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Articles on Health-care system

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Pan-Canadian licensing can improve health-care access in underserved areas and increase flexibility for physicians. (Shutterstock)

Why Canadian-trained doctors should be allowed to practise anywhere in Canada without additional licensing

Despite a shortage of physicians, Canada still struggles with the question of whether a doctor licensed in one province should be automatically qualified to practice in others.
A tiger dam is placed across all lanes of the closed Trans-Canada Highway near the flooded Sumas River, in Abbotsford, B.C., in December 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

We hear about the health impact of climate-related events. But what about the health-care workers who respond to them?

Health systems are made up of people who are often members of the same disaster-stricken communities they serve. They respond to climate-related events, but are affected by them too.
All patients should have access to a primary care team with a minimum composition of a family physician and/or nurse practitioner, dietitian, nurse, occupational therapist, pharmacist, physiotherapist and social worker. (Shutterstock)

Access to care: 5 principles for action on primary health-care teams

A newly created Primary Care Action Team has a lofty goal: to ensure all Ontarians have access to primary health care within five years. Here are five principals to consider to help achieve it.
Caesarean rates alone don’t reveal anything about the circumstances behind the clinical decisions. (Shutterstock)

Beyond birth statistics: Why measuring caesarean rates misses the mark

As a standalone statistic, the rate of ‘low risk’ caesarean births lacks the nuance needed to inform and improve individual care. Childbirth metrics must adopt a broader, patient-centred perspective.
A collective apology cannot speak to the range of experiences or contributions to harm of anti-Indigenous racism. As racism operates at multiple levels, so must accountability. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Reflections on the Canadian Medical Association’s apology to Indigenous Peoples

The Canadian Medical Association’s apology for harms to Indigenous Peoples is an opportunity to reflect on the gap between apologies and the work of true repair necessary for reconciliation.
In honour of National Nursing Week May 6-12, consider asking a nurse about their work life. Demand for nursing services in Canada far exceeds the current supply of nurses. (Shutterstock)

How the nursing shortage is affecting the health-care system, patients and nurses themselves

Surveying more than 5,500 nurses about the realities of their work lives highlights how a shortage of nursing staff could compromise Canadians’ ability to access safe, compassionate care.
Person-centred care means treating people who face health issues as valued partners in health systems. (Priscilla du Preez/Unsplash)

Person-centred health care means ensuring that affected communities are leaders and partners in research

Research partnerships with the people and communities affected help to challenge health inequities, and support person-centred care in health systems.
We should be asking legislators and policymakers to build a health-care system that supports better lives for people with mental disorders and their families. (Gus Moretta/Unsplash)

MAID and mental health: Does ending the suffering of mental illness mean supporting death or supporting better lives?

In addition to asking health-care systems to prepare to end suffering of mental illness through Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), we must ask policymakers to support better lives for families.
As apps are direct-to-consumer health technologies, they represent a new folk medicine. Users adopt these technologies based on trust rather than understanding how they operate. (Shutterstock)

Health-care AI: The potential and pitfalls of diagnosis by app

Future AI large language models like Google’s AMIE might prove to fill gaps in health-care delivery, however, they must be adopted with caution.
A Canada-wide health information technology system based on open-source software could save billions for the health-care system. (Gustavo Fring/Pexels)

How better and cheaper software could save millions of dollars while improving Canada’s health-care system

Canada has spent billions on health-care software that does not even communicate province to province. Free and open-source software would be a technically superior and far less expensive option.
Women — particularly racialized women — are more likely to be in positions at the lower end of the health sector’s pay scale, that also require close and prolonged contact with patients. (Shutterstock)

Canada’s health-care crisis is gendered: How the burden of care falls to women

Not only is the health sector feminized, but women — particularly racialized women — are more likely to be in jobs at the low end of the pay scale, but that require prolonged contact with patients.
A program offers training and education specifically on family medicine from the start of medical school, while bypassing administrative hurdles to residency. (Shutterstock)

Family doctor shortage: Medical education reform can help address critical gaps, starting with a specialized program

Education has a role to play in addressing the shortage of family doctors. A new program is designed specifically for comprehensive, community-based family practice.
A fundamental component for training health-care professionals is interacting with patients and families. (Shutterstock)

Solving Canada’s shortage of health professionals means training more of them, and patients have a key role in their education

Each encounter that health-care students have with patients and families helps them understand real-world patient needs. That means all Canadians have a role in educating future health-care providers.
It is clear that some public trust in public health, science and government has been lost in Canada and around the world. (Shutterstock)

Inquiry must assess how Canada’s fragmented COVID-19 response lost the public’s trust

Now is the time to learn from the COVID-19 response through an action-oriented independent inquiry focused on accountability. Reforms to data generation, access and use are essential.

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