By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
A new year of Northumberland PACE Talks begins Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. with a panel-style virtual discussion on a subject that’s top-of-mind after December’s storms and power outages – Emergency Preparedness At Home.
The session also marks a shift in the traditional PACE schedule, as talks move from Wednesday to Thursday evenings.
PACE partners welcome to the panel a complement of local experts to share their knowledge, including Cobourg Police Service Constable Jason Salisbury, Northumberland Paramedics Deputy Chief of Operations Keith Barrett and Cobourg Firefighter Rachel Dunbrack.
Last month’s historic snow storm saw many Ontarians – Northumberland residents among them – lose power and become stranded in their vehicles. During this session, attendees will hear panel members discuss best practices and resources to utilize at home during emergencies – both medical and environmental.
As always, questions from the PACE audience will be addressed, and these can be pre-submitted by e-mailing mbhargava@imcare.ca prior to Jan. 19.
PACE talks began when Dr. Mukesh Bhargava found patients posing frequently asked questions that he believed might be of interest to members of the community beyond his own patient roster. The acronym stands for Personalized Assessment and Change Education, and the talks began in 2018 – hosted as free public education sessions on a broad range of health and wellness topics.
Sessions alternated between Cobourg and Port Hope, and consistently drew large groups of community members with a range of questions and perspectives. Then – like many events – changes were made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic and the series adapted to a new virtual format.
The series continues to be successful, and the roster of participating partners continues to increase. Ontario Health Team of Northumberland has joined the group at the planning table for the 2022-2023 season.
The hour-long PACE events consist of a 30-minute talk, a 20-minute question-and-answer session with the guest speaker(s) and a short moderator summary. Bring your questions, your suggestions and your experience, and join in what is expected to be another informative discussion on a topic chosen by previous PACE attendees.
Pre-registration is required, and space is limited to the first 300 registered attendees. The event will be hosted through Zoom, and attendees will be asked to log in five minutes prior to the start of the event.
Register at www.pacetalks.com, where you will also find video and highlights from many previous talks. For those unable to attend, efforts will be made – technology permitting – to share a recording of this conversation following the event.
