Pandemic highlights the need for homecare
home care
Dying at home: What I learned from my husband’s death
Palliative care access still lacking
Palliative care improvements still in their infancy.
Health funding: Why 12 federal-provincial deals are better than none
Home dialysis is the future. Here’s why.
Are home care complaints being heard?
Ontario’s ambitious Patients First legislation met with hope and skepticism
Laura T
Empowering the elderly in Japan: lessons for home care in Canada
It’s a question that’s been weighing on the minds of health care managers in Canada and many countries around the world: how will society meet the home and community care needs of an aging population? In trying to answer this question, it can be instructive to look at models around the world, and one that’s received …
Pat
Susan
Lorna
Home care clients who require urgent care need an alternative to the Emergency Department
Between 2008 and 2013, the number of Canadians receiving some form of home care grew by 55 per cent, to 1.4 million. And as our population continues to age, more and more Canadians expect that care at home will be a viable option. Since the beginning of many coordinated home care programs in the late …
Improving medication safety for the elderly
Mimi Roots is worried about her ninety year old mother, Maria. Maria lives alone and has multiple health issues: congestive heart failure, asthma, arthritis, gastrointestinal issues, and a thyroid that was surgically removed. She receives care from five specialists and her family doctor – and each prescribes their own set of medications. Maria takes a …
How should we measure quality in home care?
Trevor Cranney gets 60 hours of home care a month. Though he’s happy with the quality of care he’s getting, he doesn’t think it’s enough. “I suffer from ALS, and I’m unable to feed myself, brush my hair or do anything,” says the 42-year-old, who was recently given six to nine months to live. He would like …
Home care: getting your parent the support they need to live independently
The Question: I’m getting really worried that my mom cannot cope at home. She is 85 years old and has severe shortness of breath from bad heart failure, but she has still been able to live independently. Unfortunately, she fell while walking up the stairs 3 days ago and now has trouble standing because of …
There are hidden costs of moving care out of hospitals
Connie’s story Connie is a Personal Support Worker (PSW) who cares for seniors and people with dementia in their homes. She is a graduate of George Brown College’s PSW program and has been working in home care for the last 10 years. She makes $16 per hour, but rarely gets paid for more than four …
What does the government’s tentative agreement with doctors mean for Ontario’s health care system?
Last week, the Ontario Medical Association and the Ontario government announced they had reached a tentative agreement that they hope will end their current dispute. The tentative agreement, which will run until March of 2014, will affect doctors in a number of ways and also has implications for the wider health care system. In this article, …
Home dialysis and the lengthy wait for a kidney transplant
The Personal Health Navigator is available to all Canadian patients. Questions about your doctor, hospital or how to navigate the health care system can be sent to AskLisa@Sunnybrook.ca The Question: I want to do dialysis at home but am worried. Is it safe? Is it possible? The Answer: This is the kind of question Alireza Zahirieh, head of …
Supporting Ontario’s unpaid caregivers
Anne Harrison lives in Huron County with her husband. For nearly two and half years, her husband was medicated for anxiety and stress he was experiencing at work. The medication didn’t help. They didn’t know what was wrong, and worried he might have a brain tumor. In June of 2011, her local family health team, …