Social Determinants

338 articles:
Inequity
Indigenous
LGBTQ
Gender
Disability
Racism
by Vivek Govardhanam

Call the ‘brown doctor’: A case for language-sensitive delivery of health care

In a multicultural city like Toronto, it only makes ethical and financial sense to provide language-sensitive care in hospitals. Without it, culturally sensitive communication is incomplete.

by Inori Roy

‘Data is powerful’: Demographic questionnaire adds transparency to Match Day

This year, the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) with the support of Dalhousie University, rolled out its pilot questionnaire to collect much-needed demographic data on residency placements across the country. Information gathered on race and Indigeneity, immigration, ability, gender, sexual orientation and household income of students could go a long way in ensuring equity among med students.

by Aruni Jayatilaka

10 paid days of sick leave. A basic right for all workers

As a provincial election nears in Ontario, the Ontario Medical Students Association joins advocates across the province calling for a comprehensive paid sick-days program that supports all workers.
by Steven (Sung Min) Cho

Improved paid sick leave, minimum wage necessary for our patients’ health

The public health order to “stay home when sick” without 10 paid sick days was impossible for countless workers. Precarious workers who perform essential, yet low-paying jobs shared the greatest burden of the pandemic. Now is the time for the government to act.
by Jennifer Hulme

Long COVID – a public health crisis taking out women at the height of their lives

Long COVID symptoms now dominate my life, hopes and dreams. As soon as I realized that I wasn’t getting better after my COVID infection, I went looking for answers.
by Maddi Dellplain

The right to die: Should MAiD apply to those whose sole condition is mental illness?

With the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to include those whose sole condition is mental illness fast approaching, we asked a panel of experts whether they felt this was a move in the right direction — and what they hope to see moving forward.

by Negin Nia

Access to virtual care highlights urban/rural divide

The move to virtual care is leaving some communities behind. For rural Canadians, especially those in remote and Indigenous communities, there are obstacles to seeing a doctor both in person and online.

by Meghan McGee

‘They’ve grown up disconnected’: Saskatchewan programs aim to reunite Indigenous families, support vulnerable mothers-to-be

The Cowessess First Nation's family care system reunites Indigenous parents with their children, restores cultural connections and helps expectant and new mothers gain labour skills, financial literacy and find housing.
by Nicole Naimer

Quit your job, go home and prepare to die: Surviving the AIDS epidemic

In 1986, I left Toronto and moved to New York. I fell head over heels for a man in 1988. We wanted to make sure we didn’t transmit HIV to each other, so we got tested. I felt healthy as ever. However, my test came back: HIV positive.
by Meghan McGee

To tackle food insecurity, school adds hunting and fishing to reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic

Faced with rampant food insecurity in the Eel Ground First Nation, New Brunswick, one elementary school principal started the Kelulk Mijipjewe food program to provide nutritious meals and teach students about Indigenous food culture.

by Meghan McGee

‘As a matter of policy, kids were hungry in residential schools’: The dark history of Canada’s food guide

Canada's Food Guide has its roots in controversial experiments conducted on Indigenous children and adults in the 1940's and 50's.

by Nicole Naimer

Born with a disease that kills but not at death’s door: Living in that in between

As a child with cystic fibrosis, I was hit with this adult issue of mortality – something no 5-year-old should be worrying about. When I was born in 1971, the median survival rate for women with CF was 20 years old. I’ve chased that median age of survival my whole life.
by Katharine Lake Berz

‘This is a place of healing’: The power of a sweat-lodge ceremony

Once a custom practised mainly by the Lakota Indigenous tribes, sweat lodges are growing in popularity in British Columbia, cropping up on many rural properties and Indigenous lands as group gatherings and tourists promise to return now that the pandemic is receding.
by Kelly Rezansoff

The Time is Now for LGBT+ Health Equity

Creating inclusive environments for LGBT+ clients has not occurred on a broad scale in Canada or elsewhere. The onus is on the health-care system and its leaders, from the local level to the federal government, to address LGBT+ health inequity. The lives of millions of people depend on it.
by Anthony Fong

Nunavut struggling with crisis that ‘won’t go away’

Food insecurity in Nunavut has been called “among the longest-lasting public health crises faced by a Canadian population.”
by Idil Abdillahi Anne Rucchetto

College must act to ensure equitable health-care outcomes for women, marginalized communities

Differences in surgical outcomes between men and women may be part of a larger gendered public health crisis.
by Aamir Bharmal Tannis Cheadle

Lessons learned in the collection of disaggregated ethno-racial data

COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on racialized groups has catalyzed calls for the systematic collection of data disaggregated by race. So we're sharing five key lessons we learned from collecting ethno-racial data for COVID-19 case management in B.C.
by Nili Kaplan-Myrth

‘We will not hide out of fear’: Open letter speaks out against harassment

Physicians and other health-care workers have been subject to harassment and intimidation for doing their day-to-day work during the pandemic explains Dr. Kaplan-Myrth, who recently penned an open letter asserting why health professionals should not hide out of fear of violence from hate-fueled convoys.

by Junayd Hussain Noor Al-Kaabi

We need to do more: Advocating for refugee health after arrival in Canada

Canada is considered a “world destination” for refugees, but are we doing enough to support their unique health needs?

by Rehona Zamani

The fight for women’s autonomy must include those who wear the hijab

It's a battle to wake up and choose the hijab each day. I truly believe in this aspect of my faith, but the fear and experience of harassment and discrimination is a form of oppression I endure. I know this is a feeling shared by my peers in medicine.

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