POGO is pleased to announce that Lauren Ettin will be joining POGO as our new Chief Executive Officer, beginning April 29, 2024. After an extensive search, Lauren emerged as the ideal candidate to lead our organization into the future. She succeeds Jill Ross who has served admirably in the role since 2018, leading the organization through a critical time and delivering on our commitments to families and children.
“Lauren’s diverse background and wealth of experience across the healthcare system and in pediatrics uniquely position her to lead POGO toward continued excellence and innovation,” says James Scognack, POGO Board Chair. “She has a vision for the organization that we share, strong connections with the pediatric community, and a passion for supporting children, youth, and their families, which, among other attributes, make her ideally suited to the role.”
Lauren’s career has spanned the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. She has proven herself to be a strategic and entrepreneurial leader, with her most recent role as the founding Executive Director of Kids Health Alliance. In this role, Lauren forged relationships and formal collaborations with and between children’s and community hospitals, associations, and government. In addition, she was instrumental in the work of the Children’s Health Coalition, bringing together a collective voice for the pediatric sector, which resulted in a historic investment of $330M for programs and services across Ontario.
Prior to her time with Kids Health Alliance, Lauren served as the Director of Policy and Member Relations with the Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario, worked in consulting and spent time in management roles in the Ministry of Health and Cabinet Office.
Lauren shares her excitement about joining the POGO team: “This is a dream opportunity to bring my experience in pediatrics to an organization of such high esteem. I am honoured to be the successful candidate and I look forward to working with the incredible childhood cancer community and all those who so generously invest their resources to ensure everyone affected by childhood cancer has access to the best care and support.”
Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Lauren. We are excited about the future and look forward to the positive impact that Lauren will undoubtedly make as she builds on POGO’s 40-year foundation to further the organization’s mission and vision.
There are so many benefits to volunteering!
Whether it’s delivering meals to seniors or walking shelter dogs, being a peer mentor or being part of a team organizing an event, when you volunteer, you connect with others and you often see that you’re making a positive difference in their lives or in the community. So, it’s no surprise that volunteering can have both physical and mental health benefits. Research has shown that adults with disabilities or chronic health conditions who volunteer often see an improvement in their pain levels. Volunteering can also reduce stress, anxiety and depression.
Volunteer for One Day or More – The Choice is Yours!
Volunteering also provides a great opportunity to test different educational or career paths. Whether you have a job in mind, or are unsure what field interests you, volunteering allows you to look for opportunities that require various levels of commitment. It might be a one-day event, a two-week long project, twice a month for a year, or other…you have the flexibility to decide what to pursue based on your capabilities and time availability.
Add Volunteer Experience to Your Resumé
If you’re also looking for paid employment, there are ways that you can use your volunteer experience to help get a job. As a volunteer, you might be on the organization’s email list where job postings are sent out. You can also develop internal workplace connections to ask about open or upcoming positions, and a recommendation. References are often required when applying for jobs, so having someone that can speak directly to skills you have demonstrated is incredibly valuable. Adding volunteer experience and the skills you have developed from it to your resumé will help with your application to other jobs!
Seek Accommodations as Needed
If you have a disability and/or need accommodations, you can still volunteer! Read the volunteer posting carefully to see what you are expected to do in the role. If you need support with any of the job requirements, you can start a conversation about this when going through the application process.
It can be intimidating to bring up a need for accommodations, but if you feel passionate about a position, do not let that be a barrier. Remember that you are entitled to ask for accommodations and many community agencies that hire volunteers are eager to provide these if possible. You are the expert in this situation, so be prepared to explain what accommodations would be most beneficial to you. Remember, you do not have to disclose a diagnosis or any medical information if you don’t want to.
As you can see, while you’re helping others, there’s a lot you can get in return. So, consider getting out there to volunteer!
Need help with applying to a volunteer position? Contact your POGO School and Work Transitions Counsellor so they can help you prepare for the volunteer experience.
*This article was adapted from theS2S Network presentation “Volunteerism: Empowering Yourself and Others” by childhood cancer survivor Payton Tenebaum. Information about this year’s S2S Network presentations is coming soon!
WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE A POGO TRANSITIONS COUNSELLOR?
