Evidence Network

Aging

Why you should start talking to your family and friends about your end-of-life wishes

Many people have been faced with having to make critical decisions for family and friends who were at the end of their lives. This can create a great deal of stress and burden as family members try to navigate the social and health care systems and succumb to their own impending loss and grief. A […]

Listen to those living with frailty

Older Canadians say their top priorities are better coordinated care systems and more community and home-based supports Today, over one million Canadians are medically frail — approximately 25 per cent of those over age 65 and 50 per cent past age 85. The aging of Canadian society and the growing number of older adults living […]

The Concept of “Frailty” and How it Can Help Reform our Health System

The Canadian population is rapidly aging as the Baby Boomer generation heads into retirement. By 2030, almost one in four Canadians will be over the age of 65.  Canadians are also living longer than ever, but how well they live while aging remains a concern. Individuals do not age according to a pre-existing timetable; rather […]

Food is medicine where malnutrition and frailty are concerned

Malnutrition a common problem for patients entering health care facilities in Canada – costing the system $2 billion annually “You are what you eat,” or so the saying goes.  We use this axiom in our developed country, where obesity is often top of mind, to remind ourselves that overeating will lead to a less healthy […]

Putting patients first can save our health system

It’s time to organize care in communities so that patients stay healthier and fewer need expensive hospital treatment It’s no secret: Ontario is getting older. The number of seniors in our province has been steadily increasing and over the next twenty years, will double.  Including factors like increased use of health services and evolving technology, […]

Who will benefit from an expanded Canada Pension Plan Benefit? It’s not who you think

It was as recently as June 20, 2016 that the federal and provincial Finance Ministers agreed to expand the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).  This is such a recent event, in government terms, that many of the details of benefit entitlements, costs and investment criteria are still not known. But it has been long enough for […]

How improving healthcare for the frail elderly can also cut costs

Medical frailty already affects over one million Canadians.  It can be expensive and upsetting for frail people and their loved ones. Dr. John Muscedere explains how Canada’s healthcare system can better support frail people, who are typically elderly and more vulnerable. Find out how better healthcare for people who are medically frail also improves care for people who are younger and have more […]

It’s time to expand assisted-dying legislation to include advance directives for dementia

A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, the Vancouver Province and the Huffington Post The assisted-dying bill (Bill C-14) was passed in Canada almost a year ago, but not without its detractors — on both sides of the issue. Opponents of the bill were concerned that vulnerable populations, such as those with disabilities […]

Navigating the health and social system a challenging part of caregiving

Governments need to start investing in care navigators to ensure equitable access to publicly funded services and supports A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, Huffington Post and Windsor Star It’s a fact: the Canadian population is aging. For the first time in history, Canadians 65 years and over outnumber those 14 […]

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