Money alone won’t fix the long-term care crisis in Ontario. While it is true that increased funding is part of the solution, the reality is that a paradigm shift is essential.
Canadians are clearly divided on MAiD based solely on mental illness. From federal laws and legal cases to medical guidelines and published studies in Belgium and the Netherlands, we can make more informed decisions regarding MAiD eligibility for psychiatric patients.
Despite being the third most common cause of unintended harm as a result of medical treatment, delirium is still widely misunderstood. This is what the public, patients, and health-care workers all need to know about the condition.
Just as Disney World has grown and evolved, so must palliative care. The time for Ontario to update palliative care into the 21st century may have arrived.
Smart home technology has become ubiquitous in recent years. Now researchers in Ottawa are finding ways to use this same technology to aid health-care workers, family caregivers, and allow patients to age in place.
I do believe that the option of MAiD may be good for a very small number of patients. However, I believe the issue is not about “autonomy” but “agency.”
Ottawa has decided to delay legislation that would expand MAiD to those with mental illness. But having a mental illness should not preclude one from decision-making related to suffering and end-of-life care.
byStephen B. SinghPamela LiaoJoyce CheungJacqueline CarverhillBrian Berger
6,000 patients in Ontario currently need an “Alternate Level of Care” (ALC). They do not need to be in hospital, but there is nowhere safe for them to go. Government investment in palliative care is a crucial part of the solution.
Despite our preferences, most Canadians do not have the privilege of dying at home. Although it is not possible to guarantee a good death, it is possible to reduce your risk of a bad death by thinking and talking about end-of-life.
Canadians need universal and equitable access to high-quality palliative care. It’s time to talk about death and dying more openly and ask ourselves: What is a good death?
Alcina Sung and the Togethering team are compiling resources that may better educate families, designers and developers on accessibility considerations and other resources to make aging at home a reality for as long as possible.
We all need to rethink aging. Not only do our beliefs about aging play an essential role in the aging process, but changing these beliefs is not as hard as we might think.
Ontario’s Plan to Stay Open, a five-point strategy aimed at “health-care system stability and recovery,” has been the subject of much debate since its final release in August. We asked a panel of experts what they thought about the plan. Here's what they had to say.
With the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to include those whose sole condition is mental illness fast approaching, we asked a panel of experts whether they felt this was a move in the right direction — and what they hope to see moving forward.