Us and Them: Why patient-defined health teams don’t communicate well

| March 23, 2016

Patients and their families have many people who contribute to their care – different types of providers in different departments and institutions. Yet, despite sharing the goal of improving the same patient’s health, providers often don’t communicate with one another – as many patients know all too well. Many policy makers and providers are currently …

Address transphobia in Canada’s health system

| March 16, 2016

The Canada Health Act emphasizes that all Canadians are entitled to the same level of care. This does not appear to be the case for transgender patients, many of whom face barriers when seeking gender-affirming medical treatment. There are many disparities in health care access between transgender patients and their cisgender counterparts (cisgender denotes people …

Ontario’s budget doesn’t look good for hospitals

| March 9, 2016

Now that the government of Ontario has released its budget for 2016, we have a better sense of its health care priorities. This budget underscores the Ministry’s plans to focus on community-based care, hoping this will ease demand on more expensive sectors, including hospitals and drugs. Without a clear strategy for how to respond to …

To prevent FASD, empower women

| March 2, 2016

A month ago, the Centers for Disease Control in the US released its controversial guidelines recommending all women who “might be” pregnant abstain from alcohol and that all women who are pregnant stop drinking completely. While parts of the guidelines are appropriate, including that all pregnant women be talked to about alcohol use, the messaging …