On the Edge of Health and Design

This fall we chatted with Shellyza Sajwani, a pharmacist, entrepreneur and painting hobbyist. Shellyza described her personal journey within the healthcare system as both a provider and a patient. It was her patient journey that propelled her towards her passion for supporting Planetary Health. Shellyza painted a picture of our health's interconnectedness with our planet's health and showed us how we can all contribute towards better Planetary Health. Resources Shellyza's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellyzamoledinasajwani/

We kicked off summer in Toronto, Canada by chatting with Karishma Manji, a friend and family doctor with a passion for politics! Karishma shared her personal and professional journey towards politics and what we can all do to be more politically engaged in our communities. A culture of political engagement has the power to transform health care systems! This means that You have the Power to take control of your health and wellness, as well as the health and wellness of your community. Wow, that's Progressive! Follow Karishma on Instagram or Facebook. Check out our Toronto political resources below if you are interested. Resources Instagram @drmanjiprogressive Facebook Dr Karishma Manji Progressive No jets Toronto https://environmentaldefence.ca/nojetsto/ Progress Toronto https://www.progresstoronto.ca/

Today we’re re-welcoming Demi Yoo, a marketing professional with a passion for health and wellness. Demi returns to update us on her health and wellness journey, and her latest passion project, The Spiritual Self Company. To paraphrase Demi, “this is our first time living this life, so we’re all just figuring this out!”. If you relate to this episode, please leave us a comment and rating on your favourite podcast platform. You can find and follow The Spiritual Self Company on Instagram. Resources Instagram @thespiritualself.co

Culture and age both shape how we experience and talk about mental health, for better or for worse. Culture and age influence our beliefs about mental health, how comfortable we are in asking for help, and how others treat us when we disclose mental health challenges. In this episode, Nita and Sylvia explore how culture and age shape mental health based on our personal and professional experiences. Mental Health IS Health and we conclude with an emphasis on awareness of this concept and how we might support our own mental health. Mental Health is Health campaign: https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/mental-health-is-health Social prescribing: https://www.socialprescribing.ca/ Nature prescribing: parx.ca

To kick of 2026, we spoke with Kiki (Kajal) Kamdar, a health and wellness advocate who shared her past experience as a caregiver for a partner experiencing mental illness. Kiki turned to hiking as a way to combat stress, connect with nature and develop her community. Through hiking, Kiki learned to "live a bipolar life" on her own terms, with self compassion. If this episode resonates with you or someone you know struggling with mental illness, please pass it along! Resources Kiki's instagram is kiki_pura_vida or you can reach her by email at kajal.kamdar@gmail.com NAMI - National Alliiance on Mental Illness https://www.nami.org/

This month, we highlight Aideen Carroll, Advanced Practice Nurse Educator and champion of mental health nursing! Of note, Aideen shared her love of the history of mental health/health care and provided examples of the design and evolution of products and processes towards improving experiences for both patients and providers. Aideen’s key takeaway was challenging future generations with normalizing mental health as a part of our overall health. We hope you loved this episode as much as we did! Aideen's email: aideen.carroll@uhn.ca https://hospitalnews.com/nursing-hero-award-first-place-winner-aideen-carroll/ CAMH - Mental Health is Health campaign https://www.camh.ca/en/driving-change/mental-health-is-health Mental health commission of Canada app assessment framework ⁠ https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/app-assessment/

In this summer recap episode, your cohost, Nita shares her personal reflections following her recent Heritage Journey to Kenya, Africa. Nita revisits the concept of Designing your Life and shares how her own Indian, African and Canadian heritage shapes her current quest to find communities of belonging. Are you looking for your community? Feel free to reach out to us with comments, questions and reflections of your own. Resources Episode 30: Design your Life with Demi Yoo Episode 31: Breathe into Balance with Manjit Hansra Book: Breath by James Nester Design concept: Iterative Inquiry

This month, we spoke with Manjit Hansra, a pharmacist, breathwork facilitator and entrepreneur. Manjit shared his personal story of burnout working as a pharmacist and pharmacy owner. After attending wellness retreats in different countries, Manjit became certified as a breathwork facilitator and founded Rx for Renewal, a company focused on helping healthcare leaders live a life of joy through balancing their work and wellbeing. We invited Manjit to demonstrate a breathwork technique for us - watch our episode to learn it! If you’re interested in breathing with Manjit, feel free to reach out to him on social media and/or subscribe to his newsletter. Details under Resources below. Resources Upcoming Somatic Breathwork Sessions (July 18 and Aug 10) - ⁠https://rx-renewalmentalfitness.my.canva.site/copy-of-breathing-events-landing-page⁠ Rx Renewal Services - https://linktr.ee/rxrenewal Manjit on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/manjithansra Substack Newsletter - https://manjithansra.substack.com Mental Fitness Training - https://rx-renewalmentalfitness.my.canva.site/

