Evidence Based Medicine

Shamed to death: How stigma, not science, is killing Canadians with lung cancer

Lung cancer screening should be available to everyone at risk, regardless of where they live or the source of their illness. 

It’s time to act: Canada needs standardized genetic testing for breast cancer care

Every patient deserves to know if their breast cancer is hereditary, if their treatment could be more precise and if their loved ones are at risk.

Is industry shaping Canada’s research ethics ecosystem?

Canada’s research governance framework must be strong enough to ensure that research ethics oversight remains independent – and that protecting research participants is its first obligation.

To improve primary care, ‘think globally, act locally’

Primary care is the foundation not only for individual but also for collective health, and we must mobilize more family physicians to improve it.

Too frail but not yet palliative: Ontario’s opportunity to lead in home care for older adults

If Ontario wants to help more people age at home, it should apply lessons from home palliative care to frailty right now. It needs to stop treating frailty as an administrative afterthought, and act on what it already knows works.

Transparency is not risk free. But neither is restricted access

Patients should not have to file formal requests to understand their own care. They should not have to wait months to read information that already exists. And they should not be excluded from conversations that shape their health and lives.

The hidden cost of dismissal: How we amplify chronic pain in clinical settings

Chronic pain affects more than one in five Canadians. But not all pain is shaped by our bones, muscles and systems. It also is shaped by context.

The issue no one wants to address about blood donation and Black Canadians

The issue is not whether Black communities care enough to donate. The issue is whether Canada’s blood system is structured in a way that makes equitable participation possible.

Schooling or suicide: The ethical responsibility of educational institutions

Students are dying silently in the places meant to shape their futures. Schools cannot prevent every tragedy, but they also cannot ignore the role they play.

We’re building primary care teams. Who governs them?

As Canada builds team-based primary care, the governance question must be asked at both provincial and federal levels: What does each profession need within its own regulatory framework to prepare members for team-based primary care?

Picking my own lane

Effective system design will take creativity, innovation and sustained change management. In this moment, when the old paradigm is clearly broken, I am more committed than ever to the hard work of generative thinking and deep engagement.

The disappearing patient trick: How we turned ED failure into a performance booster

How do you improve emergency department wait-time metrics while simultaneously seeing fewer patients? Simple. You wait until they leave, then don't count them.

The cost of caring: Social worker well-being and fair compensation

As social workers we are often expected to put our needs last, while accepting an income that fails to reflect the true value of our work. We need to change the social work discourse and change the landscape in which we are expected to work.

Kevin’s story: My journey with my brother, dementia and Down Syndrome

Across the country, we talk about dementia more than we used to, but too often, conversations remain fragmented - and people with disabilities are rarely at the centre of planning.

Sick notes are slowly being banned but much more is needed to reduce administrative burden

Doctors across Canada agree: the crushing paperwork in medicine is unsustainable. Together, we can create a better system that truly supports both patients and the physicians who serve them.

These parliamentary studies are low-profile but have implications for access to medicines

Two studies by Parliamentary Standing Committees each have potentially serious implications for medical innovation, pandemic preparedness and access to medicines.

‘Dangerous outcomes’: The limitations of BMI as a diagnostic tool

Researchers, clinicians and advocates have been raising concerns about the BMI, saying it is not a comprehensive indicator of health and using it can have disastrous results, especially for racialized populations.

Don’t give up on your health. Give up on the old playbook

As January recedes in the rearview mirror, so have most New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, eat better or get fit. But when success is only defined by a number on the scale, disappointment is almost inevitable.

U.S. dietary guidelines spark confusion and apprehension among food and nutrition experts

The recently released U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans has drawn concern from many nutritionists and sparked potential confusion among the public, both within and outside of the country.

Getting a flu shot is a small yet deeply profound act of Canadian community care

Canadians know the flu is here. We know that anyone, even those who seem healthy, can get it. And we know that getting a seasonal flu vaccination is one of the best ways to protect ourselves and the wider community from illness.