Privacy, Communication & Personal Health Information

1. Who is responsible for privacy

16319173 Canada Inc., operating as Sparkwell Counselling & Wellness, and Ronak Gandhi, RN, BScN, MN, Psychotherapist, are responsible for safeguarding information in their custody or control. When providing nursing services, Sparkwell handles personal health information in accordance with Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), applicable nursing standards, and other legal obligations.

Privacy contact: Ronak Gandhi, RN, BScN, MN, Psychotherapist
Email: info@sparkwellwellness.ca
Phone: 647-909-1457

2. Information Sparkwell may collect

Depending on your interaction with Sparkwell, information may include:

• Name, contact details, identity, age, and physical-location information.
• Health history, current concerns, goals, assessments, care plans, consent, session documentation, safety information, and referrals.
• Information about capacity, a substitute decision-maker, parent, guardian, emergency contact, or other person involved in care where applicable.
• Appointment, billing, receipt, insurance, and payment-related information.
• Communications with Sparkwell and information provided through the website consultation-request form, intake forms, or consent forms.
• Basic technical information created by website, hosting, security, email, or practice-management systems.

3. Why information is collected and used

Sparkwell may collect and use information to:

• Assess needs, capacity, safety, clinical fit, and suitability for virtual care; obtain informed consent; and provide nursing care.
• Schedule appointments, communicate about care, provide virtual services, maintain records, issue receipts, and process payments.
• Support continuity of care, referrals, quality improvement, safety planning, and professional accountability.
• Meet legal, regulatory, insurance, accounting, security, and privacy obligations.
• Respond to general website, resource, or service inquiries and arrange requested introductory consultations.

4. Consent, capacity, and withdrawal of consent

Sparkwell seeks knowledgeable and informed consent for treatment and for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal health information, except where consent is not required or where collection, use, or disclosure is permitted or required by law. Consent may be express or implied depending on the circumstances. Consent can be refused or withdrawn at any time, although withdrawal cannot reverse actions already taken and may be subject to legal, safety, clinical, billing, and record-retention requirements.

Capacity is decision-specific and may change over time. A person is presumed capable unless there are reasonable grounds to believe otherwise. Sparkwell will explain the proposed service, expected benefits, material risks, alternatives, limits, fees, virtual-care considerations, and the likely consequences of proceeding or not proceeding, and will provide an opportunity for questions.

5. Adults, minors, and substitute decision-makers

Current service population: Sparkwell’s clinical psychotherapy and counselling services are presently intended for adults age 18 and older who are physically located in Ontario during virtual care. General website information may be viewed by anyone, but accessing a website resource does not create a nurse-client relationship.

Ontario law does not set a single minimum age for consent to treatment; the relevant question is whether the person is capable of understanding the information needed for the decision and appreciating the reasonably foreseeable consequences. If Sparkwell considers providing a service involving a person under 18 in the future, this would require a specific intake process addressing capacity, informed consent, privacy, custody or decision-making authority, parental or guardian involvement, emergency planning, billing access, and the limits of confidentiality before care begins.

If a client is incapable of making a particular treatment or privacy decision, consent will be sought from the highest-ranking available and legally authorized substitute decision-maker. Sparkwell may verify the substitute decision-maker’s identity, relationship, availability, willingness, and authority. The client will be involved to the extent reasonably possible. A substitute decision-maker is expected to follow the client’s applicable prior capable wishes or, when no applicable wish is known, make a decision based on the client’s best interests, values, beliefs, well-being, benefits, risks, and available alternatives.

Being a parent, family member, emergency contact, or person paying for services does not automatically create a right to receive the client’s clinical information. Disclosure depends on the client’s capacity, consent, the substitute decision-maker rules, and applicable law.

6. Virtual care and physical location

Before and during virtual care, Sparkwell may confirm the client’s identity, physical location in Ontario, privacy of the setting, contact information, and an emergency contact or local emergency plan. Sparkwell may also confirm whether another person is present or will participate and whether additional consent is required. If virtual care is not clinically appropriate or cannot be provided safely or privately, an in-person or alternative service may be recommended.

Sparkwell uses third-party service providers, including Owl Practice, to support booking, intake and consent forms, clinical records, receipts, and virtual appointments. The public consultation-request form is processed through Netlify Forms and may generate an administrative email notification to Sparkwell. Website hosting, email, payment, accounting, security, and other providers may therefore process limited information on Sparkwell’s behalf. No electronic system can be guaranteed completely secure.

7. Email, text, voicemail, and social-media boundaries

Administrative use: Ordinary email, voicemail, and text messaging are intended primarily for brief administrative communication, such as scheduling, cancellations, receipts, general inquiries, or portal access. They are not appropriate for detailed personal health information, psychotherapy, clinical assessment, treatment decisions, or crisis support.

Response expectations: These channels are not monitored continuously, including outside practice hours, and a same-day response cannot be guaranteed. Sending a message does not confirm that it has been received or reviewed. Sparkwell may redirect communication to the secure client portal, a scheduled appointment, another provider, or an emergency resource.

Privacy risk: Standard email and SMS may be intercepted, misdirected, displayed on a shared device, or accessed by others. By choosing to use these channels after being informed of the risks, a person accepts the privacy limitations associated with the communication. Sparkwell will use reasonable safeguards and will avoid transmitting detailed personal health information through ordinary email or text whenever possible.

