CCB BC-YUKON SUMMER 2018 NEWSLETTER

PO Box 531, Chilliwack Main Stn., Chilliwack, BC V2P 7V5
604-795-3885 OR 1-800-874-4666
ccbbc-yukondivision@telus.net
Website: http://www.ccbbcyukon.com
Facebook: CCB BC-Yukon Division

Under the Distinguished Patronage of Her Honour
The Honourable Janet Austin, OBC
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia

Summer 2018 News

President’s Message
Hello, hoping you all had a great summer and were able to go on holidays or got to do something fun or maybe even do something a little wild.

Gerry and I spent a bit of time in Calgary, Winnipeg and 100 Mile House; not too exciting, but totally relaxing and ever so good to visit with family and friends.  My favourite comment “I’m not here to go sightseeing, but to relax and take it easy” – it was quite lovely.

I’m wondering if you did something adventurous that you might like to tell us about in future newsletters, we would appreciate hearing your story.

At this time, I would like to sincerely thank former Lieutenant Governor of BC Judith Guichon for her patronage of our Division. It was an honour and a privilege to meet and have her attend some of our events.

And with gratitude, we are pleased to announce that The Honourable Janet Austin, OBC, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia has graciously granted our Division her patronage.  We are grateful for this distinction and thank Lori Fry for the time and energy she spent to accomplish this for us.

Alas, September is fast approaching and soon we will be busy and getting back into our regular routines – maybe school, meetings and other activities.  I know my meetings and obligations with CCB and my community are ramping up, as yours will be too.  It feels to me like a fresh start and big ideas are blossoming in my mind; hmmm here’s hoping I have the energy, patience and fortitude to follow through with some or most of these plans and I have a wondrous year ahead of me.

Did you know that in 2019, CCB will be celebrating its 75th Anniversary?

White Cane Week (WCW), our CCB BC-Yukon Division Conference and other events will give us the opportunity to celebrate with one another and the community, maybe it’s a good excuse to plan a party!

A reminder, you will soon be receiving information regarding our division wide 50/50 draw to be drawn at our division conference.  Remember the more tickets we sell the bigger the pot.

In the past, the prize has been more than $4,000 and almost $6,000 and it could reach more than $8,000+ if we sell all our tickets!!!

Next year’s CCB BC-Yukon Division Conference in Chilliwack promises to be exciting.  Plans are now being made giving us the opportunity to celebrate our 75th Anniversary and give you a taste of what the Fraser Valley is all about.  More information with details will be coming out to you in the coming months.

Please do not hesitate to email or call me or any other Division Board Member for more information or clarification on any matters concerning the CCB BC-Yukon Division.

Ann McNabb, President

Webpage News
– submitted by Kelvin Adams

We have put together a Team from our membership to overhaul our website. Your webpage team consist of Joanne Dufault, Kathy Sanness, and Kelvin Adams.

We have set an overall theme to our site to give it a new look and feel. There will be some major changes over the next couple months.

We welcome all members input into the overall reconstruction of the site. We are striving to make the site assessable to all of our members with both limited and no sight. Also to make it easier to access from search engines so people can learn about how our organization can help.

Please send all your ideas and input to

Kelvin Adams: kelzar@hotmail.com
or
Kathy Sanness: ksanness@telus.net

Membership Tidbits
– submitted by Lori Fry

It’s that time of year when chapters start-up their monthly meetings again and is considered the membership renewal season. You should begin receiving your 2019 membership renewal packages from the national office in late September. Watch for the incentive deadlines usually offered as it is worthwhile to your chapter.

For assistance with membership matters please contact your Division National Representative
Lori Fry at 250-395-2452 or ODIFRY@shaw.ca;
Judy Macdonald at 250-706-0233 or judymacdonaldccbassistant@yahoo.ca
or the Division office.

Chapter Call in Sessions
– submitted by Ann McNabb

Calling all Chapters…  The next Chapter Call In Session is scheduled for Thursday October 18th at 10:00 AM.  We encourage all Chapters to get involved in this opportunity to share information and ideas.  A reminder email with the calling instructions will be sent before the session.

Considering the feedback received during these calls, we have decided to put together a survey on what members expect from these Chapter Call In Sessions.  This survey will be sent to Chapter Presidents/contacts at the end of September.  We are hoping Chapter members will participate in answering these questions and will share the results in November/December. We will be asking your Chapter to return it by the end of October.  Please plan for your Chapter to participate, we want to make these sessions. Yours – your Chapter’s participation will be appreciated and contribute to future Chapter Call In Sessions.

White Cane Week (WCW) 2019
WCW Button Design
-submitted by Pat Chicquen

Are you designing a new look for our WCW button/pin?  Please send it to
Pat Chicquen at patchicquen@hotmail.com
and/or
Ann McNabb at ann4council@telus.net
by October 15th.  This will give us time to decide which design works best for us and have them made up in time for WCW 2019.

If you have a design in mind, please feel free to send your design by description, we can use your description to come up with something spectacular!

As well, we should all be thinking about what we can do to raise awareness of the CCB during WCW and throughout the rest of the year.

Book of Honour 2019
– submitted by Pat Chicquen

Please start thinking about deserving members who go above and beyond helping others, your club and community, and nominate them for the Division’s Book of Honour.

There are two awards, one for a legally blind member and one for a sighted member.

These awards will be announced at our Division Conference next April.

More information will be sent to your Chapter in the coming months.

CCB Chilliwack Chapter
– submitted by Ann McNabb

So far our summer has been hot, smokey and busy.

We have enjoyed coffee at Tim Hortons, where one of our members donated a gift card and we split it between everyone who attended.

At the Opportunity Society’s Fun Day, we had popcorn, pop, hotdogs and freezies; and five of our members had their faces or arm painted. We tried to get a reaction from the HandyDart driver, but alas nothing was said!

A group of us will be taking a Route 66 Transit bus to the CNIB in Abbotsford and out to lunch.

And we’ve managed to go on a shopping trip to the mall, as well as out for lunch several times.

Hmmm, it seems everything we do, we end up eating, but it is always great to visit and see our friends.

CCB Comox Valley Chapter
– submitted by Pat Chicquen

Well another year is about to start after 2 months of no meetings.

Our annual July picnic was held at 40 knots.  It was a beautiful warm day and we had 59 people attend.  The wine tasting is fun and we sang My White Cane Song with Al playing the guitar and Linda and Linda singing, thanks to Campbell River, Port Alberni and Parksville for joining us.

Have a great year everyone.

CCB Dogwood Chapter
– submitted by Pat Roy

Some of our Dogwood Chapter members had an interest in learning more about the basics of technology and how it might assist them. We held two meetings, one in May and another in June, at our local library which is across from the senior’s center where we meet. We held these meetings in the library primarily to promote public awareness that there were visually impaired people in the community and that CELA and the library are important partners. In May, with the assistance of Brodie McKenzie from the PoCO VIP group, we discussed Voice Over and Siri. In June we brought in a volunteer from Dogwood Senior Centre who has some expertise in Android operating systems and she helped some of our members deal with issues they had. We had one member who is considering getting a computer and we brought in a lap top setup using Zoom text and an assistive keyboard and showed him his magnification options, at various price points. We held these meeting in the morning so we could walk back to the Seniors Centre for lunch and then do our afternoon table bowling which is a key component of our club. Before our break for the summer we held our last meeting at a local restaurant. Everyone is looking forward to starting up again in September and catching up with each other about our summer activities.

CCB Kamloops Chapter
– submitted by Vern Short

From June 22nd to 24th, the Kamloops Blind Lawn Bowling Team hosted an invitational Tournament.  As a result Kamloops team members came in 1st, 2nd & 3rd.  This allowed the 1st and 3rd finishers to attend the BC Blind Lawn Bowling Provincial Tournament in Nanaimo on July 30th and 31st, first time competitors Vern Short and Joe Dowkes.  Resulting with Vern winning 2 out of 4 games and Joe winning 1 out of 4 games.  However, it was about having fun and enjoying the experience of the Tournament and seeing old friends too.

