Autism Canada and MedicAlert Foundation Canada team up to launch MedicAlert Autism Program

 Autism Canada and MedicAlert Foundation Canada have partnered to create the MedicAlert Autism Program, designed specifically to support Canadians on the autism spectrum.  Autism isn't always recognizable to those who don't know the signs, and this can make those on the spectrum particularly vulnerable in an emergency situation, especially when

OPSEU’s Claire Tortolo Shines a Light on Inequality

 The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) represents a diverse group of 130,000 public employees across Ontario. OPSEU empowers members to solve workplace problems. The union's expertise extends to collective bargaining and dispute resolution, workplace health and safety, and protection of human rights. Gender equality in the workplace is just

Many Patients with Chronic Health Conditions Also Have Mental Health Issues that Go Undiagnosed and Untreated

 We need to better integrate physical and mental health services Our health system often divides mental health from physical health into distinct silos of care and treatment, yet no such mind-body duality exists in actual patients.  Many individuals with chronic health conditions simultaneously experience mental health issues -- and the

Lloyd Frost Provides Social Commentary with a Groove

 Photo courtesy of Ben Dionne © Blue Plazuela Music. Lloyd Frost has many tales to tell. Frost is a Montreal-born singer/songwriter and musician who lives and plays his songs in Ottawa. Lloyd has recently released The Sun Is Rising and Other True Stories, an 11 track album. People have told Frost that it

We Need a Radical New Approach for Kids in Care

 Families seeking support services should not have to worry their children will be taken away from them Six advocates for First Nations children have gone on a symbolic hunger strike at the Manitoba Legislature to try to raise awareness across the country about Manitoba’s broken child welfare system. Why? Well, here’s one

Why Canadian Employers Waste $5 Billion a Year on Inefficient Drug Coverage

 There is certainly a lot of waste in health systems, but one area that seems to have escaped close scrutiny is the waste in private drug plans in Canada.  Estimated at over $5 billion a year, this represents over half of the annual prescription drug bill paid by private insurers

LIGHT at the end of the tunnel

 Eating disorders push perfectionists into dark worlds where all they want is to be light, and all they need is a ray of it. Produced and performed by Lisa Jeans, Light is a theatrical duet between a live performer and audiovisual technology like video projections, live sound and original electronic

How Healthcare is Rationed Differently in Canada and the United States

 No country can afford to give every citizen every healthcare services. By Trudy Lieberman As an American journalist sitting in a Toronto coffee bar, I began chatting--as I often do in another country--with people about their healthcare system. One employee taking people's orders was about to go off duty and

The Canadian Doctor Who Prescribes Income to Treat Poverty

 By Trudy Lieberman Last fall when I visited Canada, I met a Toronto doctor named Gary Bloch who developed a poverty tool for medical practitioners. The tool assesses what patients might need other than prescriptions for the newest drugs. Bloch's idea was to zoom in on the social determinants of

Media Coverage of Youth Suicide Linked to Increased Emergency Room Visits for Mental Health Distress

 Outreach efforts following high profile suicides can save lives In the last few years, two high profile youth suicides in the Ottawa region garnered tremendous media attention and, as a new study suggests, resulted in increased emergency room visits by youth for mental health distress. First was the suicide of

Get Cooking, Ottawa!

 Whether you live alone or with a large family, life never seems to stop. Between yoga, work and soccer practice, it is no wonder planning out meals and cooking at home has taken a back seat. Moulinex wants to change that! It is introducing the Get Cooking Challenge to help

Industry Leaders Rally Together to Support ALS Canada

 From left to right: Sir Terry Matthews, Debbie Weinstein and Bruce Lazenby Terry Matthews, high tech mogul; Bruce Lazenby, president and CEO of Invest Ottawa; and Debbie Weinstein, founding partner of LaBarge Weinstein LLP to participate in ice bucket challenge to raise funds for ALS Canada Leaders from Ottawa’s business

Celebrate Pride With UFCW Canada and the World in Toronto

 Image by: ufcw.ca Every year, Pride is celebrated across Canada as one of the largest and most colourful festivals in the country. Citizens flock annually to street fairs, marches, parades, picnics, and concerts to participate in a fun and inclusive experience that promotes tolerance and raises awareness of the human rights

Moving towards integrative oncology as a system of cancer care

 Over half of all people living with cancer use complementary medicine alongside standard treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre (OICC) harnesses the best of what complementary medicine has to offer providing this in conjunction with conventional cancer care, according to an approach known

Haven of Hope: Ottawa Integrative Cancer Centre

 Maybe you have a cough that won’t go away, or maybe a lump appears in your breast. You head to your doctor to get checked out, just to be on the safe side, hoping to be told it is nothing to worry about. Instead, tests you hoped were just routine