Patient experience

Beyond the signature: Is consent truly informed?

Moving forward, making informed consent truly informed – rooted in both equity and accessibility –  needs to be a priority, not just an ideal.

Healing the healers: Servant leadership and moral injury

In medicine, service and skill are not opposing forces. They’re inseparable. One without the other leads to harm. Together, service and skills just might help us heal.

Approved but denied: Canadians with neuromuscular diseases face unequal access to treatment

We are told health care in Canada is equal for everyone. But it is not. Particularly for patients with neuromuscular diseases, what you get depends on where you live.

‘Disability’ glaringly absent from federal cabinet portfolios

On May 13, Prime Minister Carney announced his new cabinet of 28 cabinet ministers and 10 secretaries of states, yet incredibly left Canadians with disabilities without any overt representation.

When care doesn’t translate

For South Asian communities, improved care means earlier screening, culturally relevant guidance and meaningful language access. Without these changes, we risk continuing a pattern of preventable harm.

‘This Will Make You a Better Doctor’

As medical trainees, we spend years learning to care for patients. But absolutely nothing prepared me to be a doctor better than being a patient.

Bridging gaps in care: Reimagining Ontario’s health system for immigrants and refugees

It's time to reimagine a health-care system that truly works for everyone, especially those at the intersection of social and clinical disadvantage.

Report reveals ‘alarming trend’ of private staffing agencies in Ontario hospitals

New report reveals growth in government funding on Ontario’s public hospital systems has been significantly outpaced by spending on private staffing agencies.

HPV vaccination more than just women’s health issue

Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination historically has been framed as a women’s health topic, but a gender-neutral approach to prevention may boost health benefits for both females and males.

‘I want to pat dogs until I die’: End-of-life planning should be more than just Living Wills

Flipping the script on Advance Care Planning doesn’t mean I don’t agree with it. But what my approach has done is to take note of what makes up a “good day” and try to incorporate as many as possible.

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.

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.

‘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.

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.

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.

Dementia patients deserve more than coloured balls and matching games

If that’s the best we can do, we haven’t learned anything about dignity, respect, and authentic life enrichment