– submitted by Linda Hall

The CCB Kamloops White Cane Club went on a bus trip to Davidson Orchard in Vernon.  It was an enjoyable day with a lovely lunch and tour of the orchard.

CCB Kelowna Blind Curling Chapter
– submitted by Bill Mah

Things are pretty quiet for our group as we are all still taking the summer off to rest up for the upcoming curling season.  We will be entering the Commercial League once again as a way of getting more ice time.

We would like to put out the call now for those who may be interested in wanting to come out and try curling.  We will start our season on the thanksgiving weekend.

Call or text Bill at (250) 878-0710 or e-mail me at bmah59@shaw.ca if you wish further info.

CCB PoCo VIP Chapter

🏒🏒🏒😎🇨🇦Greetings from the poco VIP CCB chapter, it is Brodie McKenzie the LHON warrior and cancer crusader. As life has its ups and downs things will make us laugh, things will make us sad, but I am still Canadian and will always find time, and have passion for the game of blind ice hockey with the Vancouver Eclipse blind hockey team, the Canadian Blind Hockey Association, and the dragons in sight.

I will include links to the Vancouver Eclipse blind hockey team, and blind ice hockey. Also Below you will find information about upcoming events for team Canada, the Vancouver Eclipse, other teams/players around the world, and information about the Dragon boating team dragons in sight.

The Vancouver Eclipse blind hockey team
This link will give you fundraising events, upcoming tournaments, summer learn to skate event, if you are in the greater Vancouver area and would like to try blind ice hockey please click on the link below there is a contact section. We are always happy to have more players.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Community/Vancouver-Eclipse-Hockey-Team-145790065496757/

Blind eyes hockey
On the website you will find upcoming events, archived tournaments, and a section for donations to support blind ice hockey.
http://blindicehockey.com/

The 2018 national Canadian blind hockey tournament videos can be viewed at this link below on YouTube, please like and subscribe to view future tournaments.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDZcCQrSQsse_Yyw-KqfME-LMan_Cg6wR

Upcoming major events

2018 Canadian Blind Hockey Summer Development Camp & Team Canada Training Camp.
August 22 – 27
Burnaby 8 Rinks.

The hockey camp includes 15 hours of ice time, accommodations at Fortius sports complex, practice located at 8 Rinks sports Arena, feature end game of the hockey training camp.

The Canadian blind hockey Association is proud to represent the newly founded team Canada at the hockey summer development camp, also including Canadian hockey players from various hockey clubs and provinces across the nation, lastly as team Canada comes to the ice plus more players each year attending the hockey training camp.

This year at training camp we are all very excited for the news with hockey players coming from USA, Russia, United Kingdom and Finland representing their countries training with team Canada and players across this great country.

The 5 days will consist of players enjoying their breakfast first for the teams discussion of the day, first skate in the morning at eight rinks, head back for lunch and discussion for afternoon practice, Second skate get ready for afternoon practice at eight rinks, following afterwards dinner time with the discussion of previous practices during the day and enjoying the company of all the players representing their country.

Lots of ice time, lots of sweat, lots of water, and most of all lots of fun.

The   last day of summer hockey training camp will have a
FEATURE GAME: Monday August 27. 12:15 – 1:15 pm.

2018 summer hockey training camp will have a feature game with players from team Canada, and other players representing their country. The coaches will match up the teams accordingly for a great feature game of the 2018 summer hockey training camp.

As the blind ice hockey sport gets attention from other country’s this will bring the sport to the Paralympics in the future.

2018 Canadian Blind Hockey Western Regional Tournament
Burnaby BC, Bill Copeland Arena.
November 23 – 25.

Largest Blind Hockey Tournament ever on the west coast!

This Western regional hockey tournament is the third tournament in the West. Last November 2017 the second Western regional blind hockey tournament was in Leduc Alberta. The year before the first 2016 Western regional blind hockey tournament was in Langley BC.

The tournament will consist of two teams competing for the win over three games.

This Western regional hockey tournament will have players from Canada, USA, and hopefully other countries.

