Public Health

Adherence starts with understanding: Why health literacy is a system responsibility

On World Adherence Day, the message should be simple but transformative: before we ask patients to follow treatment, we must ensure they truly understand it.

Co-payments ‘a step backward’ for refugees and the health-care system

It’s imperative we protect access to health care for refugees and asylum claimants. There is no compromise when it comes to equitable health care.

Encouraging signs but retention and recruitment essential for Ontario to achieve primary care goals

The Primary Care Act and the vision that positions primary care as the foundation of Ontario’s health system is the bold thinking our system has needed for many years. But now is the time to act on retention.

Too frail but not yet palliative: Ontario’s opportunity to lead in home care for older adults

If Ontario wants to help more people age at home, it should apply lessons from home palliative care to frailty right now. It needs to stop treating frailty as an administrative afterthought, and act on what it already knows works.

Transparency is not risk free. But neither is restricted access

Patients should not have to file formal requests to understand their own care. They should not have to wait months to read information that already exists. And they should not be excluded from conversations that shape their health and lives.

The paradox of progress: How medical advancements are expanding the time we spend unwell

Humanity is living longer, yet a growing portion of that extended life is spent in poor health. What if the same forces that prolong life, namely technology and industrialization, are also increasing the percentage of our lives spent unwell?

Bill to criminalize forced sterilization sparks debate over reproductive justice and medical practice

Bill S-228, which would criminalize forced and coerced sterilization with an up to 14-year prison sentence, is on its way to becoming law. But is it a step in the right direction? Experts weigh in.

Ontario’s health-care system was built for a different era but to quote our PM: ‘Nostalgia is not a strategy’

Ontario’s health-care system retains extraordinary potential. Realizing it will require abandoning outdated assumptions and committing to structural reform.

From awareness to accountability: The attention is nice but what comes after Heart Month?

Each February, Heart Month brings renewed attention to cardiovascular disease. Awareness matters. But when the campaigns end, an uncomfortable question remains: what changes?

Schooling or suicide: The ethical responsibility of educational institutions

Students are dying silently in the places meant to shape their futures. Schools cannot prevent every tragedy, but they also cannot ignore the role they play.

The AI we get may not be the AI we need: Why physician-led governance is essential

AI holds enormous promise. Yet without clear, focused, physician-led and patient-centred governance, the AI we get may not be the AI we need.

In rural Canada, burnout looks different

Burnout in Northern Ontario is not simply about being tired. It is about being stretched across distance, across roles, and across unmet needs. It reflects the broader challenge of delivering care in a vast country with uneven resource distribution.

Picking my own lane

Effective system design will take creativity, innovation and sustained change management. In this moment, when the old paradigm is clearly broken, I am more committed than ever to the hard work of generative thinking and deep engagement.

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.

Is there a doctor in the House (of Commons)?

If solutions lie in policy and politics, what about physicians? Is there a role they can play on the political field?

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.

Why the debate over physician involvement in pre-hospital care in B.C. needs a reset

"I work as an advanced care paramedic in British Columbia. I’m proud of our work, but I’m increasingly concerned that debate over physician involvement in pre-hospital care has lost sight of its primary goal: improving patient outcomes."

Sick notes are slowly being banned but much more is needed to reduce administrative burden

Doctors across Canada agree: the crushing paperwork in medicine is unsustainable. Together, we can create a better system that truly supports both patients and the physicians who serve them.

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.

Manitoba slashes private nursing agencies: The path forward or a policy stumble?

Last month, Manitoba took the bold step in cutting nearly all its private nursing agency contracts. Was it the right move? Experts weigh in.