This month, we chatted with Demi Yoo, a marketing professional who is also a self-described health and wellness junkie. Demi discovered meditation during a dark period in her life and found that this helped her mental health. Demi shared her most challenging meditation experience to-date, a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat that had her meditating for a total of 100 hours! In Demi’s words, this experience changed her life! She’s happy to share the details of how to register for this in Ontario, Canada (see our Resources below). Finally, Demi created her personal virtuous cycle of positive reinforcement that has helped her redesign her life. How might you do this yourself? Listen to our episode to find out! Resources Vipassana sign up: https://torana.dhamma.org/ Email: demi.sae.yoo@gmail.com Designing your Life (book) Bill Burnett & Dave Evans Think like a Monk (book) Jay Shetty - host of On Purpose podcast Manifest: 7 Steps to Living your Best Life by Roxi Nafousi

In our May episode, your cohost Nita shares her recent experience with working night shifts in a healthcare setting. According to the Institute for Work and Health (non-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada), there are several adverse health effects associated with shift work, particularly with long-term exposure to working night shifts. Mitigation strategies are recommended at both organizational and personal levels to optimize the health and wellbeing of shift workers. Do you have experiences with night shifts or other forms of shift work that you'd like to share with us? What made the experience better? What could be optimized to support your overall health? We invite you to post a comment, or email us at ontheeddgeofhd@gmail.com. Resources Institute for Work and Health https://www.iwh.on.ca/ Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety https://www.ccohs.ca/

This month, we spoke with Ju Eun Lee, a geriatric psychiatrist based in Toronto, Canada. Ju Eun is a passionate advocate against ageism. She highlighted the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of ageism, which refers to stereotypes around how we think, feel and act towards older adults. Globally, one in two of us are ageist! Ageism is associated with poor health, social and economic impacts. The WHO identified three types of ageism - self-directed, interpersonal and institutional. These provide key opportunities to leverage when designing ways to combat ageism. Ju Eun’s key takeaways included recognizing that we all age and making efforts to understand different generations. Ju Eun invites our listeners to join her as a volunteer with the Canadian Coalition Against Ageism, a social change movement to end ageism. Resources Canadian Coalition Against Ageism - https://ccaageism.ca/ World Health Organization’s global report on ageism - https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/demographic-change-and-healthy-ageing/combatting-ageism/global-report-on-ageism

In celebration of pharmacist awareness month, your cohost Nita (pharmacist/designer/podcaster) is interviewed by Sajid, a colleague from their Toronto Go-Getters Toastmasters club. Sajid and Nita discuss Nita's communication journey with Toastmasters and how that intersects with her roles as a pharmacist and podcaster. We hope you take something of value from this episode to apply to your professional and/or personal journey!

In our first video format episode, we welcome Dr. Cory Goldberg a Canadian plastic surgeon with experience in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Cory highlighted several challenges facing the Canadian healthcare system using the analogy of the Titanic ship sinking. Key opportunities for health system change include providing wellness services outside of our public healthcare system. Towards this end, Cory cofounded HealthSpan Digital, a B2B longevity technology company. Digital tools curated by HealthSpan Digital include those that monitor and enhance our health and can be incorporated into our homes and communities. Watch our interview to reveal Cory's key takeaway which challenges our concepts of aging and longevity. What will you do with all your extra time?! Resources healthspan.digital beautyspan.com Cory Goldberg on Instagram @ drcorygoldbergmd

In our January 2025 kick off episode, we interview Tye Farrow, a Canadian architect and author of the book Constructing Health: How the Built Environment Enhances Your Mind’s Health. Tye has initiated a global “Cause Health” movement aimed at raising expectations for design as the basis for total health, which extends beyond environmental, sustainability and physical health to encompass our mind health. In our conversation, Tye explains how mind health differs from mental health and how the built environment shapes our health for better or for worse. We hope Tye's insights will help you reflect on the environments where you live, work and play! Resources Tye Farrow on LinkedIn Farrow Partners Constructing Health book available at the University of Toronto Press, Amazon, Indigo Chapters Ontario Place The Green School in Bali

