Category: Health Care

Quadrangle N.L. takes a closer look at 2SLGBTQ+ health care in new research project

Ainsley Hawthorn  (Submitted by Ainsley Hawthorn - image credit)

Ainsley Hawthorn (Submitted by Ainsley Hawthorn – image credit)

Ainsley Hawthorn

Ainsley Hawthorn

Ainsley Hawthorn, the project’s research manager, says some in the 2SLGBTQ+ avoid health services due to a lack of education among some health staff. (Submitted by Ainsley Hawthorn)

More than half of 2SLGBTQ+ and gender-diverse people in Newfoundland and Labrador say their mental health is poor or very poor and over 73 per cent say they needed mental health-care services but never got them.

That’s according to a research project by Quadrangle N.L., funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

The report considers all health-care services in Newfoundland and Labrador. The results are anything but optimistic.

“Even though we can see that there’s a need for therapy and mental health treatment, people aren’t easily able to get it,” Ainsley Hawthorn, the project’s research manager, told CBC News on Monday.

The survey had 272 respondents from people in all regions of the province. About half indicated they are gender-diverse, which is around 10 per cent of the gender diverse-population of the province, Hawthorn said.

Charlie Murphy, executive director of Quadrangle N.L., says the results of the survey indicate the need for more mental health services, across the province, free of charge, for the community.

The project also included interviews with health-care providers and health-care students.

Hawthorn said many indicated they haven’t had a solid education on serving the 2SLGBTQ+ community or the community’s particular needs.

Listen to the full interview with CBC Radio’s Newfoundland Morning:

“And generally speaking, the level of confidence was not that high among health-care providers that they could serve this community,” she said.

“We actually found that 43.8 per cent of [2SLGBTQ+] community members in the province had to educate a health-care provider on their needs in the past year. So that’s not even in their

Winnipeg resident left without regular care during healthcare worker strike

Lorna Ross says she feels abandoned and caught in the middle of the health care worker strike at Ten Ten Sinclair. She says she’s forced to stay in her condo, waiting for services that may or may not come.

“We live minute by minute, day by day. So I never know when I’m actually going to get checked on,” she explained.

“My experience with this whole strike is very stressful, very depressing, very annoying.”

The strike began Wednesday, with workers refusing to return to work unless they get better wages. Ross says she wants to be spending her days socializing with her friends, but due to the strike, she can’t leave her condo.

“With this, it’s so different, like I can’t even make plans with my plans doing things, even if I tried, because like I said, don’t know when I’m gonna get service,” explained Ross.

Lorna Ross says since the strike at Ten Ten Sinclair began Wednesday, she’s been stressed out and unable to sleep well. (Photo Credit: Joanne Roberts, CityNews)

Ten Ten Sinclair and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority have been bringing other workers and agencies to help with residents’ care, but Ross says it’s leaving her deeply uncomfortable not knowing who is coming to her door.

“You don’t know these people. They don’t know you and you don’t know them. How are you supposed to feel safe? Like, I’m letting two people come back … and give me a bath. Sure. There’s only so much a person can handle.”

Ross’ needs are well-known to the regular healthcare workers, but she’s constantly having to remind new workers what her needs and boundaries are. She says for comfort reasons, she only works with female aides, but they keep forgetting.

“I have to expose myself to them. I have to

The Weekly Wrap: It’s time to have the private health-care conversation

This week‘s edition of The Hub’s Weekly Wrap reflects on some of the past week’s biggest stories, including what the upcoming federal budget might bring, new polling showing increasing support for private health-care options, and recent criticisms from both the Left and the Right.

Will a desperate Trudeau double down on class conflict to save his skin?

This week we learned that federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will table the budget on April 16, which is one of the latest budgets outside of an election or some other extenuating circumstances in forty years. 

The minister was generally circumspect about the budget’s priorities, though she did nod to the anticipated inclusion of pharmacare. National Post columnist John Ivison wrote that it’s likely to be a free-spending budget in light of the government’s struggle for its political survival. 

But the budget’s real story may not be new spending. It may instead come in the form of new taxes targeting big business and wealthy individuals. The Trudeau government might just try to survive by appealing to class warfare.  

The Hub published an article this week by the Business Council of Canada CEO Goldy Hyder that warned about growing rumours that the government is considering an excess profits (or “windfall”) tax on large corporations. 

The basic details are somewhat unclear, but the Trudeau government has previously imposed excess profits taxes on banks and life insurance companies and threatened them on the grocery sector. The implication here is that they could be extended to other parts of the economy. 

The negative effects of such a policy in terms of employment, investment, and wages could be significant. A report last year for the European Parliament for instance warned that windfall taxes can create big distortions—particularly in a globalized economy. The result could be a lot of

Winnipeg residents living with disabilities left struggling amid health-care support worker strike – Winnipeg

On Wednesday, 160 health-care support workers walked off the job at Ten Ten Sinclair, a housing development company in the city for people with various physical disabilities.

The job action has left tenants at the company’s Forkus properties feeling like they have fallen through the cracks.

“I have received one shower assistance since Wednesday, and otherwise, I’ve just been trying to do sponge baths myself. It’s been very difficult,” said Kristianna Huege, Fokus tenant.

