Patient experience

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

A plea to maskless health-care workers from vulnerable patients

Health-care workers have a responsibility to protect their vulnerable patients. Our lives are in your hands.

Patients, not politicians, decide what is an emergency

Ontario Premier Doug Ford made reckless statements on Oct. 25 that we as emergency physicians must correct. Patients decide what is a medical emergency. We trust our patients to make that decision.

Are Canada’s clinical trials in need of reform? Experts weigh in.

Private companies in Canada are recruiting thousands of often financially desperate test subjects each year to participate in clinical trials. If we want to ensure safer studies for participants and improve critical research, what is the best way forward?

‘I would still receive another rather than no vaccine at all’: Chronically ill people left with little choice

Canada will not be procuring the Novavax vaccine for the 2024/25 season, leaving those who would have preferred an alternative to the mRNA vaccine without another option.

Where are the patient voices in Canada’s pharmaceutical system?

While federal health priorities focus on areas such as pharmaceutical use, data infrastructure and connected care, the central priority – patients’ experiences and needs – remains neglected.

Canadians deserve potentially life-saving early warning health-care AI

AI technology threatens to disenfranchise the labour force, further concentrate power and wealth and even destabilize democracy. But it's not all bad news. CHARTWatch shows how AI could be used to save lives rather than destroy them.

From hospitals to encampments – the devolution of mental illness care in Canada

Solutions to the mental health and homelessness crises are not easy. It will take years to improve it. But if we want to call ourselves a civilized compassionate country, we have to do it.

Tackling the sepsis ‘beast’: New treatment aims to save lives

Researchers have developed a new treatment to block inflammation, supercharge the white blood cells’ ability to kill bacteria, and protect against heart and lung failure.

What is ‘normal’? Lab-based inequity in hematology

Inappropriate reference ranges are a significant issue in various areas of medicine and perpetuate systemic racism.

Facing up to life’s challenges

"Despite setbacks like injuries and losses, I am eager to embark on a new chapter of my life, transitioning from being a professional athlete to pursuing academia and becoming a doctor."

Ethical issues cloud online Ozempic prescription services

Patients with obesity are caught in the middle of two ethical issues rooted in weight bias – the reason the online services exist and the online services themselves.

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.