Many schools across Canada are struggling to get the resources and funding needed to help students with special needs. Dr. Stuart Shanker and Susan Hopkins explain that schools and the government are trying to keep up with the demand.
Should eye examination be added to the list of school entry requirements?
As a medical student taking part in a Social Paediatrics course at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), I was recently immersed in the lives and healthcare needs of low-income families in Toronto. This experience reshaped the lens through which I now view healthcare and helped me recognize that societal factors greatly influence the emotional and physical wellbeing of children and their families.
Il y a quelque chose qui cloche au Canada. Un rapport publié par UNICEF en 2014 comparait la santé et le développement des enfants canadiens à ceux de 28 autres pays nantis.
Will the cost of senior care in Canada one day break the bank? Probably not, contrary to common perceptions.
Every day when I see patients in my surgical clinic, some are offered a procedure to help them feel better. Whether it is a minor surgery like a tonsillectomy, or something larger scale such as tumor resection, I have a full discussion with the patient regarding the benefits and risks of doing “something.”
Something is amiss in Canada. A 2014 UNICEF report compared the health and development of children in Canada with 28 other wealthy nations. In spite of being a G8 country, Canada’s children rank number 17th, a status that has not budged in the last 10 years.
Over the past twenty years, mental disabilities have overtaken physical disabilities as the leading cause of activity limitations in children. Today, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is three times more likely than asthma to be contributing to childhood disability in the United States.
The development of new therapies has provided our health care system with enormous advances, such as insulin for diabetes, antibiotics for infections or chemotherapy for many cancers. Yet these therapies may also cause potential harm, even death, so the benefits have to be carefully weighed against the risks.
Last month, it was reported that an Edmonton woman was badly beaten by her spouse. Though the attack put her in the hospital, the police offered a silver lining by stating that her unborn baby, at least, wasn’t harmed. Sadly, this claim underestimates the profound effect severe stress can have on children’s development in their first years of life, including while they’re still in the womb.
