Wellesley Institute works in research and policy to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health.
By: Nishi Kumar, Nazeefah Laher, Anjum Sultana & Anjana Aery If you are arrested and don’t speak the language of the court, you have the right to assistance from a professional interpreter. This right is explicitly stated in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the justice system, it is recognized that effective communication – […]
Continue ReadingThe Right to Language Accessibility in Ontario’s Health Care System
Authors: Seong-gee Um, Naomi Lightman The growing ethnic and linguistic diversity amongst senior populations has been well documented within Canada overall, and specifically within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Healthy aging is what we all desire, but how we age in the GTA is not the same for everyone. Some face greater health challenges than […]
Continue ReadingSeniors’ Health in the GTA: How Immigration, Language, and Racialization Impact Seniors’ Health Download PublicationSeniors Health in the GTA Final
Ontario’s changing demographics bring challenges to the home care sector. Three issues are at the intersection of these challenges: the rapid growth of our aging population, the expanding ethnocultural diversity of our seniors, and the pressure felt by the home care sector. We usually think of them separately, but when they intersect there’s a multitude […]
Continue ReadingDiversity, Aging, and Intersectionality in Ontario Home Care Download PublicationDiversity, Aging, and Intersectionality in Ontario Home Care
Ontarians take pride in being the most multicultural province in Canada. Our province is home to over 50 percent of Canada’s newcomers, and nearly 15 percent of households speak a non-official language. This cultural and linguistic diversity is celebrated and protected through the Charter of Rights & Freedoms, the Ontario Human Rights Code, and the […]
Continue ReadingInterpreting Consent: A Rights-Based Approach to Language Accessibility in Ontario’s Health Care System Download PublicationInterpreting Consent: A Rights-Based Approach to Language Accessibility in Ontario’s Health Care System
Connecting with the health care system is an important part of the settlement process when moving to Canada from another country. For those who grew up in Canada, we don’t always realize how complex navigating the system for the first time can be. To promote good health and address their health care needs we need […]
Continue ReadingInnovations to Champion Access to Primary Care for Immigrants and Refugees Download PublicationInnovations to champion access to primary care for immigrant and refugees
The purpose of this scoping review is to identify interventions that have improved aspects of refugee social capital resulting in improved health in other cities. Implementing these kinds of interventions locally has promise for improved health and health equity for refugee populations here at home in the GTA.
Continue ReadingThriving Together: A Scoping Review of Interventions to Improve Refugee Social Capital & Health Download PublicationThriving Together: Interventions to Improve Refugee Social Capital and Health
Collecting new socio-demographic data is fundamental for improving health equity. In Ensuring Healthy Aging for All, a report on home care access for diverse seniors in the GTA, data analyzed through a health equity lens revealed that unmet needs exist for some, but not others. This data shows us that overall, seniors from immigrant, racialized, […]
Continue ReadingNew data collection is fundamental to improving equitable access to care
New permanent residents to Ontario must wait three months before becoming eligible for publicly covered health care through the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP). As a result, many new permanent residents are at risk of a variety of negative health impacts. Not all provinces in Canada require a three-month wait to access health care. This […]
Continue ReadingPathways to Health for New Permanent Residents in the Three-Month Wait Download PublicationPathways to Health for New PRs
Over 80,000 new permanent residents (PRs) arrive in Ontario annually and are required to wait for three months before they are eligible to receive publicly funded health care (OHIP). Researchers and health care providers have raised concerns that the three-month wait creates a barrier to timely and equitable health care and could result in negative […]
Continue ReadingExamining Health in the Three-Month Wait: Executive Summary Download PublicationExamining Health in the Three-Month Wait Executive Summary
Each year over 80,000 new permanent residents (PRs) arrive in Ontario, Canada and are required to wait for three months before they are eligible to receive publicly funded health care through the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP). While a number of researchers have investigated the health care experiences of new PRs during this wait period, […]
Continue ReadingExamining Health in the Three-Month Wait: Part One Download PublicationExamining Health in the Three-Month Wait Part One
We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.