A core question for policy-makers will be the extent to which investments
in preventive actions that address some of the social determinants of health
represent an effi cient option to help promote and protect population health.
Can they reduce the level of ill health in the population? How strong is the...
This policy brief contributes to the evidence base of policy development for scaling up
palliative care services across Uganda, particularly among population groups with ‘special
needs’, such as the poor, those living in rural areas, children or parents with life-limiting
diseases, the elderly, and t...
Managing multiple medical conditions is part of the daily
life of a growing number of Ontarians. As Fortin et al.
observed, “patients with multiple conditions are the rule
rather than the exception in primary care.”(2)
Multimorbidity (living with three or more medical
conditions) has attracted signif...
Small hospitals have less opportunity for achieving economies of scale and constraints on the range of services that can be provided. As the demand for acute medical and surgical beds declines, the number of facilities with less than 30 beds is projected to increase over the next 10 years. In light of th...
Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care called for “right
care, right time, right place” (p. 10) and specifically for
“moving procedures into the community” (p. 13).(1)
To support the implementation of this commitment,
the ministry of health has taken several steps. The
ministry has supported one...
McMaster University has many excellent programs and
services in place to address student mental health needs.
These services are offered through the Student Affairs
office that is responsible for presenting McMaster
students with opportunities to “discover, learn, and
grow.”(4) Mental health services...
Effective pandemic governance is more important now than
ever as pandemic risk factors like urbanization, the
hypermobility of persons, trans-border trade, rapid
population growth and changes to the environment and
food systems all increase in tandem with the demands of
globalization.(1) These transforma...
Most existing organizational models for knowledge brokering comprise
a set of design features that reflect an evolving effort, typically by
researchers and research organizations, to balance a variety of competing
objectives such as independence and relevance. These design features are
rarely selected to...
Improving end-of-life communication, decision-making
and care has been identified as a pressing health issue in
Ontario (and in Canada more generally), as evidenced
by recent research,(1;2) public opinion polls,(3) expert
panels and commissions,(4-6) and a high-profile legal
case,(7) which have revealed ...
Over the past three decades, Canada has made
substantial progress in reducing the national rate of
avoidable mortality (deaths that could potentially have
been avoided through disease prevention or
healthcare services). In fact, the national avoidable
mortality rate has decreased by half – from 373 per...
