News

H1N1 Flu and Non-Profit Preparedness

Thursday, October 29, 2009

As we approach flu season in Ontario, much is being written, talked about and discussed regarding a potential flu pandemic. We're not interested in adding to some of the current fear mongering, but, given that our agencies provide essential community services, are we able to meet this potential threat to our ability to deliver critical and consistent services to our newcomer clients?

This recent article makes the point that we may not be adequately prepared for an H1N1 outbreak, and suggests that we should be.

If you're actively involved in flu pandemic or other emergency preparedness in your community, we'd love to hear from you, your tips, resources you'd recommend we pass along and any suggestions of how we can improve the information we have here.

So, if you're thinking about this and wondering what you need to know and what our responsibilities might be as front-line community and social service agencies, hopefully some of the information and links below will help.

We previously posted some information from Imagine Canada on how your agency should prepare internally for such an outbreak, including ensuring that you have adequate communicable disease policies, preparations for telework/work from home by your staff, etc. We're including that below and will add to this page/resource as we come across more information.

Background Info

Official Government Links

The Federal and Ontario governments have some online information that might be of use to you and your clients. Specific sites:

If you feel the need to stay updated (beyond news coverage) of what might be happening with this year's flu spread, visit the Federal government's FluWatch website. This is Canada's national surveillance system that monitors the spread of flu and flu-like illnesses on an on-going basis. FluWatch reports, posted every Friday, contain specific information for health professionals on flu viruses circulating in Canada.

In Ontario's largest city, Toronto Public Health has prepared some useful information, including in other languages:

There are also useful U.S. resources, specifically the National Resource Center on Advancing Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities Influenza A H1N1 (Swine Flu) section, which includes multilingual resources in print, audio and video formats.

Managing Risk of Pandemic Influenza in Nonprofit Organizations

How can your non-profit organization respond to the influenza pandemic?

The Wellesley Institute recently hosted a webinar and discussion on pandemic preparedness and response. In this webinar (62 minutes), Preparedness Consultant Thomas Appleyard discussed steps that organizations can take to mount an effective response to the possible challenges in the weeks ahead.

For some background information, you can download his recent paper Bridging the Preparedness Divide - A framework for health equity in Ontario’s Emergency Management Programs in PDF format.

The Insurance and Liability Resource Centre for Nonprofits (a project of Imagine Canada) recently sent out the following information regarding how nonprofit organizations might prepare for the risk of a flu outbreak. The information provides links to information predominantly focused on how your agency should prepare internally for such an outbreak, including ensuring that you have adequate communicable disease policies, preparations for telework/work from home by your staff

Conflicting reports on the severity and scope of the H1N1 (Human Swine Flu) virus have left many of us confused as to how to react. Although there may be no reason for alarm, it certainly is a good idea to be aware of what's going on and to create a basic plan that will prepare your organization for the event of an outbreak.

Proper sneezing and hand-washing techniques, sick leave policy, up-to-date contact information of staff and volunteers, teleworking preparedness and payroll capability all need to be thought out. The following links provide some useful information on managing this risk:

If you found this information useful, visit the Insurance and Liability Resource Centre for Nonprofits' website for a complete list of risk management topics and information.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has posted two new documents for employers and employees:

Presentations from December 2007 Association of Ontario Health Centres Conference – Human Resources Planning and Influenza Pandemics

These information presentations, from 2007, are still very much relevant for our current information.