A moneylender sees the light, discovering a spirit of giving and generosity. It’s a classic Christmas tale of redemption — and redistribution — but this year the convert in question appears to be one of Canada’s biggest banks.
A Toronto doctor named Gary Bloch has developed a poverty tool for medical practitioners. It helps assess what patients might need other than prescriptions for the newest drugs; it zooms in on the social determinants of health — food, housing, transportation — all poverty markers linked to bad health and poor health outcomes.
This past week, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall took to twitter to ask the question “Is it time to allow people to pay for their own private MRIs in Saskatchewan like they can do in Alberta?
Lorsque les médecins conseillent les patients sur leur santé, ils se concentrent souvent sur les changements de mode de vie comme l’alimentation, l’exercice ou le tabagisme. Des tels conseils peuvent être importants pour la personne, mais font peu pour changer les facteurs sous-jacents à la santé comme le revenu, l’éducation et l’emploi. Or, ce sont ces facteurs qui ont le plus d’incidence sur la capacité des patients à bien se nourrir, à faire de l’exercice et à cesser de fumer.
When counseling patients on health, physicians often focus on lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise or smoking. This kind of advice can be important for the individual, but does little to change underlying drivers of health like income, education and employment. These factors are the ones that have the greatest impact on whether patients will be able to eat well, move around or butt out.
UNICEF’S most recent report on child well-being in rich countries ranked Canada 17 out of 29 countries assessed. Sadly, this isn’t news. The House of Commons resolved to eradicate child poverty in 1989, but in late 2013, Statistics Canada reported that 967,000 children in this country still lived in low-income homes.
Canadians might be surprised to learn that 86 families now hold more wealth than the poorest 11.4 million Canadians. Is this a Canada to be proud of? Hardly. According to many studies, the Canadian poverty rate remains high.
First was Sarah Boston’s new book, Lucky Dog, in which she details her personal experience with thyroid cancer and navigating the Canadian health system. Boston, a veterinary oncologist, claims that Canadian dogs often have better access to health care than their human counterparts.
On June 18, 2012, I joined dozens of health care providers and concerned citizens in Saskatoon for the 1st National Day of Action against the cuts to the Interim Federal Health (IFH) program, which then offered health coverage to refugees in Canada.
Les soins ne sont que l’un des éléments qui contribuent le plus à l’atteinte de résultats en santé, car les facteurs sociaux jouent un rôle beaucoup plus important. Les revenus et leur répartition, l’éducation, l’emploi, le soutien social, le logement, l’accès à des aliments nutritifs et le milieu en général, c’est-à-dire ce que nous appelons les déterminants sociaux de la santé, sont les plus puissantes variables explicatives du bien-être et de la longévité.
