MEET OUR MEMBERS
Many of our members have been serving on the front lines to provide essential services throughout the pandemic, and continue to do so. We recently got in touch with Karen, an OMERS member for 20 years. She works for Toronto Public Health (TPH) as part of the Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD) Program, which provides support and resources about vaccines and the diseases they can prevent or control.
Q: Prior to the pandemic, what did a typical day on the job look like for you?
A: A typical day was a mix of meetings, phone calls and focused time in the office. VPD is a large program so it was a nice mix of program issues, strategizing and working on special projects within the program and across public health.
Q: What’s an example of a special project that you would work on?
An example of a special project would be working on how to improve uptake for people who don’t finish a vaccine series. It’s not enough to just tell people to do something and hope that they’ll do it because often people want to do something but then things get in the way between intent and action.
In immunization, we know there’s good evidence to say reminder letters help. If your health care provider sends you a letter reminding you to do something, you will. We worked with behavioural science experts to redesign the letters to make them more engaging. For example, we added maps so that people would know where the clinics were without having to look it up. We also made some changes to our appointment system to help people remember their appointments. The easier you make something, the more likely people are to go out and do it.
Q: How did you get into a career with Toronto Public Health?
A: I have an undergraduate degree in biochemistry and a master’s in nursing. It’s been this kind of meandering path of always seeking out continuous learning opportunities and always working toward the end goal. What drew me to public health is the whole reason I went into nursing: it just makes way more sense to prevent illness and support health rather than treat people once they’re sick.
Q: Given your work in the public health sector, did you ever anticipate having to deal with something like COVID-19?
A: Not even close. I mean, nobody was. During H1N1, I was a supervisor in the Vaccine Program and I honestly didn’t think I would see another pandemic in my career because they don’t come that often. Especially not a pandemic of this nature. No way.
Q: How has your job changed in light of COVID-19?
A: Because I work in public health, my work is all about COVID-19 response. I started teleworking in April and do go into the office on occasion. We have the COVID precautions that we hope all workplaces are taking, including teleworking options, daily screening, physical distancing in office buildings, mandatory mask-wearing, etc. I also haven’t met some of the people I’m working with from across TPH since all meetings are now remote.
Q: What is your work-from-home situation like?
A: For us, it wasn’t possible to work from home at first. Toronto Public Health has an information line that people in the public can call and ask questions. From a technology point of view, the infrastructure for us to run the hotline from home wasn’t there. But now we have it. We adapted what we had, and we made it work.
I’m quite lucky that I live alone. I’m also a bit of an introvert so that helps. But when I say to people “I’m sitting at my desk,” I’m really talking about my modified dining room table.
It’s very hard to maintain work-life balance but it’s workable. As a university student I always studied at the library rather than my apartment or residence to keep work separate. Trying to figure that out has been one of the biggest challenges for me.
Q: What’s one way that you’re keeping your spirits up during the pandemic?
A: I have been meditating daily for years and make it a point to continue. I also make sure that every day I do one thing that keeps my spirits up. It can be listening to some of my favourite music, having a virtual visit with a friend, a phone call to family or working on the cryptic crossword. I love to read and I’m very grateful the libraries are still open. I’m not a TV person at all but I will listen to podcasts. I speak German so I try to listen to German podcasts to keep up my skills.