The provincial system for booking vaccine appointments, which has been confusing and dysfunctional for many, can require resources and skills that those who are most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 don’t always have.

Participating in that call was “gut-wrenching,” Shaikh said, but she realized that to maintain the emotional stamina she would need to make it through the pandemic, she would “have to change (her) perspective.”

Proponents of the simulations say they give students a solid foundation of technical and theoretical knowledge, but more importantly, they develop higher-level cognitive skills.

Caregivers and researchers hope that LTC residents who visit lifelike simulations of meaningful places from their pasts will recall old memories not yet motheaten by dementia, causing them to feel a sense of wistful joy, a swell of pride and to open up to others.

CHARTwatch, is a tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to continuously monitor the medical status of patients on Saint Michael’s General Internal Medicine unit.

First-hand knowledge of what it’s like to struggle with mental illness and substance use – and what it takes to recover – complements the clinical expertise of the ER team.