Healthcare Delivery

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.

Why the debate over physician involvement in pre-hospital care in B.C. needs a reset

"I work as an advanced care paramedic in British Columbia. I’m proud of our work, but I’m increasingly concerned that debate over physician involvement in pre-hospital care has lost sight of its primary goal: improving patient outcomes."

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.

Manitoba slashes private nursing agencies: The path forward or a policy stumble?

Last month, Manitoba took the bold step in cutting nearly all its private nursing agency contracts. Was it the right move? Experts weigh in.

Going beyond ‘allied:’ The critical role of physiotherapists in Ontario’s primary care system

As our health system continues to buckle under multiple demands, we need more physiotherapists working to full scope of practice.

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.

The euphemism economy: How Ontario health care learned to stop worrying and love the hallway

There’s a difference between softening language to ease emotional pain and softening language to hide systemic failure. One is compassion. The other is camouflage.

Alberta has restricted access to gender based medical care for trans youth. Will the rest of Canada soon follow?

If clinicians cannot demonstrate who is most likely to benefit from pediatric gender-based care, governments may do it for them, with young people paying the price.

‘It made everything worse’: Nurses say WorkSafeBC delays recovery after violent incidents

Nurses reporting workplace violence say they face long waits, complex rules and rigid treatment pathways from WorkSafeBC.

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.

Beyond the default patient: Diversity in virtual simulation-based health-care education

Virtual simulation platforms often fail to meaningfully reflect patient diversity, which may be shaped by underlying biases and have implications for clinical outcomes.

Where two worlds meet: The importance of cultural sensitivity in medicine

"I felt not like a physician but more like an interpreter – not of language, but of the space between two worlds: Western medicine and the cultural practices that shaped Lakshmi and Prakash’s life."

‘When doctors stop talking, patients fall apart’

When care is fragmented, patients become the glue holding the system together. We carry test results from one office to another, retell our histories again and again, and hope that someone will connect the dots before something important is missed.

Vulnerable seniors belong in care, not jail

Accused seniors with cognitive impairments are all too often punished for conditions beyond their control because the justice system lacks safe places to shelter them.

Entschuldigung, ich spreche kein Deutsch! A reflection on my clinical exchange

One medical student's exchange in Berlin taught her not only about German culture, but how language and other support services can be offered in Canadian hospitals.

Dreaming of a bold and courageous health-care system for all

It's that special time of year again: The time when Healthy Debate asks health-care experts to share their one holiday wish for our health-care system.

Medicine can be better: A wish list for our health-care system

Health Debate editor-in-chief, Dr. Seema Marwaha, shares her wishes for Canada's health-care system as a general internist, educator, journalist and incoming president-elect of the Federation of Medical Women of Canada.