Posts Tagged ‘mental Health’

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‘Alternative budget’ tackles social and ecological determinants of health

Thursday, February 3rd, 2022

the AFB lays out a plan to ensure health equity and well-being for all by, among other things: Connecting the dots between the social and ecological determinants of health—things like income, working conditions, a clean environment—and their impact on health outcomes… Expanding the public health care system to include pharmacare, a national mental health program, a national dental care plan, and 10 paid sick days. Developing national standards for virtual care…

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NUPGE report warns against privatization through virtual health care

Wednesday, January 26th, 2022

… the increase in ‘virtual’ health care during the pandemic is creating more private, for-profit delivery of health services…. “However, any for-profit virtual clinic that continues to bill users directly, or through private insurance plans, appears to be at odds with the preamble of the Canada Health Act, which calls for ‘continued access to quality health care without financial or other barriers.’”

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Toronto’s community crisis plan is a welcome shift away from policing mental-health care

Tuesday, January 25th, 2022

When people slip through the cracks of our broken mental health care system, they fall right to the police. And then it falls to police to deal with the situation, even though they’re ill-equipped to do so.  A functioning community framework, on the other hand, would provide people with the necessary support right in their communities — not locked away in isolated institutions — and from people they know and trust.

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Digital Health Tools Must Remain a Core Part of Canada’s Post-pandemic Health Care Delivery System

Wednesday, January 19th, 2022

Doctors couldn’t access patient records, some systems were only available in facilities that were themselves not physically accessible, large data systems didn’t work, telemedicine networks didn’t scale. The health-care system itself hadn’t adequately planned for a pandemic! This broken system must end now… We can start with three: labs, drugs, and patient record summaries. 

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What do we want our health-care system to do, and how much are we willing to pay? 

Wednesday, January 12th, 2022

In late 2019, the Ontario Hospital Association published a report touting the sector’s history of efficiency while warning that the efficiencies had come at a cost. It noted that, if Ontario funded its hospital system just to the level of the Canadian average, that would cost another $4 billion annually. But almost all Canadian provinces have relatively few beds per capita compared with other wealthy countries…

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Decriminalization Done Right: A Rights-Based Path for Drug Policy

Thursday, January 6th, 2022

Punitive drug laws and policies aimed at ending illegal drug use have failed; and worse, they have done catastrophic harm to communities and society… fuelled stigma; epidemics of preventable illness and death; poverty; homelessness; and widespread, systematic, and egregious violations of human rights. Decriminalizing personal drug possession and necessity trafficking are fundamental, necessary steps towards a more rational and just drug policy grounded in evidence and human rights.

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Ottawa releases early details of landmark $40B First Nations child welfare agreement

Wednesday, January 5th, 2022

The non-binding agreement sets aside $20 billion for compensation and $20 billion for long-term reform of the on-reserve child welfare system…  The parties have until March 31 to finalize the agreement… The $20 billion dedicated to long-term reform of the child welfare system will be distributed over a period of five years… “Today is about a plan for the future, with First Nations defining and determining a path forward grounded in our rights and the common goal to have our children succeed,”

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What COVID-19 has taught us about caring for our elders

Wednesday, January 5th, 2022

A recent survey by the National Institute on Aging found that almost 100 per cent of Canadians aged 65 and older planned to live in their own home for as long as possible. Yet Canada spends 87 per cent of long-term care dollars on institutionalizing people in nursing homes rather than at-home assistance.

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The cost of inaction for youth ‘aging out’ of Ontario foster care is estimated at $2 billion

Tuesday, January 4th, 2022

One key recommendation is to rethink the norm of independence at 18. From interviews with youth, all describe profound isolation, loneliness and few caring relationships underpinning the challenges they face. We must shift to a model of interdependence — fostering non-professional caring relationships for youth under state guardianship that extend long after 18.

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Why in-person learning matters: A dispatch from the front lines

Saturday, December 18th, 2021

As pediatricians working in school-based clinics in Toronto, we have witnessed the deterioration of students’ well-being with school closures… As we confront the next wave of the pandemic, we must focus on strategies to keep schools safely open, including: supporting pediatric vaccine equity and uptake, advocating for small class sizes, and access to high-quality masks and ventilation.

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