For our final episode of 2024, we interviewed Anita Simon, a Canadian healthcare designer with diverse experiences ranging from academia, industry, non-profit and patient advocacy. Anita emphasized the need to shift our healthcare systems from industrial practices focused on improving cost and efficiency outcome measures towards measuring outcomes that truly matter to patients and families. Anita described her family’s challenges with seeking compassionate care for their daughter when she was experiencing mental illness. Her personal experience led Anita to co-found Calgary Silver Linings Foundation, providing support and resources for eating disorder recovery. We also discussed the role of The Patient Revolution (a global movement towards kind and compassionate healthcare) and the concept of “Boards that Care”. There is no better time like the present for our healthcare systems to work towards improving access to timely, individualized and compassionate care for all. Resources Anita Simon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-simon-9a71849/ Calgary Silver Linings Foundation: https://www.silverliningsfoundation.ca/

In this month's episode, we welcome Faizal Kassam, a Canadian family physician, who completed medical school/training in Australia. Faizal is currently working as a family physician in Australia, making him the most remotely located guest we have interviewed to date! Based on his dual perspectives as a physician and a patient/caregiver, Faizal identified several challenges facing the Canadian healthcare system, including public mistrust, inadequate funding to address complex problems, and healthcare worker burnout. Finally, Faizal shared his personal story of caring for his mother towards the end of her life, highlighting the need for more resources and supports to help us design better collective death experiences. We hope you enjoy this episode and we welcome any comments/feedback! Resources Faizal K on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faizal-k-150a3b5b/

In season 3 of our podcast, we’re getting back into interviewing people working and playing On the Edge of healthcare and design! In this month's episode, we welcome Jean-Francois Couture from Applications MD. Applications MD is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving care in medical resuscitation. As the Director of Operations for Applications MD, Jean-Francois oversees the strategic planning, marketing, and implementation of their flagship product, EZResus, an application that guides health care professionals through the first hour of emergency and critical care situations. In our conversation, Jean-Francois describes his professional journey from emergency physician to digital health entrepreneur. He shares his experience with developing the resuscitation application, EzResus and lessons learned along the way. We hope our conversation inspires you in your innovation journey, whether you want to reinvent yourself personally and/or professionally! We welcome any comments or feedback on this episode! Resources from our guest: www.ezresus.com LinkedIn jean-francois.couture@ezresus.com “Please feel free to email me or connect on LinkedIn. I would love to hear your entrepreneurship stories, ideas, and if you have comments or ideas about EZResus!”

In this much anticipated follow-up episode with Viviana (arQ RunicoS), an interdisciplinary artist based in Montreal, your cohosts discover that her Forest in Colour has germinated and grown into an exhibition! To celebrate Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Viviana's exhibition will be showcased at La Galerie Atelier Lucie Michel in Montreal from September 12 through 29, 2024. Viviana shares her inspiration and artistic process for a Forest in Colour and highlights how art and design fuel conversations around our climate crisis, the health of our cities and ourselves. Resources Vivana's website www.arqrunicos.ca Instagram - a legacy of her art : @Arqrunicos_colour La galerie artelier Lucie Michel Sound effect wind-in-trees from Pixabay

Your host, Nita, decided to try another solo episode based on her thoughts during her latest run along the Beaches area in Toronto. Nita shares her practice of acknowledging other runners and how that might translate into acknowledgement in healthcare settings. Notably, the #hellomynameis campaign launched by Dr. Kate Granger in 2013, shows us how designing patient focused healthcare experiences starts with introductions. Acknowledgements Sandra-Viviana's website: https://arqrunicos.ca/ Hello My Name Is website: https://www.hellomynameis.org.uk/ ”To see and be seen, that is the truest nature of love” - Brene Brown Sound effects from Pixabay (Beaches Wave Zen by Alex Jauk and Cafe Ambience by KM007)

In this month’s episode, your co-host, Nita, flies solo and shares personal updates on: SIC Health, our Mental Health Project, and the future of this podcast. This episode was inspired by Season 3 of the Netflix series, Bridgerton, and the brilliant monologue delivered by character Penelope Featherington! We're looking for your input on our Mental Health Project. Vote on LinkedIn for what you see as the most pressing pain points when searching for a therapist. Listen to this episode for details! Click here to vote Resources Bridgerton book series by Julia Quinn Bridgerton Netflix series (Season 3) Meet my AI friends by Kevin Roose The Patient Revolution