Major Research Papers - Health
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Browsing Major Research Papers - Health by Subject "Canada"
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Item Open Access Competing Approaches to Household Food Insecurity in Canada(2017-10-11) Mendly-Zambo, Zsofia; Raphael, Dennis; Daly, TamaraHousehold food insecurity (HFI) impacts over 1.1 million households, adversely impact the health and well-being of individuals and families. Despite the recognition of the right to food by several international covenants, indicating that Canadian governments are obliged to reduce HFI, little has been done by the Canadian government to defend this right. The Canadian Government’s failure to address HFI has resulted in the creation of a number of non-governmental means of managing the problem, which have not been successful in redressing HFI. Furthermore, non-governmental responses may have served to depoliticize the issue of HFI, allowing governments to obfuscate their responsibility in addressing HFI. Four competing approaches of HFI in Canada, nutrition and dietetics, community traditionalism, social determinants of health and political economy complicate solutions by differently conceptualizing and framing the causes and appropriate responses to HFI. I argue that the political economy framework–which views the rise in HFI as precipitating from the skewed distribution of economic and social resources as a result of imbalances in power and influence–best explains the causes of food insecurity and presents the most effective means of responding to its presence in Canada by acknowledging the larger political and economic structures that shape and precipitate HFI.Item Open Access 'Fat' or Fiction: Examining the Role Political and Economic Forces Play in Driving the Concern over Obesity(2015-08-25) Ali, Ahmednur; Raphael, Dennis; Pilkington, BerylThis paper attempts to examine the present focus on obesity by government officials, the private sector, and the general public. More specifically, this paper argues that there is a hyper-concern with obesity that stems more from well-established power dynamics and societal structures than a result of medical concern over public health. The role of political and economic forces is argued as being the reason for this hyper-concern. A critical analysis of the literature is presented to identify the underlying relevant factors that drive this hyper-concern with obesity. Finally, this paper considers the implications this hyper-concern with obesity can potentially have on the distribution of wealth, power, and influence within the public and private sector. This paper will also attempt to critically assess the clinical practice guidelines created to address obesity by the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, the Canadian Medical Association, the American Medical Association, and the Australian government. The argument that these clinical practice guidelines lack the breadth and depth to adequately and effectively address obesity will be put forth and highlighted in the context of six specific concerns.Item Open Access Indigenous Youth Mental Health in Canada: A WPR Approach to Canada's (In) Action in Response to Suicide Crises(2020-10-02) Francavilla, Victoria; Hillier, Sean; Morrow, MarinaAcross Canada, Indigenous Peoples have been resilient to active colonization for more than 400 years, all the while upholding their traditional values, systems, and ways of being. However, despite this resilience, Indigenous youth experience disproportionate and elevated rates of negative mental health outcomes, including elevated rates of suicides. Canadian mental health policy has not been responsive to the needs of Indigenous youth, often ignoring the specific needs of Indigenous communities in documents that are meant to guide programming and responses. In this Major Research Paper (MRP) I review one such key document - the Mental Health Commission of Canada's (MHCC) 2016 recommendations in its report titled The Mental Health Strategy for Canada: A Youth Perspective. This document is the broadest reaching and most current official document addressing the issue of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) youth mental health at a Federal level. By analysing the narrative used throughout this document one can learn how the solutions proposed may actually be failing to address the root causes of the issue at hand. Using Carol Bacchi’s WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be?) approach, it will become evident as to why these responses are not wholly conducive to achieving better mental health outcomes for Indigenous youth. Following this discussion, I will highlight the progress that is being made in various Indigenous communities in a variety of culturally relevant, safe, and sensitive ways. Communities who are thriving and who are working towards positive change for youth are the experts in this case, as they have the knowledge and are taking up practices which are created from themselves, not for them. These practices have the potential to influence policy, as they are paving the way for a better response in cases of Indigenous youth suicide. When systems are put in place that truly benefit the community, this has a profound effect by influencing community members, researchers, academics, and policymakers alike, and also highlights the shortcomings of existing governmental action. As a non-Indigenous person, I engaged in reflexivity throughout my research and situate myself as an ally.Item Open Access Indigenous Youth Mental Health in Canada: A WPR Approach