Friday, August 7, 2015

Gold, bronze medalists to Waterloo in September

Two incoming Waterloo Computer Science students, Jacob Jackson and Ben Zhang, have recently returned to Canada from the 27th International Olympiad in Informatics, with a gold and bronze medal respectively.

Team Canada members including Coaches Troy Vasiga (Leader) and J.P. Pretti (Deputy Leader), Jacob Jackson, Timothy Li, Ben Zhang and Farbod Yadegarian competed from July 26 – August 2 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Li (silver) and Yadegarian (bronze) are entering Grade 12 in September.

Research to improve access to mental health care

This article was originally published on the Renison University College news site.

A research grant of $295,419 has been awarded to Renison professor Rachelle Ashcroft. The funding will help Ashcroft and her team develop a model that will help Ontarians have better access to mental health care.

“Common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders are highly prevalent in the Canadian population, affecting more than one in five Canadians over their lifetime,” says Professor Rachelle Ashcroft, Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at Renison University College. “The main objective of our research is to develop a model that describes the system of non-financial and financial incentives that can be used to improve access to high-quality mental health care in Family Health Teams. Our research will also identify existing disincentives that may be deterring access to quality mental health care in Family Health Teams,” says Ashcroft.

Disincentives can arise from problems in design or implementation of particular incentive schemes. For example, time restrictions in the scheduling of patient appointments or limited access to mental health specialists.

In Canada, a number of reforms initiated over the past two decades have aimed to strengthen healthcare with changes to primary care models. Family Health Teams are one example of a newer team-based model of primary care that emerged in Ontario in 2005. Family Health Teams are intended to provide Ontarians with improved access to different types of healthcare services, including mental health services. Primary care settings that bring together family physicians and other healthcare providers are considered one of the best settings for the prevention and management of depression and anxiety.  

The Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Operating Grant has been awarded to Professor Ashcroft and her team over a three-year term. They plan to interview a broad range of people who can help identify ways to improve mental health care in Family Health Teams including direct service users, family members, family physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, psychologists, team directors, psychiatrists, community mental health providers, and policymakers.

“We want to learn directly from people who use Family Health Team services as well as the people who provide care in Family Health Teams, and other key stakeholders, what they think are the best ways to help improve mental health care for people with depression and anxiety,” says Ashcroft.

WPIRG driving positive local change

by: Community Relations and Events. This is an excerpt of an article originally published at the  #UWCommunity blog.

For over 40 years, the Waterloo Public Interest Research Group (WPIRG) has not only been representing our students, but engaging them and members of our community in dynamic activities on our campus and throughout the region. Influencing progress by educating and empowering citizens and volunteers, WPIRG helps make positive social change happen.

In operation since 1973, WPIRG exists to provide unique and inclusive opportunities for our student and regional communities to research, educate, and take action on environmental and social justice issues. WPIRG functions as a nonprofit funded on fees paid by full-time undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Waterloo.  This student contribution provides important resources like meeting space, a library, a button-maker and sewing machine, as well as workshops, film screenings and ongoing events, which are planned, created, and attended by both volunteer students and community members.

Established to foster community engagement on campus, WPIRG aims to educate and inform individuals on relevant, contemporary issues and topics, driving campus and community participation in activism. The group fuels its mission through a highly democratic process, inviting all members to 2 or 3 meetings per year where individuals can vote on various key decisions, such as instigating new projects, or determining funding for themed discussion and action groups.

Read the rest of the article at the #UWCommunity blog.