Healthcare Delivery

Do doctors know enough about the commercial determinants of health?

Private sector activities have a real impact on people's health. We need to promote healthy cross-industry regulation and scrutinize the role that private interests play in the health-policy arena to help safeguard the health of patients.

Untapped potential: Young leaders have the tools to help address health-care challenges

Global health solutions require creativity, innovation and novel thinking. It is imperative for governments and educators to recognize young leaders and their ideas.

We must change our mindset about our health-care system

No system, public or private, can cover all the health needs and wants of every person all the time. It's time for difficult conversations about our health-care system.

Yes, patients and caregivers are experts

Does being a patient make you an expert on your condition? Does formal education and credentials to comprehend a disease outweigh the rigor of experiencing life with the disease? There may be more room for patient-expert buy-in in health care decisions.

Are mask mandates in health-care settings justified?

No public-health measure has resulted in as much controversy as face coverings. For a universal masking requirement in health-care settings to be acceptable, decision-makers must situate it within the context of public-health ethics to determine whether these mandates are justified.

Another year? Yes. Make it a good one, and share it with specialists, too.

Adding another year to the family practice residency may be controversial, but it is a good idea. All students, residents, clinicians, the system and, most importantly, patients would benefit from a more complete education of all doctors.

We cannot teach ourselves out of a failing system

The College of Family Physicians of Canada's expansion of training will demoralize and financially penalize early career physicians. Education will not address systemic and structural barriers to comprehensive practice.

Housing first: The case for social prescribing of housing in emergency departments

Providing permanent housing is not only something that can and has been realistically implemented for unhoused patients in emergency departments, it also has been shown to reduce ED visits and hospitalizations and produce health benefits.

Decolonizing sexual and reproductive health: A conversation led by the Period Priority Project

The Period Priority Project aims to breakdown and unpack the nuances of colonial period shame and start new conversations about reproductive justice.

Citizen engagement vital if we are to solve our primary-care crisis: OurCare Nova Scotia panelists

Nova Scotia’s primary health care is in crisis. The OurCare Panel in Nova Scotia came up with a series of recommendations on how to fix it.

Pharmacist prescribers fill important gaps in the Canadian healthcare system

Pharmacist prescribing provides a win-win outcome for patients, health-care professionals and the health-care system as a whole.

We need to talk about public and private health care in Canada

With the system under significant strain, we have to re-examine how we fund and deliver health-care services. What this means for Canada's public health-care system is yet to be seen.

Why not educate the person experiencing pain? Improving opioid prescribing for youth in hospital settings

Youth are rarely educated on safe and effective opioid use when they're discharged from hospital. A new set of educational materials made by Solutions for Kids in Pain is hoping to change that.

Why Canada must amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act

MAiD is currently available for those with mental illness. But there are treatment options that exist that have yet to be legalized. It's time to increase access to psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Access denied: Pandemic highlighted issues in accessing sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a number of people with disabilities missing health-care appointments due largely to health and safety concerns on transit. But there are measures we can take to provide accessible, disability-affirming care.

Safeguarding our children: Vaccination’s crucial role in navigating the coming school year

As we embark on the new school year, the lessons we have learned from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic serve as our compass, guiding us toward effective strategies while helping us discern the ones that fall short.

The iDOCTOR will see you now

Patients without a family doctor can see a doctor virtually through artificial intelligence or non-family doctors apps run by private, for-profit corporations. But iDOCTOR will be of limited value to a system already stretched thin.

Lung-cancer screening – primum non nocere (first, do no harm)!

Lung cancer is the number one global killer among cancers. Early detection can help patients' chance of survival but current screening measures also come with mixed benefits and risks.

Fiscal management and Minden’s unprecedented Emergency Department closure

The closure of the Minden ED has become a rallying point for us to address broader issues affecting health-care systems. Minden’s experience must serve as a nationwide warning: review the financial management and board governance of your local health-care systems.

More research needed to understand medical students’ shift from exclusively clinical to scholarship

Canadian medical students’ interest in pursuing careers in research, education and administration is on the rise, signalling future physicians’ interest in enhancing the health-care system rather than simply being a part of it. Medical schools will need to take note.