Nipigon District Family Health Team

An excellently run Family Health Team. They are located inside of Nipigon District Hospital but have a seperate entrance to the right of the main hospital entrance. There are a variety of allied health professionals here who work together with the local physicians group, who are are also part of the team, to provide more comprehensive and timely medical care especially in regards to chronic disease management. Since family health teams are new there is a common misconception that they are intended to replace your family doctor. In fact the opposite is true they are intended to extend care, education and support of illnesses that you may see your family doctor for. Essentially they have specialized training in providing the education and support that your family doctor would like you to have but simply does not have sufficient time to provide if they want to be able to see you in a reasonablely timely manner. Generally they are better than your doctor at these things than your family doctor is because they receive specific training in what they do and have sufficient to explain things properly. They also share record with your doctor and have access to them to get advice on your care if needed and even change prescriptions. With most chronic diseases how well that do primarily depends on how well you are able to manage things on a day to day manner and how able that you are to optimise your lifestyle, habits and the way that you think of your illness. Many people are unfortunately led to believe that these things are less important than taking your medications often because your doctor is rushed and often only has a very limited amount of time to spend on diet, exercise and stress reduction. In fact these things are in general the most important part of reaching optimum health. For instance, in many cases type 2 diabetes can actually be cured by simply losing about 10% of your body weight, getting sufficient exercise and maintaining a positive attitude and realizing that you really do have control over your health and how well you feel. Unfortunately this is actually often actually quite difficult to do on your own. This is where the team comes in because they do have the time to spend with you in order to provide the best possible education and support in a personalized manner with on going regular support. In a timely manner.

Specific examples include diabetic education and management, smoking cessation, addiction and mental health counseling, home visits following hospitalization, foot care, help with government and insurance forms, immunization and dietary advice.

They are all very well trained, skilled and compassionate and can make a real difference in your health. Generally you should think of these things as more important, but not a replacement for your prescriptions, because they usually are.

Further information on the specific programs and services offered can be found on thier website.