Health Infrastructure

Beyond acceptance: Fostering inclusive care for sex and gender minority youth

Sex and gender minority youth are disproportionately impacted by mental health concerns tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. But they're also less likely to find adequate supports.

Why are we not using evidence-informed workload management in health care?

Excessive staff workloads lie at the root of the current human resources crisis in health care. With nurses and front-line staff leaving the profession in droves, we need better workload management.

Along with millions of others, I live with MCAS. There is an urgent need for research and support

"Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) is a debilitating and often misunderstood condition. As someone living with MCAS, I have firsthand experience of its profound impact on daily life and the urgent need for greater awareness, research and funding."

Resident matching can’t start with CaRMS: Why we need a national plan for the health workforce

"Medical residents are a critical part of the health system. Together, we can plan for a future where they and their patients are set up for long-term success."

Childbirth PTSD is all too common. AI may help remove stigma and improve care

Listening to patient voices is crucial, but physicians can sometimes overlook details that could lead to an important diagnosis. AI can help.

Cautious, compassionate safe supply is good public policy

Safe supply is not a magic bullet to cure our overdose emergency. However, under cautious guidelines, prescriber-based safe supply initiatives have a role to play in saving lives.

People with disabilities account for 13% of all pregnancies, but their needs are invisible

People with disabilities need inclusive, accessible pregnancy care that treats them with respect, dignity and acceptance.

AI stethoscope demonstrates ‘the power as well as the risk’ of emerging technology

Stethoscopes join the growing number of AI health-care applications promising improved diagnostic performance. But this new technology still comes with certain risks.

Fears of exposure to illicit drugs in public places based on politics, not facts

Health-care providers deserve to have a safe workplace, and this includes accurate information about their environmental risks. But the dangers of second-hand inhalation of illicit substances have been highly political rather than rooted in evidence.

‘Thank you for sharing. Do you have a plan?’ Outdated policies preventing peer supporters from saving lives

Peer supporters are ready and able to support people with experiences relating to death and dying – we just need organizational policies to get with the times.

Sidelined and underutilized: Red tape, finances discouraging thousands of internationally trained nurses already here

Ontario needs to hire 24,000 nurses to meet the national average. Internationally-educated nurses that are already in the province could help fill this gap.

Disability and poverty: Funding and structure of new federal benefit unacceptable

The amount being offered to some people with disabilities, $200 per month, is a drop in the bucket in a time of high inflation, rising rents and significant added costs to living with a disability.

‘Nurses are not a commodity. We are human’: Kari, registered nurse, Toronto

‘You just go to the bathroom and cry it out’: Paula, licensed practical nurse, Red Deer

‘This used to be a job that could sustain you … it’s not anymore’: Kris Vickberg, porter, Vancouver

‘We shouldn’t have to work 2 or 3 jobs to survive’: Lisa Allen, personal care attendant, St. John

‘Choosing to a job that pays less, because you enjoy it, only goes so far’: Vanessa, family doctor, Winnipeg

‘These are absolutely the most vulnerable workers’: Charlotte, continuing care assistant, Saskatoon

May 1 is Doctors’ Day. My thanks go to patients, students and physician colleagues

Doctors’ Day (May 1) is really about all those in medicine working together to make our health-care system better for all. We just need politicians and policy makers to step out of the way.

The toxic standards that have shaped coverage of drug use in Canada

While a health crisis has unfolded, newsrooms have had to learn to do better. But the changes in framing haven’t always come fast enough or extended to the workers with lived experience