Merry Christmas and happy holidays from everyone here at Quinte Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine! We hope you all enjoy this peaceful time of year surrounded by friends and family. Thank you for a wonderful year and we’ll see you again in 2013!
Welcome to our latest feature here at Quinte Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine: QPAM Q&A! Every month we’ll collect your kid’s and teen health related questions. Then, the following month we’ll respond to your questions in two ways. The first way will be with our monthly Soundbites! videos, in which Dr. Dempsey will provide quick, “soundbite” responses to all of the questions. But, if you’re looking for more in-depth information on any of the questions, you can visit our blog here at QuintePediatrics.com throughout the month for full-length articles. We’ll post a new article each week! If you’re eager to get[Read more...]
The following post is part of our monthly QPAM Q&A feature. Question: “How can I best provide comfort to my child in a wheelchair?” Answered by: Jared If you have a child who has limited mobility and therefore spends much of their time in a wheelchair, this post may be of particular interest to you. The process of achieving comfort in a wheelchair can be very involved. For an individual who is non-verbal, the situation can be even more difficult. Over the years, I myself have studied and experienced a tricky little thing referred to as autonomic dysreflexia. This[Read more...]
Last night we had our second meet-up for parents and caregivers of kids and teens with special needs. While seasonal sickness and festive obligations can make this a difficult time of year for getting together, we had a good group out, including lots of new faces. There were a lot of great conversations and it sounds like everyone went home feeling like they got something out of the experience. While this was our last event of 2012, we’re already making plans for our kick-off meet-up in January of 2013 so stay tuned for details! Over the past couple of meet-ups,[Read more...]
Last week, Sara traveled all the way to the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres Annual Conference in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. It was at this gathering of kid’s health professionals from across the country that she had the chance to talk about social media, pediatrics, and how we’re bringing the two together here at Quinte Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. The entire conference was an incredible experience, packed full of passionate people sharing and working on innovative ideas. The session, Navigating Health 2.0 – Apps or Oranges Without Going Bananas!, was a true group effort. Sara presented on a panel that[Read more...]
Click here to RSVP! Way back in June, we turned to you guys for help. We wanted to know what kind of activities and services for children and teens with special needs you wanted to see right here in our community, so we asked you to tell us on our blog. Your responses were great, varied and super inspiring! From your ideas, we decided to plan our first ever get-together for the families of kids and teens with special needs. This was to be an event where family members and caregivers could come together, regardless of diagnosis, and network, socialize[Read more...]
Here at Quinte Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine we’re excited to welcome a new face to our team for the next few months. Jared Stire will be joining us as our new co-op student, working as a social media assistant with our own Sara Hamil! We’re super excited to have Jared on board, adding his wit and perspective to QPAM’s online presence. Take a minute to get to know Jared with his inaugural blog post! Greetings, Quinte Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and health care enthusiasts! It is my privilege to introduce myself to your community! My name is Jared Stire. For those[Read more...]
It’s not quite official yet, but back to school is in sight, and summer vacation is wrapping up for another year. As exciting as it can be to head back to class, this time of year isn’t without its own kinds of health concerns. We’ve been collecting some of the best back-to-school articles from around the Web and we’ve complied them here for easy reference. Here’s to a safe, happy and healthy new school year! General Health “How to get ready for the flood of back-to-school illnesses” (Globe and Mail) “School-Age Years: Developmental milestones” (AboutKidsHealth) “Teens and sleep: Why you[Read more...]
You asked for it and we’re making it happen, so mark you calendars! On Thursday, August 30th, we’ll be holding our first “Meet and Mingle” event for parents and caregivers of kids and teens with special needs! This will be a low-key evening where you’ll be able to hang out with other local parents and caregivers while you all enjoy refreshments, share your stories, and make some new friends! The event will be held at our office at 100 Station Street in Belleville and children are more than welcome to come along and enjoy the fun! Attendees also don’t need[Read more...]
A big story in the news in 2012 was that pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough, had been making a troublesome return across North America. Whooping cough is an infectious disease that can be especially dangerous for infants and young children. Word of its recent resurgence is certainly worrisome and naturally you, members of the QPAM community, had a number of questions. The most common questions we received had been about the pertussis vaccination schedule. The immunization schedule gives pertussis (the vaccine is grouped with tetanus and diphtheria) at 2, 4, 6, and 15-18 months, as well as 4-5 years of[Read more...]
