Blog

Partnering during a pandemic

This blog post was written by Britt-Mari Sykes – CHEO Family Advisor

I became a family advisor following a five-year period during which my son accessed health care services at CHEO. We were what CHEO calls “frequent flyers”.

For me as a parent, engaging with the health care system on such a regular basis was an eye-opening experience. You develop a relationship with health care because it becomes so much a part of your life. You start looking at the health care system from a variety of perspectives,...

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Declan’s life in colour

Declan’s life in colour: CHEO’s autism services hit home for rural families

When Liana packed up her life for Adam’s latest military posting in Deep River, she had the same worries anyone would have moving to an isolated area. How would she adjust to life in a small, remote town? How hard would it be to raise a family away from relatives? How would she cope being alone while Adam was away?

Shortly after settling into the routine of rural life, Adam and Liana welcomed baby boy Declan into their lives...

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CHEO’s Declaration of Values

At CHEO, the voices of children, youth and families matter and inform care. After all, we are Partners in Health. Together we created guiding principles that we now refer to as CHEO’s Declaration of Values. The goal is for everyone to see themselves in these values. To help make this come to life, we also partnered with children and youth who provided drawings and real-life scenarios to demonstrate the values in action.

This video demonstrates what being a Partner in Health should feel like at CHEO.

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Daniel and the dentist

Going to the dentist can be a scary experience. The loud sounds, bright overhead lights, unfamiliar smells and strange instruments are enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable, let alone a child with autism.

Daniel, like many children on the spectrum, has sensory sensitivities that make going to the dentist a stressful ordeal for both him and his mother, France. 

“It’s been such a struggle for us to find a dentist that understands how to support children on the spectrum,” said France. “Daniel...

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Meet the Chair of our Oncology Patient and Family Council

My name is Guylaine Tremblay. I am the mother of three wonderful children.  In August 2019, our fourteen-year-old "baby" Chloé was diagnosed with Burkitts Lymphoma. We were devastated. However, we quickly realized that the nurses and doctors on 4 North were kind, compassionate, but most importantly, knowledgeable. They guided us through what we thought would be the worst time of our lives. However, August 2020 brought us more bad news. Chloé was diagnosed with drug...

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