Ontario has both a health system and a research system that are increasingly aiming to support rapid learning and improvement. Yet, Ontario's health system still faces complex challenges, such as reducing emergency-room wait times, ending hallway medicine, improving support for people with mental health ...
This evidence brief and the stakeholder dialogue it was
prepared to inform were designed to guide the actions of
those involved in strengthening public and patient
engagement in HTA in Ontario. In this section of the
brief, we propose key definitions to ensure a common
conceptual understanding. We also h...
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...
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...
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...
For concerned citizens and influential thinkers and doers, the McMaster Health Forum
strives to be a leading hub for improving health outcomes through collective problem
solving. Operating at the regional/provincial level and at national levels, the Forum
harnesses information, convenes stakeholders and ...
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...
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 ...
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...
Rapid technological advances in genetics and genomics
hold promise for the diagnosis, treatment and even
prevention of common and rare diseases. Nevertheless,
they also raise concerns regarding their potential
impacts on health systems, which has led many
countries to reflect on the optimal models to coo...
