In March and April, HALO Scientist Dr. Pat Longmuir has given several presentations and media interviews related to her research program. Read below to learn more about what Dr. Longmuir and her team have been up to over the last couple of months:
- On March 8, 2017 Dr. Longmuir presented “It’s Play Time! Unexpected Reasons for Children’s Physical Activity” to the Canadian Association of Pediatric Healthcare Centres. This national webinar attracted over 120 healthcare professionals, administrators, researchers, parents, students and professors, from across North America. Dr. Longmuir shared information about the reasons that activity is particularly important for children living with medical conditions and disabilities.
- On April 7, 2017, Dr. Pat Longmuir was an invited speaker at the 10th Golden Horseshoe Pediatric Exercise Meeting at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. She shared information on encouraging physical activity among children with cardiac diagnoses and other medical conditions as part of a panel discussion and Q&A for healthcare professionals, students and faculty.
- Fearless Physical Activity is a joint project of the Canadian Congenital Heart Alliance and Dr. Pat Longmuir of the CHEO Research Institute. The goal of the project is to provide children, teens and adults born with heart problems with an opportunity to enjoy a variety of physical activities that are suited to their heart condition. The Fearless events also provide an opportunity to meet other families affected by congenital heart disease and learn about the resources and supports available through the Canadian Congenital Heart Alliance. The Fearless Physical Activity project was featured on CTV News Ottawa on Tuesday 18 April 2017. The segment featured Dr. Lillian Lai, cardiologist, Jenna Yaraskavitch, project coordinator, and Sandra and Adeline. See our news segment at: ottawa.ctvnews.ca/video?binId=1.1166252
- On April 19, 2017, Dr. Lillian Lai, Dr. Pat Longmuir, Ms. Jenna Yaraskavitch along with Adeline and her mother Sandra were interviewed by Andrew Duffy from the Ottawa Citizen. He came to CHEO to learn more about the Fearless Physical Activity project that is being led by the Canadian Congenital Heart Alliance and the CHEO Research Institute, with funding from the Ontario Sport and Recreation Communities Fund of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Adeline showed everyone how active she could be with the balls and toys in the HALO research lab. The article is available here: ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/cheo-project-aims-to-make-children-born-with-heart-disease-more-active.
- The team of Dr. Pat Longmuir, Ms. Natasha Cinanni and Ms. Angelica Blais have entered the “HOPP Project – Help Our Patients Play” into the Hacking Health Ottawa event for CHEO. The Hacking Health Ottawa event will pair designs, software engineers, and technology gurus with healthcare professionals for an intensive weekend event to develop new technologies to address the most important problems of our patients. Check out project #78 on the Hacking Health Ottawa Sparkboard (hhottawa.sparkboard.com) and if you have a knack for problem solving, consider joining our team at the Hacking Health Ottawa weekend on April 28, 29 and 30th (hackinghealth.ca/event/hhottawa-hip613-hackathon).