I have always been drawn to roles that involve supporting individuals within our community and I have experience with helping people navigate various transitions in life. Joining the POGO team represents a new and exciting opportunity for me. I have not previously worked with cancer survivors, so this is a unique learning experience. We all encounter transitions at some point, and being able to contribute to someone’s journey by providing the help they need is incredibly rewarding to me.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART ABOUT YOUR ROLE?
My favourite aspect of the job so far has been getting to connect with people. I enjoy engaging in conversations and getting to know individuals on a personal level. It’s also really great seeing how committed the whole healthcare team is to assisting is to assisting individuals who have cancer.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST ONCOLOGY WORD/TERMINOLOGY YOU HAVE HAD TO LEARN?
There’re a few and I’m definitely still learning, but if I had to pick one right now it would be Myxopapillary ependymomas, which I have learned is a type of brain tumour.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST SURPRISE WORKING WITH SURVIVORS?
The biggest surprise for me has been the lasting impact that cancer treatments can have on an individual’s body later in life. Before stepping into this role, I hadn’t fully grasped the extent of these long-term effects. Nevertheless, it’s remarkable witnessing the support system that surrounds cancer survivors from the dedicated teams at the POGO AfterCare Clinics.
DOGS OR CATS?
Without a doubt, dogs. Maybe it’s because I’m allergic to cats, or maybe it’s just that dogs have mastered the art of unconditional love and I will take that any day, especially since it comes without the sneezing!
WINTER OR SUMMER?
Most definitely summer! I dream of living somewhere where the weather is warm all year round. I find there is so much more to do in the warm weather!
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PUMP-UP SONG RIGHT NOW?
Maybe not considered a “pump up” song, but one song that has been on constant repeat for me that I love to belt out to is “White Horse” by Chris Stapleton.
WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
The advice I received that has stuck with me is to romanticize your life. Essentially, make even the smallest things in your day-to- day life seem amazing and exciting. Every Sunday, I write down the best thing that happened to me on the weekend. Sometimes there are bigger moments we can think of easily, but sometimes it’s nice to think of the small moments, too, like having the time to drink a hot cup of coffee before heading off to work!
Growth
When I first started creating this sculpture, it was an absolute mess. The structure and stability of the tree were a challenge to figure out but slowly it all started coming together. It was like putting the pieces together in a puzzle. I didn’t fully understand why I created a tree until I started sculpting every little curve or indent, gluing on the leaves and adding the finishing touches. The tree symbolized my growth. Just like me, the tree encountered many obstacles when it was being sculpted. It took hours, days, weeks to finish and at some point, I felt like giving up on it. The tree expressed me. It started wonky but the more time and effort I dedicated to it, the stronger it got. Similarly, when I was recovering from my cancer treatment, it was hard to fit in with my peers at school and integrate into my new reality. But as the years went on and I got out of my comfort zone, I grew to be the best version of myself. My piece, Growth, shows the journey of my life and how I’ve grown into the person I am today.
Check out other Creative Corner works done by Dorian and Xander
In 2023, rather than homing in on one specific disease group, we took the opportunity to look broadly at POGO’s 40-year history, and the significant changes in childhood cancer care over four decades. With this broad appeal, more than 215 participants joined the POGO Symposium with representation from nursing, pharmacy, physicians, students, government, allied health and community supporters; a testament to the true team effort required to care for our patients.
Dr. Mark Greenberg, POGO co-founder, opened the two-day event by guiding us from POGO’s inception and the many challenges faced, and the incredible successes along the way, to the important work that remains to be done. It was clear that POGO’s early achievements required tremendous persistence, tenacity and optimism by the founders, and led to POGO becoming a Ministry of Health-funded contributor to the childhood cancer care system. Our respective institutions and the children of this province are so fortunate for the work that has gone into creating and building POGO from the ground up and the vast improvements in childhood cancer care that POGO has facilitated.
A Comprehensive Approach to Childhood Cancer Care
One of the loudest themes that reverberated through this year’s event was the recognition that the best possible cancer care system moving forward will take a holistic approach to treating the child and supporting the family.
We heard about inspiring advances in therapeutics and how novel drugs such as blinatumomab, and entirely new classes of drugs, are showing promise to cure previously incurable cancers. Across all sessions, led by national and international experts, we reflected on improvements in outcomes and strategies for the future across many forms of childhood cancer, including acute lymphoblastic leukemia, neuroblastoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and solid tumours. Taking a step further into the future, Drs. Malkin and Shlien described incredible new technologies that bring together advances in molecular genetics and artificial intelligence, holding the promise to better elucidate the biological differences in seemingly similar tumours and more accurately target treatment to specific biological subtypes.
