
We want fish and chips: care before cure
01/17/24 • 30 min
What matters to seniors? And how can deep listening ensure that we are not only meeting their needs, but driving compassionate and connected systems of care? In this episode of The Heart of It, Dr. Victoria Lee is joined by Dr. Akber Mithani for a journey into seniors’ care. He shares how he felt pulled to a calling in medicine at an early age, and how his family and community’s reverence for older relatives and friends drove him to this specialized field.
Over the course of their conversation, Dr. Mithani shares stories from his own practice, including a 100th birthday that he will never forget, and what he envisions for the future of senior’s care in his own communities and across the globe.
Guest bio
Dr. Akber Mithani is the regional medical director for long-term care and assisted living at Fraser Health. He is also a clinical associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia. He has a lifelong passion for the care of the elderly, a well-respected expertise in long-term care and a robust experience with medical leadership.
He received his medical doctor training at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has worked in various clinical service areas including geriatric psychiatry and medicine, long-term care and acute specialized geriatric programs. He is an active researcher and educator in the field of geriatrics and has participated in over 30 peer-reviewed funded research projects, abstracts, book and journal publications. He currently supervises and teaches family practice residents in their mandatory clinical geriatric rotation and has lectured extensively across the world in areas of Islamic ethics and spirituality, especially in relation to end-of-life decision making and a palliative approach to care.
About The Heart of It
Every episode, Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health, take listeners to the heart of health care, where passion, dedication and innovation drive individual, community and planetary health.
Listen to and watch more episodes of The Heart of It here. And be sure to subscribe to The Heart of It in your favourite podcast player app so that you don’t miss a beat.
This episode of The Heart of It was recorded on the traditional, ancestral and unceded shared territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Coquitlam, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen First Nations, and on the home of the Surrey-Delta Métis Association.
What matters to seniors? And how can deep listening ensure that we are not only meeting their needs, but driving compassionate and connected systems of care? In this episode of The Heart of It, Dr. Victoria Lee is joined by Dr. Akber Mithani for a journey into seniors’ care. He shares how he felt pulled to a calling in medicine at an early age, and how his family and community’s reverence for older relatives and friends drove him to this specialized field.
Over the course of their conversation, Dr. Mithani shares stories from his own practice, including a 100th birthday that he will never forget, and what he envisions for the future of senior’s care in his own communities and across the globe.
Guest bio
Dr. Akber Mithani is the regional medical director for long-term care and assisted living at Fraser Health. He is also a clinical associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia. He has a lifelong passion for the care of the elderly, a well-respected expertise in long-term care and a robust experience with medical leadership.
He received his medical doctor training at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has worked in various clinical service areas including geriatric psychiatry and medicine, long-term care and acute specialized geriatric programs. He is an active researcher and educator in the field of geriatrics and has participated in over 30 peer-reviewed funded research projects, abstracts, book and journal publications. He currently supervises and teaches family practice residents in their mandatory clinical geriatric rotation and has lectured extensively across the world in areas of Islamic ethics and spirituality, especially in relation to end-of-life decision making and a palliative approach to care.
About The Heart of It
Every episode, Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health, take listeners to the heart of health care, where passion, dedication and innovation drive individual, community and planetary health.
Listen to and watch more episodes of The Heart of It here. And be sure to subscribe to The Heart of It in your favourite podcast player app so that you don’t miss a beat.
This episode of The Heart of It was recorded on the traditional, ancestral and unceded shared territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Coquitlam, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen First Nations, and on the home of the Surrey-Delta Métis Association.
Previous Episode

Welcome to The Heart of It
We're thrilled to launch The Heart of It – a new podcast that informs, educates and inspires anyone interested in learning about health care. In each episode, host Dr. Victoria Lee invites guests to take us to a part of – and the heart of – health care, where passion, dedication and innovation drive individual, community and planetary health.
In season one, Dr. Lee gets to know her guests through their personal stories. We’ll learn what drives their work, why they love what they do and how they knew that health care was their calling.
We can’t wait to share these stories – these conversations and revelations – with you. Don’t forget to subscribe in your favourite podcast player app so you don’t miss a beat.
Next Episode

Compassion as a superpower
As health care organizations across the world grapple with challenges, how can we emerge better, stronger and kinder than before?
Marika Sandrelli has worked in community education and development projects for more than four decades. In this episode of The Heart of It, she shares why being a mission-driven person is more powerful than any policy or legislation. She also discusses what pulled her into the health system, why compassionate trauma and resiliency-informed practice (TRIP) is needed in health care now more than ever, and the impacts of “brave” spaces in achieving lasting, systemic change.
Guest bio
Marika Sandrelli is a strategic leader with Mental Health and Substance Use Services at Fraser Health.
As a community organizer and activist she saw the health care system as confusing and advocated from the outside. One day someone said, “You have to learn the rules before you break them.” So, she joined the system and in 2015 won Fraser Health’s Health Care Hero Award for changing how learning and practice are approached in mental health and substance use.
Marika co-developed a Trauma and Resiliency Informed Practice course for researchers and evaluators, which she continues to facilitate along with her colleagues. Her caring approach has resulted in more skilled, confident, supported and supportive health care providers who are both better equipped to serve vulnerable patient populations with confidence and compassion, and take pride in the work that they do.
About The Heart of It
Every episode, Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO of Fraser Health, take listeners to the heart of health care, where passion, dedication and innovation drive individual, community and planetary health.
Listen to and watch more episodes of The Heart of It here. And be sure to subscribe to The Heart of It in your favourite podcast player app so that you don’t miss a beat.
This episode of The Heart of It was recorded on the traditional, ancestral and unceded shared territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Coquitlam, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen First Nations, and on the home of the Surrey-Delta Métis Association.
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