The European Commission has initiated a major project ” Closing the Gap: Strategies for Action to Tackle Health Inequalities ” to address health disparities. They have created a European Health Inequalities Portal with links to relevant agencies and networks, a database of best practices and country specific data on polices and programs. Among their very […]
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Health Disparities & Neighbourhoods
The Canadian Institute for Health Information released a major research report documenting health disparities by urban neighbourhood which: documents pervasive health differences between affluent and poor neighbourhoods; reviews consistent research findings on the adverse health impact of poor housing, environment, lack of access to heath and social; services, adequate food, transportation and recreational facilities;
HIV Care and LHINs
In November I spoke at a meeting of the Ontario Society of Physicians in HIV Care and discussed the implications of the LHINs for their work (download the speaking notes here). While HIV will remain a provincial strategy and community-based programmes will be funded centrally, and while primary care is beyond the formal mandate of […]
WHO On The Social Determinants of Health
The World Health Organization's European Office continues to provide comprehensive research and analysis on how a social determinants of health approach can be better incorporated into state policy. It supports a WHO Collaborating centre for Policy Research on Social Determinants of Health at the University of Liverpool in England. Recent reports include a discussion paper […]
Public-Private Partnerships for Hospitals
A recent bulletin of the World Health Organization had a useful survey article on public-private partnerships for hospitals. Its summary follows: “.While some forms of public”private partnerships are a feature of hospital construction and operation in all countries with mixed economies, there is increasing interest in a model in which a public authority contracts with […]
500 homeless dead – and counting!
Tuesday, November 14, 2006, marked a grim anniversary. The Homeless Memorial at the Church of the Holy Trinity in downtown Toronto added its 500th name at the regular monthly service yesterday. That’s 500 women, men and children – our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers, our sons, our daughters – who have died on […]
Conference Board Roundtable on the Social Determinants of Health
I spoke to a Conference Board Roundtable on the Social Determinants of Health in late October. The Roundtable intends to bring together government, community, research and business leaders to address ways to develop and implement public policy that would address the various social and economic determinants.
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Social Determinants of Health Applied to Social Policy
A recent report commissioned by the Alberta Coalition for Healthy School Communities provides an interesting example of a social determinants of health approach being applied in different fields of social policy. The report analyzed the link between social and economic inequality, associated health disparities and unequal education outcomes. It argued that addressing these connections had […]
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Blame the dinosaurs…
By any conventional measures, the Alberta economy is on fire. The unemployment rate is the lowest in Canada, and the annual increase in gross domestic product is the highest. Taxes are the lowest in the country. A rising tide lifts all boats. So, why is it that the affordable housing crisis and homelessness is so […]
Taking action on homelessness
It’s a short, three-block walk from the downtown Toronto studios of CBC Radio to the St. Patrick subway station (at King and University). After being a guest on CBC’s Metro Morning early on Friday, I made the stroll and counted six homeless people on grates and benches. Even after three decades as a housing and […]