Prevention

RSV protection has changed. Our conversations need to change, too

Few things are more frightening for a parent than watching a baby struggle to breathe. A child who seemed well suddenly has difficulty feeding, becomes exhausted or needs hospital care. For families, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, can mean anxious hours in an emergency department and days at a hospital bedside.

Does the Mediterranean diet have to be Mediterranean? Rethinking heart-healthy eating in multicultural Canada

When someone in cardiac rehabilitation is told to follow a Mediterranean diet, they most likely picture olive oil, salmon, nuts and colourful salads. Maybe tomatoes, chickpeas and whole grains. For some Canadians, these foods are familiar, affordable and readily available. For others, they may bear little resemblance to the foods they grew up eating, the meals their families prepare or what is available at their local grocery store.

Could we vaccinate against colorectal cancer? Lynch Syndrome may show us how

Imagine being told that you carry a genetic mutation that significantly increases your risk of developing cancer. For many people with Lynch syndrome, that is their reality. They may spend decades undergoing regular colonoscopies and other forms of surveillance, knowing that cancer could still develop. But what if a vaccine could change that?

If diet is a key to health, why aren’t we focusing on nutrition in medical schools?

“Why am I not being taught this?” It’s a question Amardeep Mangat says medical learners frequently ask after rotating through his Lifestyle Medicine clinic, where they witness patients improving their chronic disease management through nutrition, exercise, sleep optimization and behavioural interventions – and sometimes deprescribing medications altogether.

You can’t have patient safety without good system design

In modern health care, we still behave as though safety is primarily a function of individual vigilance. When something goes wrong, health-care providers will instinctively ask “what could I have done differently?” instead of addressing a more uncomfortable question “how did our systems make this mistake more likely?” This is understandable as many enter the health-care profession firmly grounded in the principle of “first, do no harm.”

Young people aren’t avoiding conversations about sexual health – they’re avoiding judgment

Youth are already talking about sexual health online every day. The question is whether trusted institutions are willing to meet them there – not with judgment, but with honesty, empathy and respect. 

Lifestyle medicine vs. wellness culture: Evidence-based preventative care should not be a luxury product

Evidence-based preventative care should not become a luxury product or a marketplace trend. It should remain a core part of accessible public health care.

Where is the care for coaches in the Safe Sport movement?

Sport is a space that offers opportunities to experience great joy and excitement, as well sorrow and disappointment. More importantly, sport (at all levels) relies on coaches to support athletes throughout this emotional journey. But who supports the coaches?

Summer’s almost here. Are you still upset about changing to daylight saving time?

Spring and summer moves between daylight and standard time represents a compromise. It’s about health across the months, not just in the immediate moment of the change.

Shamed to death: How stigma, not science, is killing Canadians with lung cancer

Lung cancer screening should be available to everyone at risk, regardless of where they live or the source of their illness. 

From bombed refineries to empty fridges: A faraway war raises health concerns at home

When the Middle East burns, Canadians feel the heat in our gas tanks, grocery bills, clinic waitlists and therapy rooms. Global crises may not stay global; they can become local.

Beyond stereotypes: Family doctors’ pivotal role in detecting substance use disorders

Primary care clinics can be the best place for detection because of the stigma patients feel when walking into a specialized clinic.

Sharing the waterfront with e-scooters and e-bikes

If we listen to the people who use the roads, including walkers, bicyclists as well as riders of e-bikes and e-scooters, we can design roads so that getting around feels safer and more pleasant.

Are we the problem?

"Systems would visibly fail. And perhaps – like the family that finally sets the boundary – they would be forced to build what they’ve never needed to, because we were always there."

Instead of pointing fingers, let’s fix the societal problems plaguing us

Rather than worsening our society’s health and safety by spewing hate as we grieve Tumbler Ridge, we need to respond compassionately to our national tragedies by caring for everyone and fixing the societal imbalances that will keep harming us all.

Violent extremism is a public health problem

Social polarization and worsening toxic online ecosystems have catapulted a growing range of extremisms, which have pushed well beyond political ideology and into nihilism, misogyny, hate-fuelled and sexually exploitative forms.

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.

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.