking populations.
What is one challenge you want to solve through your work?
Enhancing the support available to people who use drugs in public spaces who are at risk of a poisoning event.
How might this research have a positive effect on our community?
The word community stems from the Latin communis which relates to that which is shared or common by all. Western society is increasingly fragmented, and a sense of community now tends to relate to areas of interest, common or shared experiences, etc., with less emphasis on community and place. By examining how built urban environments impact health behaviours of marginalized groups who identify as belonging within these shared urban spaces, this research has the potential to enhance solidarity across these communities. In creating space and opportunity for discussion that includes the voices of our community members, we can address those needs while also holding space for individuals to contribute new ideas to promote healthier environments in an effort to create safer spaces within our community.
While many of us see people who are members of vulnerable populations every day, we may not interact with them. What’s one thing you wish more people understood about these groups?
The people I meet through my research have been profoundly interesting, insightful and warm given their broad range of life experiences and the hurdles they have had to overcome. Despite the many challenges they face daily, their sense of optimism and connection to others is evident as they find ways to care for themselves and each other. As a result, I want to stress that it is our common humanity which binds us and serves as our imperative for why and how we ought tolearn to better connect with, and empower, one another during these challenging times.
What makes the U of A a great place to do your work and research?
U of A is a highly regarded Canadian post-secondary institution. I remember studying elsewhere and would often hear about the innovation emerging from U of A; I thought to myself, “I could imagine studying there one day…” What makes U of A great, of course, is not just the heritage and architecture, but the people who populate it and their shared commitment to collaboration and staying curious. Moreover, Edmonton’s vibrant river valley along the North Saskatchewan River fosters a truly unique setting for U of A’s north campus. I am proud to study here and hope to leave a legacy with this research.
Is there anything else you want to share about your work and research?
My role as a psychiatric nurse in adult acute psychiatry is in a unique tension with my role as a population health researcher with the Inner City Health and Wellness Program lab investigating ways to mitigate the toxic drug poisoning epidemic in urban Canadian settings.
While on the one hand, I attempt to understand and support a patient’s world from their perspective and treat that as a microcosm unto itself (perhaps as an embodiment of one’s politico-socio-cultural positionality); on the other hand, my population health research facilitates for me the opportunity to investigate the macrocosmic interactions between humans and the systems which they have both organized and defined but also interact with at various levels (individual, community, society, etc.). For me, this tension requires patience, curiosity, and willingness to embrace wicked problems and complex relationships.
What is one piece of advice you’d offer to other U of A students interested in research?
Stay curious and explore the opportunities available to you. There is tremendous synergy between curiosity, which fuels investigative and systematic research, the innate and embodied wisdom you already possess, the opportunity to apply new knowledge to whatever area you are passionate about, and the capacity to earn a living doing it. Find your Ikigai 生き甲斐.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
