We are so grateful to the following people who have given their expertise and support to our Spike and Toody video project for kids. (Listed in alphabetical order.)
Dr. Gary Bloch
Dr. Gary Bloch is a family physician with St. Michael’s Hospital and Inner City Health Associates. His research, clinical, education, program development, and advocacy interests focus on the intersection between social risks to health and front line health care. He has developed internationally recognized clinical tools, including a Clinical Tool on Poverty, and the development of clinical programs and educational curricula. He serves as Chair of the St. Michael’s Hospital Family Health Team’s Social Determinants of Health Committee, and in that position has overseen the development and implementation of a multifaceted, culture-shifting incorporation of interventions and approaches to the social determinants of health and health equity. He is currently serving as a Phoenix Fellow for the AMS Foundation. In response to the COVID crisis, he is serving as medical director of a recovery site for people experiencing homelessness diagnosed with COVID.
Dr. Bloch is a co-founder of Inner City Health Associates, a group of over 90 physicians working in homeless service settings across the Greater Toronto Area. He also co-founded the advocacy group Health Providers Against Poverty, and was the inaugural Chair of the Ontario College of Family Physicians’ Committee on Poverty and Health. He is a recognized social policy expert, and recently served on a working group on income security reform for the Government of Ontario. Dr. Bloch’s work has been recognized locally, nationally, and internationally, and he is frequently asked to speak in academic and non-academic settings, as well as to the medical and popular media.
Sara Dimerman
Sara Dimerman is a Psychologist, best selling author of parenting and relationship books and the host of the Help Me Sara show heard every Monday at 3pm EST on News Talk Radio Sauga960am. Her site, helpmesara, provides advice and inspiration about many important issues for parents, individuals, couples and families.
Ann Douglas
Ann Douglas sparks conversations that matter about parenting and mental health. She is the weekend parenting columnist for CBC Radio and a bestselling parenting author. Her most recent books are Happy Parents, Happy Kids and Parenting Through the Storm. A passionate and inspiring speaker, Ann delivers keynote addresses and leads small-group workshops at health, parenting, and education conferences across the country.
Trish Hennessy
Trish Hennessy is the executive director of Upstream, which examines public policy through the lens of the social determinants of health.
Aman Sium
Aman Sium is the Director of Client and Family Integrated Care at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Aman and his team partner with the hospital’s community of children, youth and families to design meaningful programs and services, research and policy, and direct care experiences. He holds an interest and expertise in the intersections of client and family-centered care, health equity and human-centered service design. Aman is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
Dr. Nisha Thampi
Dr. Nisha Thampi is the medical director of the infection prevention and control program and a pediatric infectious diseases physician at CHEO, a pediatric health and research centre in Ottawa, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Ottawa. She has been involved in outbreak planning and response, most recently to COVID-19, and in promoting the prevention of healthcare-associated infections and antibiotic resistance, especially through hand hygiene.