Research

In a country as wealthy as Canada, just surviving is not enough. The aim ought to be a society where everyone has the opportunity for good physical and mental health and social well-being. A healthy society is one where everyone can thrive.

Delivering equitable long-term care (LTC) for Toronto’s diverse population is an emerging issue in the GTA with long wait lists across the region. Your ethnicity, your income, and where you live matters when it comes to not just waiting for services, but also quality of care.

Supporting the mental health and well-being of our city requires a collaborative effort with stakeholders from different sectors. Toronto’s strengths and challenges offer an opportunity to take action on mental health. We are engaging stakeholders across the City of Toronto to consider the question: Can big cities make us sick and what can we do about it?  We are interested in mobilizing others across the city to:  - build mental health and well-being into Toronto’s infrastructure;  - increase and improve our understanding of traumas and stressors in the city;  - and, collaborate across governments and sectors to build resilience and supports for all Torontonians to thrive. 

Supports for Success is an initiative focused on developing an integrated framework of community-based supports in collaboration with community members to ensure healthy lives from birth to employment.

It is a time of opportunity for supportive housing in Ontario. Housing and homelessness are main pillars in the government’s poverty reduction strategy. This is crucial because housing is a large factor in the social determinants of health. Whether someone’s housing is affordable, in good repair, or has the right supports or not has a big impact on health.

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). This work addresses the gap in the literature by providing an overview of existing evidence on the health status and health care experiences of being in the three-month wait. It also identifies opportunities for research and policy regarding the three-month wait.

Accessing healthy food in the GTA is an equity issue. While some people can easily get health, nutritious food others cannot. The availability of these healthy foods vary by neighbourhood and many neighbourhoods don’t support a healthy food environment. With unequal access and availability, food is an equity issue.

Clear communication is critical for the provision of safe, appropriate, and high-quality health care. With the growing linguistic diversity in the GTA more patients may prefer speaking another language with their health care provider than ever before, but access to language supports is limited. Language interpretation services can help support clear and accurate communication between patients and providers. The Wellesley Institute recently completed a series of research demonstrating the value of language interpretation services for supporting equitable and high-quality health care in the GTA.