SURREY – Health experts from Canada and India will converge on SFU’s Surrey campus June 8-10 to share details on how innovation and technology are advancing health care in these countries.
Organized by the Canada India Network Society (CINS) and co-hosted by Fraser Health and SFU, the 3rd CINI conference (others were held in 2014 and 2010) will focus on Health Civil Society: Building links between Canada and India via Sustainable Health through Patient engagement, social innovation and technology.
International participants include members of the Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin. The event’s goal is to bridge efforts in both countries through the exchange of ideas and new collaborations.
CINI 2018 Chair Dr. Arun Garg is CINS president and an adjunct SFUprofessor; he can provide an overview of the conference goals, key issues as well as solutions discussed.
His hope is that CINI 2018 “will declare war on lowering the burden of diabetes, introduce mental wellness as prevention, learn from cross-cultural attitudes on end-of-life quality care, and provide holistic integrative modes of care, all with enhanced leadership, quality and best use of emerging technology.”
SFU health sciences faculty are also part of the event and can address areas such as social innovation and alternative health practices. Experts from Fraser Health and other institutions and organizations are also among participants (check the CINI schedule for more details.)
SFU senior lecturer Paola Ardiles can detail how students in Surrey are using technology to solve complex health issues through SFU’s Health Change Lab. For the past two years the lab, based in Surrey, has involved health sciences students in developing social innovation solutions that target food security, youth engagement, substance abuse and transportation for social activities for seniors.
SFU health sciences professor John O’Neil can elaborate on a pilot project he and colleague Rachel Eni have developed with the First Nations Health Authority, Tzu Chi Foundation and the Snuneymuxw First Nation to explore the feasibility of providing traditional Chinese medicine services to First Nations in BC. The project is a unique example of integrative medicine where traditional Indigenous and Chinese approaches to healing are offered together with western medicine.
And Faculty of Health Sciences Dean Tania Bubela, on the event’s steering committee, will also co-chair a session on leadership and health. She says “CINI 2018 will strengthen links in areas of research strength for both the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and partner institutions in India. We share a commitment to creating sustainable and equitable health systems that address the needs of our respective populations, including the most vulnerable in our communities.”
