CRAJ Summer 2022

Summer 2022 (Volume 32, Number 2)

Arthritis Health Professions Association (AHPA) 2022 Award Winners

Chandra Farrer – Extraordinary Service Award

This award recognizes the contributions an AHPA member has made in advancing the mission, vision, and goals of our organization. This year’s awardee is Chandra Farrer, in recognition of her extraordinary contributions as the Advocacy Co-Chair for the Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care (ACPAC) Special Interest Group (SIG) and for her role as Co-Chair of the Ontario Rheumatology Association’s Northern Ontario Committee.

Chandra, as co-chair of these committees, articulates a clear and consistent vision to support the work of their innovative agendas. Chandra holds a Master of Science in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety but, more importantly, she demonstrates a professional mastery of this knowledge in quality improvement initiatives. She is organized, purposeful and thoughtful. She is a natural leader and is well respected by her peers. Chandra has dedicated many volunteer hours to her advocacy roles. This work supports the vision of the AHPA of improving the lives of people living with arthritis.

Chandra Farrer is an advanced practice physiotherapist who completed her ACPAC training in 2008, and has been working for 14 years in rheumatology. She completed her Master’s in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety in 2017 at the University of Toronto. Her quality improvement projects include evaluation of rheumatology models of care, referral management, electronic patient record utilization and optimization, and improving communication for patient safety. She holds a clinical lecturer status in the Department of Physical Therapy and is a facilitator at the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (C-QuIPS) at the University of Toronto. Chandra is co-chair of the Northern Subcommittee of the Ontario Rheumatology Association, with Dr. Sahil Koppikar, advocating for a model of care to improve access to rheumatologic care in Northern Ontario.

Sue MacQueen – Lifetime Achievement Award

This award is given to an individual who has demonstrated excellence through such characteristics as mentorship, initiative, quality innovation, leadership, enthusiasm, and ongoing commitment in rheumatology.

This year’s awardee is Sue MacQueen, in recognition of her leadership, enthusiasm, and ongoing commitment to arthritis care. Sue is an arthritis care ambassador, an industry veteran, and has been a key contributor to an endless list of achievements: in administration with AHPA; in extended-role practitioner research and pediatric guideline development; clinical practice and education with the Arthritis Society; and as a subject matter expert within her community and the larger rheumatology community, ultimately benefiting many people with arthritis.

Sue graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1980 with a BScPT and worked at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener as a staff physiotherapist until 1988, when she started working with the Arthritis Society’s Arthritis Rehabilitation and Education Program (AREP) in Kitchener, Ontario. She has been active in the assessment and management of people living with arthritis, and has developed and presented educational programs for people with different types of arthritis and for healthcare professionals who wish to enhance their competency in arthritis care. In 2009, she completed the Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care (ACPAC) program through the University of Toronto and St Michael’s Hospital. She provided ACPAC support in the Pediatric Rheumatology Clinic at the Children’s Hospital in London and for local physicians and rheumatologists in Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo from 2009-2021.

Sue has been a member of the AHPA for over 33 years and served as President of the organization from 2018-2020, during which time she was focused on the development of a strategic plan and promoting collaboration with the CRA and the Ontario Rheumatology Association (ORA). She was awarded the AHPA Extraordinary Service Award in 2021 and the AHPA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. This year, Sue was also awarded the Leadership and Advocacy Award from the Ontario Physiotherapy Association. Sue recently retired from AREP after 33 years.

Julie Herrington – AHPA Clinical Innovation Award

This award was created to recognize AHPA members who have designed and implemented an innovative clinical project or related initiative that benefits the lives of Canadians living with arthritis. This award showcases clinical initiatives including those that assess, treat, educate, or otherwise support people living with arthritis in new and innovative ways. This year’s recipient is Julie Herrington for her project entitled: “ACPAC Therapist Virtual Coaching of Young Adults as They Transition into Adult Rheumatology Care: An Adaptation of Care Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.”

Julie Herrington is an ACPAC-trained physiotherapist working with the Pediatric and Young Adult Rheumatology teams at McMaster Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario. The team environment at this centre has created opportunities for her to innovate and develop programs that support adolescents and young adults during their health care transition. The transition team supporting and developing this clinical innovation at McMaster Hospital includes CRA members Dr. Michelle Batthish (pediatric rheumatologist) and Dr. Mark Matsos (adult rheumatologist).

Susan Bartlett – Carolyn Thomas Award

This award is given to the first author of the best scientific abstract, and was established in honour of Carolyn Thomas, a founding member of the AHPA who supported research.

The recipient of the 2022 AHPA Carolyn Thomas Award is Susan Bartlett, PhD, for her work entitled “Riding Multiple Waves of Uncertainty: The Impact of COVID-19 on RA Patients in the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH).” Dr. Bartlett is a clinical psychologist and Professor of Medicine at McGill University in the Divisions of Clinical Epidemiology, Rheumatology, and Respiratory Medicine. She is co-founder of the McGill Centre for Health Measurement, a senior researcher with the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, Arthritis Research Canada, and the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort. Her studies focus on patient-centred research, measurement development, treatment adherence, and psychosocial factors that impact treatment outcomes. She is Chair of the AHPA Research Committee, the Association of Rheumatology Professionals Board, and the National Institute of Health (NIH) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Board of Directors.

Karine Toupin-April – Barbara Hanes Memorial Award

Given to the primary author of the best abstract submitted by an occupational therapist, this award was established by the AHPA in honour of Barbara Hanes, who worked as an Occupational Therapy Director at the Arthritis Society, Ontario Division. She was active in teaching and a contributing author to the rheumatology textbook “Physical Therapy in Arthritis.”

The recipient of the 2022 AHPA Barbara Hanes Memorial Award is Karine Toupin-April, PhD, for her abstract entitled “Acceptability and Usability of the JIA Option Map, a Web-Based Patient Decision Aid for Pain Management in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.” Dr. Toupin-April is an Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and with the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa, and is affiliated with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute. Her research in pediatric and adult rheumatology includes developing patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs), clinical practice guidelines, patient decision support interventions and self-management tools.

Viviane Ta – Best Trainee Abstract Award

This award is presented for the best trainee abstract submitted to and presented at the CRA/AHPA conference in each of three separate categories.

The recipient of the 2022 AHPA Trainee Award is Viviane Ta for her abstract entitled “Beliefs and Concerns about RA Medications May Predict Influenza Vaccine Hesitancy: Results from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH).” Viviane is a PhD student in the Counselling Psychology program at McGill University. Her current research examines associations between medication beliefs, vaccination coverage, and treatment outcomes in early rheumatoid arthritis. She is passionate about improving the quality of life of adults with RA. Viviane is a member of the AHPA, and an Arthritis Research Canada and CATCH trainee.