Clinical record: Communications that are clinically relevant may be copied, summarized, or documented in the client’s health record.

Social media: Sparkwell’s public social-media accounts are for general information and education only. Direct messages, comments, tags, or posts are not confidential clinical channels and should not contain personal health information. Sparkwell does not provide counselling or crisis support through social media. Ronak does not connect with clients through personal social-media accounts, accept personal friend or follow requests, or publicly confirm whether someone is a current or former client. A client may choose to follow a public business account, but public interaction may reveal the client’s association with the practice to others.

8. Family members, support persons, and third-party information

With the capable client’s consent, a family member, support person, interpreter, or other participant may be involved in care. Consent and the purpose and limits of that involvement may be reviewed at any time. Information received from a family member or other third party may be documented and may be discussed with the client when clinically appropriate, unless doing so would be unsafe, unlawful, or contrary to a protected confidence. Sparkwell cannot promise secrecy to a third party who provides information about a client.

9. Disclosure of information and limits of confidentiality

Sparkwell does not sell personal information or personal health information. Information may be disclosed:

• With the capable client’s consent or at the client’s direction.
• With the consent of an authorized substitute decision-maker when the client is incapable of the relevant decision.
• To service providers or agents who support Sparkwell’s operations and are expected to protect the information.
• To another health-care provider for care, consultation, or referral when authorized or otherwise permitted by law.
• Without consent when required or permitted by law, including to eliminate or reduce a significant risk of serious bodily harm, respond to a valid court order or other lawful authority, meet professional or privacy reporting duties, or make another legally authorized disclosure.

Where appropriate and safe, Sparkwell will discuss a required disclosure with the client or substitute decision-maker and limit the information disclosed to what is reasonably necessary.

10. Child-protection and other mandatory reporting

Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 creates a direct and ongoing duty to report to a Children’s Aid Society when a person has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child younger than 16 is or may be in need of protection. The report must be made directly and cannot be delegated to another person. The law also permits reports concerning a 16- or 17-year-old in specified protection circumstances. Sparkwell may disclose information without consent to fulfill these obligations.

Other laws or professional obligations may require or permit disclosure in particular circumstances, including a significant risk of serious bodily harm, a lawful court or tribunal process, certain professional-regulatory or privacy-reporting duties, or another statutory obligation. The exact action depends on the facts and the law in force at the time. Confidentiality is therefore important but not absolute.

11. Safeguards

Sparkwell uses safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. These may include role-based access, passwords, multi-factor authentication where available, encryption, secure practice systems, device protections, backups, privacy procedures, and secure disposal practices. Access is limited to those who need the information for an authorized purpose.

12. Record retention and disposal

Clinical records are generally retained for at least 10 years after the nurse-client relationship ends, in keeping with CNO guidance and applicable legal obligations. Information may be retained longer where required for safety, legal, insurance, capacity, child-protection, or regulatory reasons. Records are disposed of securely when retention is no longer required.

13. Access and correction

A client, or an authorized substitute decision-maker where applicable, may request access to or correction of personal health information by contacting the Privacy Contact in writing. Sparkwell will respond in accordance with PHIPA and may need to verify identity and authority. Access may be limited or refused only where permitted or required by law, and applicable fees will be explained in advance. A parent, payer, family member, or support person does not automatically have access to a capable client’s record.

14. Privacy incidents and complaints

If personal health information is lost, stolen, or used or disclosed without authority, Sparkwell will take reasonable steps to contain and investigate the incident and will notify affected individuals, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, the College of Nurses of Ontario, or others when required.

Questions or complaints should first be directed to Sparkwell’s Privacy Contact. You may also contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario regarding health privacy concerns.

15. Public website, consultation requests, and general inquiries

The public website provides general information and educational resources. It is not a secure clinical communication channel and does not establish a nurse-client relationship. Standard hosting or security logs may record technical information such as IP address, browser type, requested pages, and time of access.

The new-client consultation-request form is intended to collect only the minimum information needed to respond administratively: name, email address, a broad topic category, general availability, expected province of location, and consent to be contacted. The form intentionally does not provide a free-text box for clinical history. Prospective clients are instructed not to submit detailed personal health information, diagnoses, medications, treatment history, trauma details, crisis information, or other sensitive clinical information through the public website. A consultation request is not a clinical intake, is not continuously monitored, and does not establish a nurse-client relationship.

Verified website-form submissions may be stored within Netlify and may be sent to Sparkwell through a form-notification email. Sparkwell will use reasonable safeguards, limit access, and periodically review and delete administrative website submissions when they are no longer reasonably required, subject to any applicable legal or record-retention obligation.

16. Updates to this notice

This notice may be updated to reflect changes in law, professional standards, technology, or Sparkwell’s practices. The effective date shown above will be revised when material changes are made.

17. Professional and legal framework

This notice is informed by Ontario privacy and consent legislation and CNO standards and guidelines, including confidentiality and privacy, consent, professional boundaries and nurse-client relationships, independent practice, documentation, and virtual care. It is a public summary of Sparkwell’s information practices and does not replace individualized consent discussions or legal advice.