Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Bike Month campaign helps commuters shift gears

by Mat Thijssen.

June has come and gone, and with it finishes the TravelWise Bike Month campaign. A big thanks to all University of Waterloo staff, faculty, and students who strapped on their helmet and took part in the festivities.  UWaterloo staff and faculty made up more than half of the local bike trips, and showed our #BikeMonthWR love on Twitter! 

Here are some highlights:

• 10 cyclists joined our Bike Safety Session
• 110 staff and students participated in the Bike Challenge and racked up some awesome stats.
• 130 riders came out to our Bike Breakfast for snacks, coffee, swag, and a tune-up from King Street Cycles
• 500 bikes across campus received a little note from TravelWise and Parking Services to remind them that they are awesome

Of course, a campaign just isn’t complete without a little friendly competition. There was a big push to rule the Bike Challenge Leaderboard. Congratulations to the prize winners:

• Hendrik Walther: $200 gift certificate for King Street Cycles.  Hendrik also gets kudos for topping the Leaderboard with 148 bike trips in June. Says Walther: “Cycling is a life style and I live it to the fullest.”

• Juli-Ann Sanuto: Bike swag prize basket. Says Sanuto: “Even a bad day on the bike beats a good day in the car. I feel like I am five years old every time I pedal – it makes me so happy. Helmet head is the new black!”
• Christine Moresoli: Bike swag prize basket. Says Moresoli: “Cycling is great—it offers freedom, rewards, and challenges!”
• Brendan Lowther: $10 Tim card & 10 GRT tickets.  Brendan was runner-up on the Leaderboard with 108 bike trips. Says Lowther: “The Bike Challenge was a great way to try and see if I could ride each day of the month which resulted in well over 1000 kms total and a reminder of how awesome it is to commute from Elmira to Waterloo each day.”

Now that summer is here in full swing, there are still opportunities to give cycling to campus a try. Read a blog post from a Waterloo PhD student on why cycling is awesome, and check out the programs and services that are available to help employees and students commute sustainably. 

Happy cycling!

CECA: how we're professionally connected

By Clare Flood. 

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) acts as “the voice for post-secondary Co-operative Education in Canada”, focused on the advocacy for, and cultivation of co-operative education among leaders in business, government, and education. In order to achieve this goal, CAFCE works in partnership with members of more than 79 post-secondary institutions to develop resources for growing and improving co-operative education programs across the country.

The University of Waterloo’s Co-operative Education & Career Action (CECA) department is a CAFCE member, and manages a full slate of CAFCE-accredited co-operative education programs. The benefits of accreditation for Waterloo include the enhancement of program profile and credibility, a program review process every six years, and a supportive environment to foster improvements, continuous learning, and innovation.

Waterloo’s membership is also beneficial to CAFCE. As the largest co-op program of its kind in the world, the founder of co-op in Canada, and a pioneer of CAFCE itself, Waterloo helps CAFCE validate the quality of our nation’s co-operative education programs.

CECA is also a member of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE). CACEE is an “association that fosters the essential networking partnership between Canadian educational institutions and employers”. Both employers and career service professionals participate in “networking opportunities, professional development, and continuous education” as members of CACEE.

CACEE provides membership not only to post-secondary institutions but to employers as well. As a result, CACEE has a valuable understanding of which recruiters are hiring students and why, as well as the techniques employers can use to broaden their talent recruitment initiatives. CACEE’s employer resources help more students get hired, which is beneficial to the ever-growing number of Waterloo students seeking employment.

While these associations are an integral component of CECA’s professional network, the department also maintains memberships with Education at Work Ontario (EWO), National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Co-operative Education & Internship Association (CEIA), American Society for Engineering Education/Co-operative Education Division (ASEE/CED) and World Association of Co-operative Education (WACE).

Study reveals harm of physical restraint techniques

This story was originally published on Waterloo News.

Providers of mental-health services still rely on intervention techniques such as physical restraint and confinement to control some psychiatric hospital patients, a practice which can cause harm to both patients and care facilities, according to a new study from the University of Waterloo.

The study, which appears in a special mental health issue of Healthcare Management Forum, found that almost one in four psychiatric patients in Ontario hospitals are restrained using control interventions, such as chairs that prevent rising, wrist restraints, seclusion rooms or acute control medications.

“The latest findings show that the use of restraints and medications as control interventions is still an everyday practice in inpatient mental health units,” said Professor John Hirdes of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences and senior author on the paper. Hirdes is also head of interRAI Canada, an international research network that develops mental health assessment tools.

The research reveals that Ontario health-care providers administer acute control medication to almost 20 per cent of psychiatric patients in order to manage dangerous situations.

“Control interventions are not ideal because they counter a patient-centered approach to care and can damage therapeutic relationships while further stigmatizing patients,” said Tina Mah, lead author and vice president of planning, performance management and research at Grand River Hospital. “There are also organizational implications of control interventions use including increased costs of care, reputational harm and exposure to potential litigation.”

The study suggests that earlier detection of illness or deterioration would help avoid patient crisis and minimize the use of physical restraint, sedation or seclusion. In addition, health-care providers should not use control interventions when a psychiatric emergency is not present.