to Canada’s (In)Action in Response to Suicide Crises(2020-10) Victoria, Francavilla; Marrow, Marina; Hillier, SeanAcross Canada, Indigenous Peoples have been resilient to active colonization for more than 400 years, all the while upholding their traditional values, systems, and ways of being. However, despite this resilience, Indigenous youth experience disproportionate and elevated rates of negative mental health outcomes, including elevated rates of suicides. Canadian mental health policy has not been responsive to the needs of Indigenous youth, often ignoring the specific needs of Indigenous communities in documents that are meant to guide programming and responses. In this Major Research Paper (MRP) I review one such key document -the Mental Health Commission of Canada's (MHCC) 2016 recommendations in its report titled The Mental Health Strategy for Canada: A Youth Perspective. This document is the broadest reaching and most current official document addressing the issue of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis (FNIM) youth mental health at a Federal level. By analysing the narrative used throughout this document one can learn how the solutions proposed may actually be failing to address the root causes of the issue at hand. Using Carol Bacchi’s WPR (What’s the Problem Represented to be?) approach, it will become evident as to why these responses are not wholly conducive to achieving better mental health outcomes for Indigenous youth. Following this discussion, I will highlight the progress that is being made in various Indigenous communities in a variety of culturally relevant, safe, and sensitive ways. Communities who are thriving and who are working towards positive change for youth are the experts in this case, as they have the knowledge and are taking up practices which are created from themselves, not for them. These practices have the potential to influence policy, as they are paving the way for a better response in cases of Indigenous youth suicide. When systems are put in place that truly benefit the community, this has a profound effect by influencing community members, researchers, academics, and policymakers alike, and also highlights the shortcomings of existing governmental action. As a non-Indigenous person, I engaged in reflexivity throughout my research and situate myself as an ally.Item Open Access The Liberal Party of Canada’s Proposal for Nationwide Universal Pharmacare: Informing the Path Forward Via International Comparison(2021-11-12) Wadhawa, Sapna; Raphael, Dennis; Chaufan, ClaudiaIn 2019, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) tabled the most recent proposal (Hoskins Report) for nationwide Pharmacare. It made sixty recommendations on how to achieve universal drug coverage in Canada. Since the 1943 draft proposal for public health insurance, several periodic proposals for nationwide Pharmacare have been put forward at the federal level. A narrative review of these proposals established nationwide Pharmacare is once againon the table federally. To inform the path forward, this study compared the Canadian approach to prescription drug coverage with that of the United Kingdom (UK). Canada and the UK were compared in three clusters: (a) the levels and sources of expenditures on prescription drugs; (b) the levels and distribution of pharmaceutical insurance associated with prescription drug spending; and (c) the health outcomes “produced.” Recommendations were then provided for implementation of nationwide Pharmacare. I argue that a rapidapproach is needed by the federal governmentto implement the service. The steps taken towardsa Pharmacare inclusive Medicare systemmust be fast-tracked. This type of system is observed to be the norm in high income countries. Several findings indicated poor trends in health system performance and production of health inequalities under the current system for prescription drug coverage. The Hoskins Report concretely places Pharmacare on the political agenda, creating a window of opportunity for the federal government to employ a rapidapproach.Item Open Access A Seed Will Grow In Proper Soil: Education and Health Literacy as the Starting Points for Structural Reformation Through the Addressing of the Social Determinants of Health within Canada(2017-09-29) Waddington, Nathan; Raphael, Dennis; Chaufan, ClaudiaThe purpose of this paper is to show that due to the lasting effects it has on health, well-being, critical thinking skills, and political advocacy, the structure of education in general and a focus on health literacy in particular should be a fundamental starting point when attempting to improve and promote the health of Canadians. Of special attention should be understanding the pathways by which public policy and the social determinants of health shape health and well-being. Possessing an adequate level of education and possessing critical health literacy are important determinants of health which improve other social determinants throughout the life course. To properly address the health problems we now face in Canada, we must acknowledge the effects of the social determinants of health and public policy, as well as promote education and political activism on these factors. Improvements in education and critical health literacy can create a better environment for emancipatory ideas and strategies to promote health and alter the structure of society. Exposing the public to such concepts will help gain social and political support for the structural changes that are needed in Canada to address these complex and lasting problems in society now and in the future.