More tournaments, and more countries equals blind hockey entering the Paralympics very soon.

2019 Canadian National Blind Hockey Tournament Toronto
March 22 – 24.

The national Canadian blind hockey tournament will have more information to come.

Dragon boating
This season of 2018 was a great start for team dragons insight. I have been a paddler with this team for a number of years now, I love the sport, I love the team, but sometimes I don’t really like the False creek ocean ha ha ha.

Dragons in sight is one of the Dragon boating teams with BC Blind Sports, as blind ice hockey season ends in April the Dragon boating season starts.

In June 2018 we had the chance to compete in the 2018 Concorde Pacific Dragon boating festival, this festival consisted of two days of races. Saturday two races, and Sunday one race in the morning to place us in our recreational letter class following afterwards on Sunday we were placed in the F class.

Our Dragon boating team, dragons in sight consists of youth and adults so we have a range of skill levels and great attitude. With our great coaches, steers person, caller, managers, and our wonderful team.

Dragons insight were getting ready to line up for the final race on Sunday. The Dragon boats are lined up for the last race of the day which is a metal race, Madame starter gets us ready Blass the horn and dragons in sight start paddling with Precision and strategic order. I was screaming, paddling, and determined for a metal. The whole boat had a powerful positive vibe, we were in the top three boats competing for the finish line and finally we came in third place 1/10 of a second for a silver metal second place.

We were so excited screaming with joy and congratulating everyone on the team on the boat after the race. 2018 Concorde Pacific Dragon boating festival is now done.

The dragons insight team still has practices for the last festival of the season. August 26, 2018 at the 2018 Steveston dragon boating festival which consists of four races, three races to place us in our letter class, and the final metal race. Hopefully bringing more metals to the team.

This is the upcoming events for blind ice hockey, and Dragon boating we have to keep active, and positive throughout our life keeping active is a good way to have a positive attitude, great chemistry throughout the body, and having the company with wonderful people.

Thank you everyone, sticks on the ice and paddles in the water.

CCB Provincial Book Club Chapter
-submitted by Kathy Sanness

Our Provincial Book Club took the summer off and will be starting again in September.  We have been given permission to have the teleconference line for Fridays.  This means that our meeting will be the fourth Friday in September.

We will be reading Disability Theater by Ruth Bieber, who is one of our members.

Like other months, I will contact members prior to that date with instructions.

If anyone would like to join us, to see what we are all about, please
call me at 778-484-2298
or on my cell by phone or text at 250-395-0395
or email me at ksanness@telus.net
and I will include you in my message.

Have a great summer.

CCB Vancouver Arts and Culture Lovers chapter
– submitted by Amy Amantea

The Vancouver Arts and Culture Lover’s chapter has had a busy summer.

There have been events organized and described by VocalEye for the last month or so and until there season ends in September 2018.

The Indian Summer Festival welcomed four guests from the blind community to come and experience a touch tour of cultural structures and artifacts as well as a lunch comprised of traditional foods. This was a unique opportunity to be able to immerse oneself in a cultural experience full of textures, sounds and tastes. This opportunity was offered at no cost and VocalEye is keen on working with the Indian Summer Festival organizers to continue to provide experiences like this next season.

The Vancouver Pride Parade was held on August 5 down in English and for the forth year, VocalEye described the event. This 3 hour parade is one of the largest in Canada, if not the largest and marching for the rights of the LGBTQ2+ community again this year was Justin Trudeau!

All the unique sights of this parade was described to an audience of blind and partially sighted people in vivid detail – which sometime made us a blush. Great laughs were had by all! VocalEye works with the City of Vancouver in order to have a covered tent area in the accessible section with a private port-a-potty. And we all appreciated having private access, even if it is a port-a-potty, because there are tens of thousands of people lining the streets to watch the parade. The weather was hot, the share welcoming, the snacks delicious, and the company just couldn’t be beat!

Described by Rick and Teri – VocalEye veterans!

It was a fantastic afternoon!

On August 18 – Bard on the Beach presents “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare – but this time with a twist. This classical play will be set to the musical stylings of The Beatles.