However, we also had the opportunity to acknowledge that cancer-directed therapy is not the totality of childhood cancer care, and that there are critical elements of high-quality treatment whose value is too often under-appreciated. Dr. Bob Phillips took us on an adventure through the world of supportive care and strategies for implementing clinical practice guidelines, POGO’s included. Dr. Kira Bona discussed the often overlooked and vital need to recognize and intervene on health disparities affecting our patients and their families. Food insecurity and material deprivation can have as big an impact on treatment outcome as many of the conventional prognostic factors we use routinely in clinical practice. Dr. Fiona Schulte spoke about the imperative need to provide psychosocial supports and measurable interventions for our patients, and Maria Talotta shared new opportunities for mental health supports for our patients and their families through Ontario’s Youth Wellness Hubs. As adverse social determinants of health become increasingly prevalent in Canadian society, it is more urgent than ever that we develop methods and infrastructure to reduce their impact on children with cancer.
We must also keep at the forefront of our minds that cure is not where our patients’ cancer journey ends. Many patients are left with late effects, and excellent survivorship care is paramount. Dr. Jennia Michaeli and Stacy Whiteside brought light to the importance of establishing fertility preservation for our patient population as standard of care. Finally, we heard through multiple sessions the inherent value in ensuring that our patients have a voice in their own decision making, and how best to enable this.
Childhood Cancer Survivors Thriving in the Medical Field
We had the pleasure of watching several digital stories from childhood cancer survivors who shared pieces of their journey. Each of these incredible individuals also shared how they were inspired by members of their care team to work in health care, in such roles as a nurse, physician, child life specialist, and program assistant. These stories remind us about the importance of the role we, as care providers, each play in the lives of our young patients.
The Path Ahead
We had the incredible opportunity to hear from a diverse panel about where the next healthcare dollars should be spent in improving care. We heard about the importance of integrating health disparities studies and interventions into our frontline trials, the need for improved psychosocial supports for patients and families, and the future potential of gene sequencing for both early detection and targeted therapy in childhood cancer. Chantelle Bacon and Iain Macri of Fight Like Mason Foundation and Mason’s parents, emphasized the need to provide education and support to physicians in recognizing red flags to enable earlier suspicion and diagnoses of childhood cancers. At the end, it was clear that a comprehensive approach that encompasses all of these elements is imperative.
POGO has shown us over 40 years that we are better together and that our collaboration and collegiality is what builds our successes. Cheers to 40 years of POGO and to the successes to come!
By Dr. Jennifer Seelisch, Director, Pediatric Undergraduate Medical Education, Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre. Dr. Seelisch was the 2023 recipient of the inaugural POGO Early Career Professional Award.
By Denise Mills
On Thursday, November 2, POGO’s 2023 Pre-Symposium Nursing Day presented a rich offering of niche programming that attracted more than 130 nurses and other allied healthcare professionals from across Canada.
Dr. Kitty Montgomery set the stage by discussing Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs), a theme that resonated throughout the entire Symposium. She highlighted how nurses are uniquely positioned to help children voice their symptoms, which is critical to patient-centred care. In her presentation on bioethics at the bedside, Dr. Kim Pyke-Grimm brought the issue of moral distress to the forefront and provided examples of ethics liaison programs.
We heard from many of Ontario’s skilled nurse practitioners as they shared their knowledge and leadership in such areas as late effects of neuroblastoma, skin care for patients receiving MEK inhibitors and providing care with blinatumomab.
The importance of supportive care was a central theme of the day. Dr. Lindsay Jibb shared her findings from her study on “Parental Distress and Trauma in Parents of Children Diagnosed with ALL.” We were also transported into the world of preventing and managing mucositis and how nursing can play a role in implementing clinical practice guidelines. We learned about the role that nurses play in providing care and discussing sensitive topics when caring for adolescent and young adult cancer patients and survivors, and we explored essential knowledge and skills to bring into practice when caring for children with cancer and autism.
Nurses comprise the highest number of healthcare professionals working in pediatric oncology, and this day was important in bringing these clinicians together from across Ontario and beyond to share and discuss nursing practice in caring for patients and families faced with a childhood cancer diagnosis.