About
What is a family health team?
A family health team is a group of doctors and allied health professionals who work together to provide comprehensive medical care.
As a rostered patient of this family health team, you have access not only to your family doctor, but to a nurse, dietitian, pharmacist, chiropractor and social worker. If you'd like a referral, please contact us.
High Quality Primary Health Care
Our mission is to promote health and well-being through high-quality preventative and primary care.
We provide exemplary patient-centered primary health care through inter-professional collaboration, respect, and a commitment to excellence.
Strategic Plan
Vision
Leading the provision of exemplary personcentred primary health care
Mission
To provide exceptional team-based primary care and health promotion in partnership with our patients and community agencies
Values
Excellence, Collaboration, Dignity & Respect, Patient-centred Care, Equity & Inclusion
Strategy Priorities
1. Care: Placing health and well-being at the core of everything we do
Strategies:
- Enhance the cultural sensitivity and inclusivity of our programs
- Foster the health and well-being of our team
- Introduce new health promotion and patient and community education services including virtual and group options
2. Relationships: Building relationships to strengthen our community
Strategies:
- Increase our engagement with community agencies to broaden our understanding of community strengths and needs and identify ways we can help
- Integrate our programs with the work of others
- Renew partnerships that have been paused (while focusing on the pandemic)
- Nurture relationships with local primary care, and physician groups
3. Sustainability: Securing our future
Strategies:
- Focus our efforts on obtaining new resources that will help ensure our success
- Leverage resources by working more with other agencies
- Capitalize on available data and information to support decision-making and planning related to service quality, health outcomes, and organizational sustainability
- Streamline internal communication and promote consistency within the physician practices
Services
Chiropractor
Chiropractors are experts in assessing, diagnosing and managing musculoskeletal disorders such as neck, back, shoulder, hand/wrist, knee, and ankle/foot injuries. Sports injuries, workplace injuries, car accident injuries, are also commonly managed by chiropractors. Our chiropractor collaborates with your physician and other health professionals to manage your pain, and can help you return to normal function. Chiropractic care may consist of soft tissue release, spinal and extremity joint mobilization and/or manipulation, acupuncture, and exercise prescription.
- Workshops/education
Low back pain and the ISAEC/Rapid Access Clinic model
Provide a general understanding of back pain, overview of what a chiropractor/physiotherapist can offer for management, review exercises to alleviate back pain - Neck pain
Provide a general understanding of neck pain, overview of what a chiropractor/physiotherapist can offer for management, review exercises to alleviate neck pain - Shoulder pain
Provide a general understanding of shoulder pain, overview of what a chiropractor/physiotherapist can offer for management, review exercises to alleviate shoulder pain - Hip and knee pain
Provide a general understanding hip/knee OA, overview of what a chiropractor/physiotherapist can offer for management, review exercises to alleviate hip/knee pain - Pain from other regions (wrist/hand, foot, etc)
Tailored to specific anatomical area - Chronic pain
Provide a general understanding of acute vs. chronic pain, overview of what a chiropractor/physiotherapist can offer for management, collaboration with other health professionals, review exercises
Clinical Pharmacist
Your Pharmacist works with your doctor and the other health professionals in your doctor’s office to make sure you get better care. Your Pharmacist also provides medication reviews for patients on multiple medications or who have prescription related questions.
- Diabetes Teaching: how to use diabetes injections and blood glucose monitors
- Lung Health Program: spirometry testing, education on Asthma/COPD, inhaler technique, written action plans
- Smoking Cessation Program: detailed individual quit plans, free nicotine replacement
- Tapering and deprescribing of harmful medications such as sedatives
- System navigation for patients applying for drug reimbursement programs (eg. Trillium or EAP)
- Provider education on new medications, changes, or legalization (eg. cannabis)
Registered Nurse
The Registered Nurse works in close collaboration with physicians and other interdisciplinary health care professionals within the Family Health Team's community setting. The Registered Nurse is responsible for conducting initial assessments, immunizations, suture removal, pap smears, smoking cessation, and patient education. The Registered Nurse also provides System Navigation services to locate or make referrals to appropriate community supports.
Registered Dietitian
The Registered Dietitian at the Crosstown Family Health Team provides individualized nutrition education as well as group education on health and nutrition-related topics. Registered Dietitians are licensed professionals, uniquely trained to advise on diet, food and nutrition in many diverse workplaces. Dietitians are the recognized food and nutrition professionals in Canada.
Our Registered Dietitian can help you with:
- Unintentional weight loss due to decreased intake, loss of appetite or unknown reasons
- Gastrointestinal problems such as Celiac, Crohns, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Acid Reflux and Diverticulitis
- Dyslipidemia and/or Hypertension
- Diagnosed Food Sensitivities or Allergies
- Pediatric Nutrition concerns such as growth and selective/picky eating
- Cancer
- Hypoglycemia and other conditions suitable for treatment through diet
Here is a list of available dietary programs:
- The Mindful Eating Program is a 6 week virtual group program designed to help clients better navigate their food choices through mindful and intuitive eating approaches in order to nurture a healthier relationship with food. This group employs cognitive behavioural techniques to help clients better cope with their emotions without using food.
- The Craving Change Program is a 2 week virtual or in person group program designed to introduce concepts and strategies to help clients better understand why they eat in unhealthy ways. This program delves deep into the psychology of WHY we eat the way we do and offers solutions of HOW to make changes to our eating behaviours.
- The Why Weight program offers nutrition solutions of how to lose weight by incorporating bulk cooking strategies, learning about portion sizes and how to balance your blood sugars. This no nonsense program that provides you with specific strategies of how to organize your eating so that you don't have to constantly THINK what you're going to eat. The emphasis of this program is to teach you how to cook blood sugar balancing meals in bulk so that you save time and money.
Social Worker
The Registered Social Worker is available to assist you with issues that impact your daily emotional health. The Social Worker provides individual assessment, counselling, education and group work, encouraging a holistic approach to health care delivery on the Family Health Team. This emphasis on mental health promotion, support and advocacy is done in close collaboration with your Doctor and team.
Our Social Worker can help you:
- Identify and understand your sources of stress or difficulty (stressors)?
- Better understand and cope with anxiety, depression and chronic disease
- Change your thinking to change your responses (behaviour)?
- Develop new coping and communication approaches
- Focus on your strengths and find effective solutions or plans of action
- Navigate services and connect with community resources
- Locate alternate counselling resources if needed