Tickets are FREE for VocalEye users and $29 for up to one additional companion per guest with sight loss.

Our chapter members will participate in a dinner out before the 730pm showing. This will prove to be an additional auditory experience on top of a beloved Shakespeare classic.

and, finally, chapter members will help put together this years VocalEye fundraiser. We are taking a break from the traditional Takes from the Blindside and trying Musical Bingo from Down Under. This year attendees will participate in playing rounds of musical bingo. Yup, you guessed it. You get a bingo card but instead on numbers we play songs. If you have the song you mark the spot. Cards will be provided in Braille and large print and there will be sighted volunteers in hand to help watch over the cards as we play! This fun pub style night will quickly turn into a sing along full of classics and fun favorites from the decades. Auctions, 50/50, raffle, door prizes and games will culminate in a fun night aimed on raising much needed funds for VocalEye.

The date for Musical Bingo Down Under is
November 3, 2018.

At Moose’s Down Under Pub on 830 West Pender St. in Vancouver. Early bird tickets will be available soon.

Anyone who wishes to make a donation please check out the website: www.vocaleye.ca

CCB VIBE Creston Blind Golf Chapter
– submitted by Darren Douma

Greetings from CCB-VIBE Creston Blind Golf Chapter

From the start of WCW our Chapter has been fundraising locally to raise funds for blind golf endeavours. In particular, Darren Douma was to be competing in several blind golf events in 2018.

The first event was the Western Canadian Blind golf Championships in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Darren did not play particularly well there as he was busy with organizing and keeping the event running smoothly.  However, it was our very own BC golfer from Langley who won the event.  George Thirkill age 75 played extremely well and beat the entire field.

Recently, Darren competed at the Canadian Championships in Truro, Nova Scotia as well as the Nova Scotia Open.  Darren’s play wasn’t much better at the Canadian Championships, but fared better at the Nova Scotia Open winning the overall in his sight category and also being an overall low net runner-up.

All three events were well attended and all participants had a great time.  As always, local lions clubs both in Manitoba and Nova Scotia played a big role in providing transportation, meals, and so forth.

Coming up in late September (Sept 27th – October 6th) Darren along with 6 other Western Canadian golfers will be off to Rome, Italy for the 2018 world Championships in blind golf in addition to the Italian Open.

The Chapter will be doing some last minute local fund-raising to cover costs for this trip.

In the meantime, this Chapter in Creston will start making preparations to host the 2019 Western Canadian Championships in Kimberley, BC as well as the 2018 Canadian Championships in Cranbrook, BC. This is exciting news, as BC previously hosted the Canadian Championships in 2015 in Creston and in 2017 the international blind golf event, The Vision Cup, also in Creston, Darren, again as event host is excited to have the opportunity to bring two blind golf events to the East Kootenays to showcase blind golf, while also showcasing to these blind golfers some great golf facilities out here in the heart of the Kootenays. These events will be July 7th to July 14th, 2019.

More information can be found at:
www.vibebc.com. Select the “blind golf” tab, then select “blind golf events in BC 2019”.

Darren will actively be fund-raising for this event moving forward.  If anyone has connections in Cranbrook and Kimberley, and thinks they would be interested in sponsoring, please direct them to this web site as well.  The web site provides sponsorship information along with information for any who wish to volunteer their time during this great week of golf.

Darren continues to be the president of the Western Canadian Blind Golf Association (WCBGA) and Vice-President with Blind Golf Canada (BGC).  With BGC, Darren is currently working on establishing a national blind golf Chapter with CCB which would include all blind gold members from coast to coast.

In addition from his role with the WCBGA, Darren hopes to bring more awareness to blind golf in BC and attract more BC golfers. Darren hopes to work within BC Blind Sports to achieve this but also to bring more awareness to the opportunities of many other blind sports as well.

On behalf of the CCB+ VIBE Creston Blind Golfers Chapter hoping all are having a safe and enjoyable summer!

