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Time to clarify health-care hierarchy
Friday, February 24th, 2012
February 23, 2012
… would it be fair to hold a health-care worker to account for a patient’s social economic status, low income, poor education, unemployment, or housing insecurity?… It’s important to clarify who is primarily responsible for obtaining health outcomes. If a health-care worker is most important, there should be no concern with altering payment to be based on performance instead of delivery. However, if a health-care worker is only marginally associated with improving health status, continuing fee for service would obviously be preferred by most practitioners.
Tags: budget, disabilities, Health, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »
Cuba does more in health at lower cost
Sunday, January 8th, 2012
Jan. 7, 2012
With each passing year, our health-care system is becoming more like the American model. More investigations, diagnostics and surgeries are performed, with subsequent higher costs and poorer health outcomes… for 2009… Cuba spent about eight times less than Canada… on health care… the reasons for success include a health policy that emphasizes prevention over treatment, primary care instead of hospital care, co-ordinated provision of care, providing services in the community where people live, and active participation of residents in goal-setting and programming.
Tags: budget, Health, ideology, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Act to mitigate on-reserve youth depression
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
July 21, 2011
Statistics Canada indicates there are five main predictors of depressed mood in Canada, with income being the largest predictor. According to the agency, the difference in prevalence between low and high income Canadians is 11.6 per cent to 3.6 per cent respectively, approximately a three-fold difference… Although poverty explains much of the high prevalence of depression among First Nations youth, it does not explain why some low income youth become depressed and others do not. The risk indicators found in the study explain the difference…
Tags: Health, Indigenous, mental Health, poverty, standard of living, youth
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | No Comments »
Child poverty hurts health even in wealth
Monday, May 30th, 2011
May 26, 2011
… low-income youth in Saskatoon are much more likely to have depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and so on, as well as being more likely to engage in risk behaviours such as drug use and alcohol abuse… In general, the bad news is that the negative health impacts of youth growing up in poverty extend into their adult lives. The good news is that some of these adverse health outcomes can be attenuated through appropriate social policy.
Tags: Health, mental Health, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
Good public policy can mitigate health woes
Friday, February 11th, 2011
February 10, 2011
… higher income not only is associated with greater social status but a higher degree of control over one’s life and the ability to participate more fully in society… The psychological experience of income inequality affects not only our mental health but our physical health, as well… Increased stress is the most widely described explanation for higher rates of mental disorder within lower income groups. Not only do these groups have more stresses such as insecurity in income, housing and food insecurity, and exposure to violence and so on, but they also have fewer resources to deal with these challenges.
Tags: Health, mental Health, participation, poverty, standard of living
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »
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