Megan Ogilvie « Authors « Social Policy in Ontario

… How Ontario is failing kids who are ‘too complex’ for care

Thursday, October 3rd, 2024

Last-resort placements are painting a picture of a situation where Ontario’s most vulnerable children are the least likely to get help… The costs of these emergency placements can range upward from $200,000 annually per child… Often, the children are getting no treatment… Increasingly, child welfare leaders say unlicensed spaces are being used as last-resort measures because there are no treatment or residential placement options for these children

Tags: budget, child care, mental Health, participation
Posted in Child & Family Delivery System | 1 Comment »

Ontario’s registered nurses are getting new prescribing powers — and some doctors aren’t happy about it

Tuesday, November 7th, 2023

Registered nurses will be able to independently prescribe and administer some medications — such as those for smoking cessation, immunizations and topical anesthetics for pain relief and wound care… Nurses who wish to participate must complete additional specialized education, for which registration is expected to begin in January… the change… will help make it easier for patients to get care while also reducing wait times at community clinics and hospitals.

Tags: Health, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical
Posted in Health Policy Context | No Comments »

Ontario is going to lean on private health facilities. Here’s what that could mean for our system

Saturday, August 20th, 2022

“What happens when you inject private money into the health-care system, there is a short term boost in capital … but that doesn’t last very long, and the costs will go up… systems with higher rates of private financing are negatively associated with universality, equity, accessibility and quality of care, as has previously been found in international literature reviews”

Tags: budget, Health, ideology, jurisdiction, mental Health, participation, standard of living
Posted in Health Delivery System | No Comments »

Ministry of Health to close provincial women’s health agency

Friday, August 17th, 2012

4 August 2012
“If the provincial government does what it claims it is going to do, which is introduce a sex- and gender-based analysis in all research and all policy, that will be an improvement… However, the danger of course is that this is a way of soothing concerns about the closing of Echo… the Health System Research Fund… will provide up to $65 million over three years for policy-related research. Women’s health is one of 12 strategic priorities for the fund.

Tags: Health, standard of living, women
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

Advocates call for more help for autism

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

On Aug. 26, a select committee of the Ontario legislature released 23 recommendations for improving mental health treatment and care. The report stated that people with autism have no real place in the system. Children and Youth Services Minister Laurel Broten said the ministry’s regional offices work with families to ensure they get supports… “We’ve increased the availability of services and doubled the amount of kids who are now receiving IBI. But at the same time we know that there has been a high increased prevalence of diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder.”

Tags: child care, disabilities, mental Health
Posted in Child & Family Debates | No Comments »

Health Canada aims to cut Canadians’ salt intake

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

May 31, 2010
The Sodium Reduction Strategy, to be released in July, will rely on the industry to follow voluntary reduction targets aimed at slashing the average Canadian’s daily consumption of sodium from 3,400 mg to 2,300 mg by 2016. Public health officials, researchers and doctors have lauded the strategy… as a good first response to the mounting concern over salt in our daily diet. But many also question whether voluntary sodium reduction targets go far enough in protecting Canadians from too much salt’s harmful effects.

Tags: Health, standard of living
Posted in Health Debates | No Comments »

Wait times for cancer radiation therapy down

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

May 27, 2010
Wait times for cancer radiation therapy have reached an acceptable level in Ontario, with the majority of patients starting the treatment within the 28-day benchmark, according to the province’s annual cancer report card. The 2010 Cancer System Quality Index report… found improvements in radiation wait times occurred even with a 10 per cent increase in the number of patients receiving that treatment… For the first time, the report – to be released in full Thursday at 10 a.m. – will compare Ontario to international benchmarks.