CCB Get Together with Technology (GTT) Corner
GTT WordPress Blog, Facebook and Twitter Feeds
– submitted by Albert Ruel

If you wish to follow the CCB-GTT Groups now starting to gather all over Canada, you can do so by registering your email address as follows.  Registering will have you receiving each announcement in your email inbox without any effort on your part.

Here’s how to register:

– Point your web browser to,
www.GTTProgram.WordPress.com
– Find the link near the bottom of the web page called “Follow” and press the Enter key.
– This will take you to a page where you may type in your email address.
– Tab to the “Sign Me Up” button and press the Space Bar or Enter key. This will prompt the sending of a message to the email address provided.
– Launch your Email program and find an email message from the GTT Program Blog and open it.
– Scroll through the message to find the Confirm Link and press the Enter key.
– This will take you to the GTT Program Blog and should display a message confirming that you have been successfully registered to receive ongoing nlog posts.

Congratulations!  You’re part of the GTT Team.
Welcome aboard.

To stay in touch with the CCB and GTT on Twitter please follow the three Twitter Feeds listed below:
@GTTWest
@GTTProgram
@CCBNational

To see what GTT is up to across Canada, and to ask your burning questions you can become a member of the Facebook Group at:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/414313508657159?refid=27

For more information please contact
Albert Ruel on the West Coast at
Email: GTTWest@CCBNational.net
or Kim Kilpatrick in Ottawa at
Email: gttprogram@gmail.com
or Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968

Apple and Microsoft Disability Help Desk

Are you struggling to figure out how to set-up your iPhone, iPad or Mac computer, or how to upgrade your PC to Windows 10?  Well, here are two resources everyone should have pasted to the fridge.

You’re CCB Get Together with Technology program would like you to know how to secure the free, expert help you might need when trying to learn/use your PC computer with magnification or speech output assistive technology.  Also find the toll free number for the Apple Accessibility Support you might need when frustrated with your iOS and Mac devices.

Don’t forget, these numbers may only be used if you normally access your computers and smart phones with either magnification or speech output software/hardware.

Apple Accessibility Support
1-877-204-3930

Microsoft Disability Answer Desk
1-800-936-5900

No question or problem is too difficult for the well trained staff at the end of these phone lines, so shorten your frustration by calling them early, and often when help isn’t readily at hand.

Medication Safety Awareness for the Blind Month

Accessible Prescription Medication Information – Consumer Access Group (CAG) bring together national, provincial, and local organizations in order to develop position statements on issues important to Canadians with vision loss; provide the Canadian public, service providers, and governments a consistent view on issues identified by CAG; and coordinate advocacy efforts, pool resources, and present a united stance to effect change.
Consumer Access Group (CAG)

PDF CAG’s Position Statement on Accessible Prescription Medication Information – May 2017

Issue…

Independently identifying prescription medication has been a long-standing challenge for Canadians who are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted.  Compounding this challenge is the need to access and understand critical prescription medication information (APMI). This information is usually provided in a small print format on a label affixed to the prescription bottle and is often accompanied by additional information on pieces of detached paper. Prescription medication information provided only in print form can present insurmountable challenges for Canadians who are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted, which can lead to serious health and safety concerns.

Background…

Accessing the critical and essential medication information on the print label of a prescription is not possible for many people who are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted. Pharmacists are required to verbally provide an overview of the prescription medication, including dosage instructions, side effects and warnings when dispensing the medication. While this is helpful for most sighted people, consumers who are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted struggle to independently identify the medication and its related information. Compounding this challenge is the fact that medications often demand special instructions (i.e., take with food, do not take with grapefruit juice, consume on a full stomach, etc.). There are also prescription refill numbers, medication expiry dates, side effects, warnings and other details listed on the print label. The challenge of accessing this critical information increases exponentially when multiple prescription medications are required to manage a person’s health when they are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted.

Pharmacists often recommend to a person who is blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted to acquire their prescription medications in customized blister packs. However, blister packs are not practical when it comes to a host of medications such as “as needed” medications, topical ointments and creams, consumable liquid medications, inhalers, etc. -nor do they provide any method of advising the consumer what the side effects, warnings or other details may be with these medications.

