Lived Experience

LifeLabs strike highlights risks of foreign ownership in Canadian health care

The months-long strike at British Columbia’s LifeLabs has raised questions about foreign ownership of medical services and Canadians’ health data.

My birth sex is part of my medical history; it should be as private as the rest of my medical history

Insisting on primary birth sex identification for trans people does little to improve the health of trans and gender diverse persons; it merely exchanges one theoretical set of adverse health care outcomes for others that are definite and far more impactful.

Trade war yet another blow to patient care in Canada

The Trump administration’s trade war is sowing chaos and uncertainty around the world. Its effects on Canada's health-care system are no exception.

Vaccine safety, politics and the nocebo effect

The nocebo effect has an important role to play in vaccine uptake and safety. We must vigorously counter the misinformation and political spin that helps to fuel the accelerating vaccine concern vortex.

Decades after it was declared eliminated, I fear the heartbreaking, avoidable consequences of measles

Fatal encephalitis from measles technically and biologically could be abolished as a human disease. Yet, I fear the downstream consequences of what the anti-vaccine movement could bring.

Public health is dead. As artists, we share some of the responsibility

As a writer who lived with Long Covid for two years, today more than ever, I think it is essential for artists to acknowledge and challenge a pandemic-shaped cultural vacuum.

End of substance use and addiction program funding ‘very, very short-sighted’

On March 31, the federal funding for 22 safer supply initiatives across the country expired. Unless provinces step in, many patients will be left with few options.

To make health care better, we must hold on to our rage

We have perhaps gotten too used to hearing about health care underfunding and staffing issues. But we can't afford to stop talking about it.

‘We might die because you won’t wear a mask’: A plea to health-care workers

Yes, it’s time to mask again. We need to do better. We know how to do better. We can save so many lives and preserve the dignity of patients in the process.

I was a COVID unicorn

I feared neither the virus nor the vaccine. Why did so few of us fit this profile?

The Innocents Aboard (a bike)

I imagine what it will be like for drivers when bike lanes are gone and seeing cyclists will be a surprise. As a physician, I worry I will be the first to see the aftermath of these decisions.

‘I wish he would have just hit me’: Bill criminalizing ‘insidious’ form of domestic abuse dies with prorogation

Coercive control, a form of intimate partner violence, was nearly criminalized in Canada before parliament was prorogued on Jan. 6. Will new Parliament revive it?

‘Nobody prepares you for this part of the journey’: Four women discuss life after breast cancer

Breast cancer rates are increasing for women in their 20s to 40s. Four women share how life looks after breast cancer and how they contended with challenges they never saw coming.

Charity fills the gap in pet fostering services for struggling community members in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

For The Homies - Downtown Eastside Pet Support Society is a new grassroots organization offering much-needed pet fostering and other pet services for community members and their furry friends.

Empowering choices: The importance of advance care planning

Advance care planning empowers individuals to have their health-care preferences honoured, offering peace of mind to both themselves and their loved ones. Yet, despite the importance of these conversations, many people delay or avoid them altogether.

Statement from the CMA, CNA, CFNU: Attacks, abuse of health workers must not be tolerated

The reprehensible assault of health workers in Halifax last week is a harsh reminder of the dangers health professionals across Canada face while trying to provide quality care to patients.

Patient Perspectives: Is patient experience finally having its moment?

Will this be the year that patient and caregiver engagement become a real thing? And how do we stay on course? Just ask someone with lived experience.

The importance of health-system navigators

Patients need to know where to turn to for help - and the province must support family doctors and patients in accessing system navigators.

New Year’s resolutions from health-care professionals: Advocate, avoid burnout and remember to love

At a time when the problems in Canadian health care can feel overwhelming and reaching our goals seems a daunting task, we wanted to know what health-care experts have on their personal resolutions list for 2025. 

Health-care workers are under attack. We must do more to ensure their safety

Every day, healthy-care workers document a spectrum of abusive behaviour they experience in providing care. More needs to be done stop it.