In-house activity detail

Details about the lobbying activity

We will be engaging with Yukon public office holders and asking the public to engage with their representatives around the key findings and recommendations in the report 2023 Impact of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Canada. Key recommendations include the following: - models of care should evolve towards a multi-disciplinary approach that sees all members of a person's health team working together; - strategies are needed to optimize effectiveness of available therapies consistent with a "treat to target approach", including early introduction of biologic therapy, targeting normalization of objective markers of disease remission and using therapeutic drug monitoring to guide treatment decisions with biologics; - quality improvement initiatives, such as those developed under the Promoting Access to Care through Centres of Excellence (PACE) program, should be embedded in institutional policies and practices regardless of geographic locale; - access to and funding for mental health supports for children and adults living with IBD; - improved access to technologies needed to monitor bowel inflammation, including, but not limited to, endoscopy, cross-sectional imaging and fecal calprotectin; - efforts needed to reduce geographic, ethnocultural and other sociodemographic inequities in access to and utilization of health services among people living with IBD, including high-quality specialist care; - increased access to primary health care professionals, such as gastroenterologists, family physicians, IBD specialist nurses, psychotherapists, as well as allied health care professionals such as dieticians is needed to better manage long-standing disease or flares and ensure high-quality care; - policies needed to support quality of life for people living with IBD, for example, accommodations and supports in the workplace, school and public spaces (restroom access). We also continue to press for timely access to new treatment options for Ontarians with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Our initial outreach will focus on removing restrictive criteria that force people to "try and fail" on conventional therapies before being allowed to go on biologics and advanced therapies. We support physicians and specialists in being able to take a more targeted approach to drug treatment that sees the right treatment being prescribed for the right treatment at the right time.