UPFRONT | News PATIENT EDUCATION New arthritis screening program opens at drugstores Canadian retailer Shoppers Drug Mart has launched the company’s Arthritis Screen-ing program, an initiative that allows Canadians to work with a pharmacist to help detect and manage arthritis condition at an early stage. Shoppers Drug Mart an-nounced the new program Sept. 9 with Health Minister Rona Ambrose. An estimated one in six Canadians aged 15 years and older live with arthritis and its prevalence has a tremendous impact, translating into lost productivity, absenteeism and increased health-care spend-ing and costing an estimated $33 billion annually, accord-ing to a statement issued by Shoppers Drug Mart an-nouncing the new program. ”Our government supports initiatives that help Canadians better manage their health and improve their quality of life,” Ambrose said. “We are pleased to have funded research that contributed to the develop-ment of this innovative new program that will improve the quality of life of Canadians living with arthritis.” The program was devel-oped from research carried out at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada with fund-ing from the Government of Canada through the Cana-dian Institutes of Health Re-search. It shows how re-searchers, patients and the private sector can work to-gether to provide innovative health solutions to Canadians. Pharmacists at more than 1,200 Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canada will be providing arthritis screening and information to Canadi-ans as part of a three-year www.canadianchiropractor.ca LEADERshIP Parker Alumni names new execs The Parker Alumni Association re-cently elected members to its exec-utive committee. Dr. Steven Brooks was named president following his two-year role as vice-president of the Parker Alumni Association. Dr. Carol Watkins was elected vice-pres-ident and Dr. Beau Hightower will serve as treasurer. “All three of them are proven leaders who are extremely dedicated to ensuring the alumni association is a resource for Parker alumni and friends,” said Timothy Gunn, director of alumni relations at Parker University, based in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Brooks, a 1999 graduate of Parker, practises in San Angelo, Texas, at Sunset Chiropractic. He was recognized as San Angelo’s Favorite Chiropractor in a Standard-Times reader’s choice poll from 2003-2012. He has served on nu-merous local and national boards, including Make-A-Wish Foundation, Boys and Girls Club and city council appointed boards. His new position will also allow him to sit on the board of trustees for Parker University. Newly elected vice-president, Dr. Watkins, previously served as treas-urer. A 2011 Parker graduate, Dr. Watkins co-chaired the Young Alumni Committee. Even as a Parker student she was involved in the alumni association by sitting on the Parker Alumni Association Board of Directors, where she became the voice of the students within the association. Dr. Hightower is the newest mem-ber of the executive committee and co-chaired the Young Alumni Committee with Dr. Watkins.Dr. Hightower holds more than 400 hours of post-doctoral education in physical rehabilitation and function-al neurology and is pursuing his PhD in brain and rehabilitation sciences. His sports medicine residency was completed in Bogota, Colombia, where he treated the country’s Olympic athletes. partnership between Shop-pers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix, Arthritis Consumer Experts and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada. “Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacists are already ac-tively involved in managing complex chronic diseases, like diabetes, heart disease and now arthritis,” said Domenic Pilla, president and CEO, Shoppers Drug Mart. “By becoming increasingly in-volved in managing complex chronic diseases, pharmacists are helping to ease the burden on the health-care system, while also helping to improve patient care.” The Shoppers Drug Mart Arthritis Screening is the first and only program in Canada designed with women in mind, according to the com-pany. Arthritis affects two out of three, or 2.8 million, Cana-dian women. To help detect the disease at an early stage, the program includes a self-administered joint exam and questionnaire. It also helps Canadians with arthritis work with a pharmacist to monitor their symptoms and medication over time to pre-vent the disease from worsen-ing, the retailer said. “The arthritis community is excited to be partnering with Shoppers Drug Mart/ Pharmaprix. They’re on main streets across Canada, right where the more than 4.6 mil-lion Canadians living with arthritis live and work. Phar-macists are key members of an arthritis patient’s health-care team. Now, Shoppers’ pharmacists will be able to share valuable arthritis infor-mation and detect or confirm arthritis with patients through innovative consumer educa-tion programs right at the pharmacy counter,” said Ar-thritic Consumer Experts founder and president, Cheryl Koehn. “We’re thrilled that Shop-pers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix is putting our research to work by launching this im-portant initiative in its stores,” said Dr. John Esdaile, scien-tific director of Arthritis Re-search Centre of Canada. “Early diagnosis of arthritis is critical to slowing the progress of this disease. That’s why Arthritis Research Centre of Canada scientist Carlo Marra and his team have invested enormous energy in develop-ing the screening exam tool for pharmacists. We hope Canadians will get screened through this program and get access to the care they need to improve their health and quality of life.” Arthritis is the second most frequently mentioned condition as a cause of disa-bility among men, but first among women. Arthritis-re-lated disability includes limi-tations in mobility, such as moving around, reaching and bending, and transportation; self-care; domestic life; and community, social and civic life. October 2013 Canadian Chiropractor 9
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