The provincial lead for Ontario’s Seniors Care Strategy will be at McMaster April 2 and 3 to share his expertise on optimal aging and healthcare for older adults.

Dr. Samir Sinha, who led the development of Living Longer, Living Well, a comprehensive report that is guiding the province in its efforts to help seniors stay healthy and live at home longer, will be one of the panellists in a discussion on extended and second careers, taking place on April 2. More details on that event are available here.

He will also give a lecture on patient-centred communications on April 3 from 1 to 2 p.m. Entitled Effective Care: Tips on Communicating with Patients to Enhance Care, the lecture will be held in room 3022 of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery.

Effective communication between healthcare providers and patients, as well as between healthcare professionals, is a crucial part of providing high-quality, patient-centred care. The role of public health policy in emphasizing the importance of communication and improving patient outcomes has also become increasingly pertinent in recent years.

Dr. Sinha, director of geriatrics for Mount Sinai and the University Health Networks Hospitals in Toronto, will share his views on why communication is so important in the medical profession, and focus on his particular expertise in dealing with older patients.

The lecture is open to all faculty, staff and students at McMaster, as well as the general public.

Dr. Sinha received his medical training in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Before coming to Ontario, he was based at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he served as the inaugural Erickson/Reynolds Fellow in Clinical Geriatrics, Education and Leadership. He continues to hold a position there as assistant professor.

He is a Rhodes Scholar, and earned a doctorate in sociology giving him the unique ability to analyze complex health policy issues from medical and sociological perspectives.

Dr. Sinha’s visit to McMaster is part of the initiative Thinking Ahead: How We Can Better Support Optimal Aging in Canada Using the Best Available Research Evidence, taking place April 2-4, which includes two public panel discussions and a two-day symposium for invited participants who are working directly in the field of aging.

The initiative has been organized by the McMaster Health Forum, and is funded by the Labarge Charitable Foundation in conjunction with McMaster’s Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative.