Longwoods Healthcare Services Radio

Insights Episode 15: Canada’s Aging Population: Who Pays and Who Acts?

Canada’s Aging Population: Who Pays and Who Acts? 

Don Drummond and Duncan Sinclair

 

There is a common misconception that if the government pays for a service, whether federal, provincial or municipal, then it is free to Canadians. It is not!

The people of Canada will pay: as taxpayers, through premiums paid for LTC insurance, directly out of their savings and their families’ earned income and as donors to the charitable organizations that sponsor or subsidize support services for the elderly. The only issue in question is what the division will be among these several ways of meeting the bill.

Insights Episode 14: Comprehensive Care and Prevention of Diabetes in Ontario: The Need of the Hour

Comprehensive Care and Prevention of Diabetes in Ontario: The Need of the Hour 

Harpreet Bajaj, Kimberley Hanson, David Kaplan, Terrence Sullivan and Catharine Whiteside

As the COVID-19 pandemic forges through the globe, clear evidence points to worse outcomes experienced by persons with chronic conditions. Coupled with susceptibility to infection and commonly associated risk factors such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, diabetes carries at least twice the risk of severe disease or death related to COVID-19.

Insights Episode 13: Anti-Mask Protests and Racism: What Is the Link?

Anti-Mask Protests and Racism: What Is the Link? 

Umair Majid, Judy Truong, Aghna Wasim and Matthew Truong

In the past several months, we have heard, experienced or read about individuals who refuse to wear a mask and direct racist comments toward customers and members of staff in public places. We see that racism and discrimination are part of the rhetoric inherent in anti-mask sentiments. However, anti-mask sentiments remain a somewhat novel phenomenon that have only exploded recently in the context of widespread restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. By analyzing instances of anti-mask sentiments detailed in news reports in Canada, we sought to understand their interplay with racism or discrimination.

Healthcare Rounds: Addressing Chronic Disease to Recover from COVID-19

Diabetes Care and Management for Ontario on November 12, 2020. Addressing Chronic Disease to Recover from COVID-19 with Kimberley Hanson, Executive Director, Federal Affairs, Diabetes Canada, gives an overview of the current situation of care for people living with or at risk of living with diabetes and what’s next for management and delivery of care for diabetes in Ontario.

Insights Episode 12: Optimizing Human Resource Management in the Time of COVID-19 at York Region

Optimizing Human Resource Management in the Time of COVID-19 at York Region

Rina Lamba and Julia Roitenberg

When the pandemic started in February 2020, York Region was faced with constantly changing conditions and minimal data to help guide decision making. We were challenged to make informed decisions with limited information as we redeployed our staff of 500 to support the COVID-19 response. The situation was unprecedented.

As senior leaders, we were, and continue to be, in a situation that the US Army has called “VUCA” – a popular acronym used to describe and reflect on an environment of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Scholars Bennett and Lemoine (2014) believe that understanding VUCA can enable organizational leadership to be more effective in preparing for, and responding to, uncontrollable events that are characterized by the four VUCA categories.

 

Insights Episode 11: COVID-19: Five Learnings that Could Transform Ontario Healthcare

COVID-19: Five Learnings that Could Transform Ontario Healthcare 

Gary Sims, Mike Lapaine, Dave Edwards and Pam McLaughlin

It is clear that the various organizations within the healthcare system in Ontario have cooperated to manage the challenge of COVID-19 and – together with the public – avoided the high volumes of cases seen in other areas of the world in the early weeks of the pandemic. We experienced tragic losses of life in long-term care and retirement residences, but other sectors stepped in to share the burden. In many areas, a great deal of problem-solving took place in a short time based on a limited but evolving understanding of the disease.

Are there lessons in this crisis that could make our system stronger as we face a second wave of the virus, and whatever lies beyond it? Based on our first-hand experiences through SWAHN, we believe there are.

 

Longwoods Breakfast: The Lessons of COVID-19 for Canadian Learning Health Systems

October 21, 2020. Rick Glazier, Scientific Director of the Institute of Health Services and Policy Research at the Canadian Institute of Health Research updates us on strategic directions for CIHR-IHSPR and how they are being amplified and modified by the pandemic.

Insights Episode10: Best Laid Plans: When a Pandemic Complicates Hospital Funding Reform

Best Laid Plans: When a Pandemic Complicates Hospital Funding Reform 

Karen S. Palmer and Noah Ivers

COVID-19 has created historic financial pressures for Canadian hospitals. When the pandemic escalated in March 2020, hospitals everywhere ramped up in heroic and unprecedented ways in anticipation of a sharp rise in demand for services. Governments – both provincial and federal – increased health sector funding to expand hospitals’ capacity in case the curve was not flattened. But how much flexibility do hospitals have in deciding how they spend this money?

Longwoods Breakfast: Best Laid Plans with Helen Angus and Matt Anderson

September 16, 2020. Get an update from Matthew Anderson President and CEO, Ontario Health and Helen Angus Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health, Ontario

Insights Episode 9: Staffing for Nursing Home Care: COVID-19 and Beyond

Staffing for Nursing Home Care: COVID-19 and Beyond

Pat Armstrong, Charlene Harrington and Margaret McGregor

As we search for ways to deal with COVID-19 in nursing homes, and to prevent such tragedies in the future, it seems obvious that we need to begin with staffing. British Columbia began its efforts to control the spread of the virus in these homes; Ontario called in the military; and Quebec will attempt to hire and train 10,000 healthcare workers. Yet, there are those who still argue that there is insufficient evidence, linking staffing levels and quality of care, or on appropriate staffing levels to establish enforceable standards. We beg to differ.