Canadians are living longer. Unfortunately, our hospitals aren’t ready for them. Canadians over 65 years old use over 40 per cent of hospital services, a demand that continues to rise. As they age, Canadians hope to stay at home as long as possible. If hospitalization is required, they should expect to go home quickly and […]
Nearly half of Canadians aged 65 and over experience osteoarthritis in their knees. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of bones wears down over time leading to pain, stiffness and decreased mobility. It frequently occurs in the hips and knees — and can be […]
So why aren’t we making use of this important human resource? It was recently national Nurse Practitioner Week, but you would be forgiven if you’ve never heard of Nurse Practitioners. Most Canadians haven’t — and most don’t know their value to our health care system. You may be even more surprised to learn that […]
Of course not, in the same way nutrition labeling on the back of food packages doesn’t communicate what we need to know before buying food* Supermarkets are crowded with around 40,000 products, yet most shoppers spend fewer than 10 seconds selecting an item. That’s certainly not enough time to review current Canadian nutrition labels, […]
More medical tests, treatments not always the best Prevailing wisdom states that more is better — and it is no different when it comes to our expectation of medical treatments. With the help of the Internet, patients and their families have come to expect intensive tests, treatments and therapies at every life stage. But […]
The recent controversy about Statistics Canada’s plans to collect a range of detailed financial data has, understandably, focused on questions of privacy. But the role of a country’s national statistical agency has always been to balance the privacy concerns associated with collecting sensitive individual data with the many public goods produced from the statistical analysis […]
Cold and flu season for many Canadians means getting ready to have their lives and routines thrown off by painful and annoying symptoms. This can mean days off work or school dealing with sore throats, nasal congestion and fever. For parents, it can be challenging to try to comfort young kids with fever, coughing or […]
Conservative politicians across Canada have strongly opposed the Trudeau government’s promise to impose carbon tax since the idea was floated in 2015. Beginning with Premier Wall in Saskatchewan, opposition to the carbon tax is now a central commitment of conservative Premiers Pallister, Moe and Ford, as well as the leader of the official opposition, Andrew […]
More regular reporting on extreme weather patterns would help Canadians understand the real threat of climate change The tornadoes that recently hit the Ottawa area cannot be blamed specifically on global climate change. But they are consistent with the long-predicted pattern of increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather events, highlighted in the most recent […]
I’ve often wondered why there’s very little public outcry when the media reports on the cruel use of seclusion rooms for kids with developmental disabilities and delays in schools across Canada. I’ve worked with kids born with developmental disabilities since I was 16 years old. I started out as a respite worker for families through […]
