Poverty
Putting poverty on the agenda in British Columbia
Four ways to break the link between diabetes and poverty
Canada’s dirty air: how pollution is hurting our health

This summer, record numbers of forest fires in Western Canada made air pollution impossible to ignore. Eerie photos of the smoky skies of Vancouver made the news – then disappeared after the air cleared. But the threat remains. Air pollution contributes to asthma, COPD and cardiovascular disease. And high background levels are often more harmful than …
Despite Ontario’s Northern Health Travel Grant, some still pay out of pocket

When Nan Normand’s husband had quintuple bypass surgery, it cost them $1,500. It wasn’t the operation that was pricey, but the travel. The couple went from Kenora, a small city near the Ontario-Manitoba border, to Hamilton for the surgery. The trek included flights and a multiple-night stay. Normand was unlucky: Manitoba had temporarily stopped accepting most Ontario heart patients, …
The gap between rich and poor is bad for our health

The gap between rich and poor in Canada is growing. Organizations across the country, from the Conference Board of Canada to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have recognized the rise of income inequality in Canada. For some, this concentration of wealth is an unremarkable trend, but for many more it is worrying change in …
On patients and the big picture: a medical student’s experience

This past October, I met a bright and engaging man who had suffered a stroke. Luckily, a family member of his had recognized the symptoms he was having and brought him to the hospital. Unfortunately, the stroke had left him unable to use the left side of his body and, as a result, he required …
Towards a homegrown approach to addressing health for Canada’s homeless

Sayid is a 65 year old South Asian man from Toronto. He has schizophrenia, but with the proper medications and supports, his illness is well controlled, allowing him to work full-time in a manufacturing job. For years, like many of Toronto’s working poor, he lived paycheque to paycheque. When his company underwent downsizing, Sayid lost …
The importance of using a health equity impact lens to analyze public policy

Policy decisions on everything from childhood education to housing can have unintended consequences on the public’s health. A Healthy Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) is a decision support tool designed to identify these unintended consequences. It walks users through the steps of identifying how a program, policy or similar initiative will impact population groups in different …
The important role of social work in primary care

The staff at the Community Health Centre (CHC) where I work often discuss behavior change and the fact that many of our clients struggle to make changes that could affect the quality of their life. “If this client would only make some of the dietary changes as I’ve suggested…” “Despite all that we know about …
When public policy fails

Canadian health agencies continue to develop diabetes prevention and management strategies that primarily focus on “lifestyle”: poor diet, excess weight, and lack of physical activity. But the exclusive focus on “lifestyle” ignores the important role played by the social determinants of health. A recent paper entitled A toxic combination of poor social policies and programmes, …
Health equity – missing in action

I’ve been reading a new book called Oppression: A Social Determinant of Health, edited by Elizabeth McGibbon. The book raises the question of why we continue to have such vast health inequities in Canada, despite the volume of evidence pointing to the large role played by the social determinants of health in causing illness and …
Screening for poverty: identifying an important social determinant of health

“A 41 year-old woman with no documented medical history or family history of disease presents to you complaining of occasional chest pains on exertion. How many would order a stress test to rule-out cardiovascular disease?” asks Dr. Gary Bloch, to a captivated audience of resident physicians currently in training at an academic learning day – …
Austerity won’t save health care – fighting poverty will
Recently Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews made a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade in which she introduced changes to the province’s health care system. Hmmm – interesting choice of audiences. The Ontario government is preparing for an upcoming provincial budget. It is widely expected to contain drastic spending cuts as recommended by economist …
Poverty and health

I see the effects of poverty everyday in my job as a health promoter at a Community Health Centre. Many of our clients live in deep poverty conditions, relying on social assistance, food banks, and meal programs to get by each month. They have little stability, living day to day, month to month in a …
“Just say no” to the war on drugs

In recent years, health care has embraced the concept of “evidence based” practice. We incorporate this daily in our diverse work settings. We invoke it when we mentor students. We know, for example, that rigorous control of blood sugar levels in people with diabetes reduces their risk of organ damage – and so we aim …