Not all Individuals who are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted access information the same way; and prescription medication information must be made available for the individual’s needs – in an accessible format they can understand and access. Technology which enables a person who is blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted to independently access prescription medication information is currently available in two basic forms; the first are devices that support a voice recording of the information from the medication’s print label and the second option offers prescription medication information encoded into a microchip or onto a Radio Frequency Identification, (RFID), label which then uses audible synthesized speech to deliver the medication information. There are advantages and disadvantages to both with the final choice resting with the dispensing pharmacy.

The right for persons with disabilities to access information is set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which the Canadian Government (with the support of all provinces and territories) ratified in March 2010. Article 25 – Health, section D of the CRPD states,

“Require health professionals to provide care of the same quality to persons with disabilities as to others, including based on free and informed consent by, inter alia, raising awareness of the human rights, dignity, autonomy and needs of persons with disabilities through training and the promulgation of ethical standards for public and private health care;” (See UN CRPD available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/ConventionRightsPersonsWithDisabilities.aspx#3)

This position statement offers a series of agreed upon recommendations aimed at providing accessible prescription medication information, (APMI), enabling Canadians who are blind, deaf-blind or partially sighted to independently, confidently and safely manage their prescription medications.

Recommendations…

– APMI must be affixed to the medication container that contains the actual medication (wherever possible) and not the medication’s outer packaging.
– APMI should be made available in both of Canada’s official languages.
– APMI must contain:
     – Patient’s name
     – Name and strength of medication
     – Dosage instructions
     – Prescribing doctor’s name
     – Refills remaining
     – Dispensing date
     – Prescription number
     – Dispensing pharmacy name and telephone number
     – Potential side effects and warnings
– APMI must be available in a format that meets the consumer’s needs whether it is audible, large print, minimum 14point font or Braille. delivery mechanisms which leverage mobile devices should also be made available but not at the exclusion of other mediums of communications. These technologies could include internet access, QR code readers or artificial intelligence. While these technologies have greatly enhanced accessibility for consumers with sight loss, they are not readily available to all and as such can only be offered as another medium by which to convey essential APMI.
– Devices that support the delivery of APMI in an audible format must offer a volume control and provide an earphone jack for privacy.
– Prescription medications requiring APMI in an audio format need to be prepared and dispensed in a timeframe reasonably equivalent to that of a prescription of the same type where APMI is not required.
– Prescription medications requiring APMI in audible, large print or Braille formats can take longer to prepare and dispense; the delivery time will not exceed 48 hours from the time the prescription is presented to the pharmacist to the time when the prescription is available for pick up by the consumer.

The above recommendations have been endorsed by the Canadian Council of the Blind.

October is Medication Safety Awareness for the Blind Month (MSAB) and it’s a great time to let your community know more about accessible prescription labels for the visually impaired such as audible, large print and Braille prescription labels!

If you are interested and want to learn more, Vision America has information available on MSAB for you.  Here is a link for a YouTube video on how to get started

It’s an overview of MSAB month and ideas on what you can do. Do you want more ideas?  Need materials to handout?  You can get ideas on what to do, request brochures to hand out, sample prescription bottles and borrow a ScripTalk demonstration unit all on En-Vision America’s http://www.envisionamerica.com/advocacy/
or by calling Sharla Glass at 941-702-6602.
 
 
Your CCB BC-Yukon Division Board of Directors

Ann McNabb, President
604-795-7230
ann4council@telus.net

Lori Fry, National Representative
250-395-2452
ODIFRY@shaw.ca

Gerry Braak, 1st Vice President
604-485-5028
gbraak@shaw.ca

Pat Chicquen, 2nd Vice President
250-339-3904
patchicquen@hotmail.com

Bill Conway, Director
604-740-5896
5122wac@telus.net

Kelvin Adams, Director
250-895-9835
kelzar@hotmail.com

Linda Hall, Director
250-376-4900
lhall12@shaw.ca

Kathy Sanness, Director
778-484-2298
ksanness@telus.net