Schedule:
October
| Time | Session | Speaker/Session Details |
|---|---|---|
8:00am – 8:30am | Registration & Continental Breakfast | |
8:30am – 8:45am | Opening Remarks, Welcome Ceremony, and Land Acknowledgement | John Brewer, Conference Bard Kathy MacLeod-Beaver, Indigenous Mental Health Worker, Nogojiwanong Friendship Centre |
8:45am – 9:00am | Welcome from GenWell | Pete Bombaci, founder of The GenWell Project |
9:00am – 9:15am | Connection Exercise | John Brewer – The Conference Bard |
9:15am – 9:30am | Social Connection and Physical Well-being | Troy D. Glover, Ph.D., Professor & Chair, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. The presentation endeavours to explore how neighbourhood walking facilitates authentic social interactions among neighbours to bolster the social fabric of neighbourhoods and strengthen relationships. |
9:30am – 10:15am | The Canadian Reality – Results of the Latest Genwell Survey | Dr Kiffer G. Card, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University. In this presentation, Dr. Card will highlight the results of the latest Canadian Human Connection Survey and walk the audience through the recent progress in the development of the Canadian Social Connection Guidelines, including results from an ongoing Delphi study of more than 120 experts from across the globe. |
10:15am – 11:00am | Opening Keynote – The US Framework, Canadian Research | Julianne Holt-Lundstad, Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience, Brigham Young University. Dr. Holt-Lundstad will join us, virtually, to introduce the audience to the recent release of the Social Connection Framework from the U.S. Surgeon General, on which Dr. Lundstad was the lead researcher and writer. |
11:00am – 11:30am | Q&A and Discussion with Audience | Dr. Holt-Lunstad and Dr. Card will be joining us together, to answer audience questions and to discuss the learning’s from both sides of the border on how we can create more synergies to impact the lives of Canadians and Americans more rapidly. |
11:30am – 12:00pm | Poster Presentations | Learn more about a variety of research initiatives that are focused on human connectivity and social health. |
12:00pm – 1:00pm | Lunch break | Time to break bread with those you have connected with so far in the day. |
1:00pm – 1:45pm | What’s Government Got to Do with It? | Sandra Allison – family physician and former public health official Vickery Bowles – City Librarian at Toronto Public Library. More panelists to come. |
1:45pm – 2:15pm | Cards, Classrooms, & Conversations: Putting Connection into Practice | Catherine Hart, Communications and Project Specialist, Engage Nova Scotia. The presentation tells a story about “From Me to You”, a provincewide note-writing initiative launched in December 2020 where Nova Scotians were invited to write or draw a note to someone in their community. |
2:30pm – 2:45pm | Closing Remarks | John Brewer – The Conference Bard |
3pm – 6:30pm | Landmark Walk & Pub Social | Join us for a landmark walk in the local community around the Toronto Reference Library, followed by a pub social with lots of time and opportunity to get connected face-to-face with other conference attendees. |
October
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Coming soon!
| Time | Session | Speaker/Session Details |
|---|---|---|
8:00am – 8:30am | Registration & Continental Breakfast | |
8:30am – 8:45am | Opening Remarks | John Brewer |
8:45am – 9:15am | Healthy Cities, Neighbourhoods, & Home | Robyn Lee, Student Researcher, Hey Neighbour Collective Tennesha Joseph, 880 Cities These 2 presentations will focus on the role of the built environment to build greater human connectivity and support people through the common challenges of living in a community. |
9:15am – 10:00am | Social Prescribing’s Role in Building a More Connected Canada | Sonia Hsiung, Director, Community Health and the Institute for Social Prescribing, Red Cross Canada Cindy Yu – CISP Researcher, Social Epidemiologist Dr. David Conn- Executive Vice-President of Education and Chief Academic Officer at the Baycrest Academy for Research & Education These presentations & facilitated Q&A’s will focus on the role of social prescribing as a way to social |
10:00am – 10:15am | Social Connection Break | Take some time to get connected with your fellow conference attendees. |
10:15am – 11:15am | Exploring the Impact of Loneliness on Marginalized Communities & How to Build a More Inclusive Canada | Mabe Kyle, Co-founder of the Rural Ontario Community of Queer Youth Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Assistant Professor Victoria McCutcheon, MPl Candidate Han Shu, BHSc student and Research Assistant at Queen’s University School of Nursing. These presentations & facilitated Q&A session will focus on understanding the impact of loneliness on different marginalized populations within Canada & how we can build a more inclusive Canada. |
11:15am – 11:45am | Deepening our Connections for Climate Resilience | Britt Wray, Director of the Special Initiative of the Chair on Climate Change and Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Stanford University School of Medicine We are learning just how much climate change impacts the physical and natural world around us—but how does is it impacting our emotional wellbeing and mental health? |
11:45am – 12:00pm | Wellness Exercise | Bobbie Breckenridge, The GenWell Project Community Development Manager, Registered Social Worker, & Mind-Body Coach This wellness practice will help us sooth our minds and bodies while creating an opportunity to connect more deeply with ourselves and others. |
12:00pm – 1:00pm | Lunch break | Time to break bread with those you have connected with so far in the day. |
1:00pm – 1:30pm | Managing Grief Through the Power of Human Connection | Sarah Hines, Founder and CEO, Grief Advocacy Yvonne Heath – Founder of Love Your Life to Death These presentations & facilitated Q&A session will explore the role that human connection plays in supporting grief and loss as a universal human experience. |
1:30pm – 2:10pm | Connection Across the Lifespan | Cherie Ann Pereira- Registered Social Worker, Big Brothers, Big Sisters- Sydney Elaine Butler- Founder of Accessible Creates These presentations and facilitated Q&A session will explore the benefits and challenges of inter-generational connections & how people can get connected throughout their life. |
2:10pm – 2:30pm | How are Our Youth Doing after the Pandemic? | Kristi Berg MacDonald- PhD student at University of Western Ontario This presentation and facilitated Q&A session will explore the impacts of Covid-19 on adolescents’ sense of loneliness & social well-being. |
2:30pm – 3:00pm | Exploring the Role of Volunteerism & Pro-Social Behaviour for Social Health & Wellness | Julia Nakamura- second-year doctoral student and Vanier Scholar in the Health Psychology program at the University of British Columbia Yeeun Archer Lee- PhD student, Psychology at the University of British Columbia These presentations and facilitated Q&A session will explore how to create more accessibility for volunteerism in Canada and how to utilize pro-social behaviour to mitigate loneliness and social isolation. |
3:00pm – 3:40pm | Town Hall Discussion | John Brewer – The Conference Bard Opportunity for all panelists and conference attendees to engage in further dialogue to explore where we go from here. |
3:40pm – 3:55pm | Closing Remarks | Pete Bombaci- Founder & Executive Director of The GenWell Project John Brewer- Conference Bard |