Tenants have said the lack of support has been causing major anxiety as they navigate difficult tasks such as getting out of bed and emptying foley bags.


Click to play video: 'Manitoba unions, employers wrestling over whether replacement workers during strikes are OK'


Manitoba unions, employers wrestling over whether replacement workers during strikes are OK


“I’m scared I’m going to be put into bed and left there for how many hours or how many days, not having any help, any communication,” said Tenant, Lisa Quiring.

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As a temporary measure, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) brought in more workers to help fill the gaps left by the strike but the tenants say staffing is still limited and many of them are not aware of their specific needs, resulting in tenants having to assist the workers.


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“They came to me and said, ‘Ok, what needs to be done, who are we looking at?’ Now, all of that should have been taken care of, all of that should have been handled, but obviously, it fell through,” said resident Lori Ross.

Ross says a lot of people who

Quadrangle N.L. takes a closer look at 2SLGBTQ+ health care in new research project

A woman hoists a tea cup while standing in a living room
Ainsley Hawthorn, the project’s research manager, says some in the 2SLGBTQ+ avoid health services due to a lack of education among some health staff. (Submitted by Ainsley Hawthorn)

More than half of 2SLGBTQ+ and gender-diverse people in Newfoundland and Labrador say their mental health is poor or very poor and over 73 per cent say they needed mental health-care services but never got them.

That’s according to a research project by Quadrangle N.L., funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada.

The report considers all health-care services in Newfoundland and Labrador. The results are anything but optimistic.

“Even though we can see that there’s a need for therapy and mental health treatment, people aren’t easily able to get it,” Ainsley Hawthorn, the project’s research manager, told CBC News on Monday. 

The survey had 272 respondents from people in all regions of the province. About half indicated they are gender-diverse, which is around 10 per cent of the gender diverse-population of the province, Hawthorn said.

Charlie Murphy, executive director of Quadrangle N.L., says the results of the survey indicate the need for more mental health services, across the province, free of charge, for the community.

The project also included interviews with health-care providers and health-care students.

Hawthorn said many indicated they haven’t had a solid education on serving the 2SLGBTQ+ community or the community’s particular needs.

Listen to the full interview with CBC Radio’s Newfoundland Morning: 

CBC Newfoundland Morning7:05The state of health care for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in NL is anything but healthy. That’s according to a first-of-its-kind study by a group called by Quadrangle NL

More than half of 2SLGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse people in this province say their mental health is poor or very poor. Over 73 percent say they needed mental health care services but never got them.

Auto insurers face pushback over preferential deals with health care providers

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Kyle Whaley, the executive director, and a physiotherapist for Propel Physiotherapy, at the company’s Etobicoke clinic on March 6.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Health care professionals are warning that auto insurers are increasingly signing preferential deals with providers that are controlling patients’ choices about how to get injuries treated after car accidents.

A proposed agreement between Manulife Financial Group MFC-T and Shoppers Drug Mart recently thrust the issue of preferred provider networks (PPNs) into the spotlight. Under that deal – which was later cancelled – chronically ill patients would have been limited to buying their medication only at pharmacies owned by Loblaw Cos. Ltd. L-T.

But similar agreements have become increasingly common across the insurance industry – including among auto insurers.

Health care professionals who work with accident victims say these deals direct more business to large physiotherapy chains, such as the Loblaw-owned Lifemark, and they can create conflicts of interest in which the terms of a contract could unfairly dictate the treatment that a patient receives.

Kyle Whaley has experienced the issue from both sides of the table. As a physiotherapist and owner of Propel Physiotherapy, he has treated many patients who were injured in auto accidents.

Last summer, he was in a collision himself and got a concussion. At first, he figured he could find his own physiotherapist. But he then decided he wanted to experience a PPN system himself. “I thought, you know what, I’m going to go through this process and see what it’s like,” he said.

He booked an appointment with one of the three clinics his insurance company recommended. On the morning of the appointment – a week and a half later – the clinic called to cancel, saying it didn’t have the right specialist available that day.

Physician incivility in the health care workplace

Behaviour categorized as “incivility” includes aggressive or dismissive language and actions or inactions that degrade working relationships1

Prevalence varies and is likely underreported owing to nonstandardized definitions and heterogeneous behaviours.1 More than 75% of health care employees have witnessed uncivil behaviour from physicians,2 and 31% of physicians report receiving weekly or daily rude, dismissive or aggressive communication from other doctors.3 Residents report higher rates of incivility toward trainees who are younger than 30 years, shorter than 5′8″, junior trainees, females or non–native language speakers, or who belong to a nondominant ethnicity.1

Habitual incivility from specific individuals is commonly reported, but situational triggers can increase uncivil behaviour2

High workload, resource limitations, communication challenges, poor team cohesion, unfamiliarity with team members and interdisciplinary interfaces were associated with increased incivility.2 Physicians with consistent disruptive behaviours may have concurrent mental health challenges.4

Incivility by physicians is associated with poor patient outcomes, adverse effects on health care professionals and high organizational costs

Disruptive behaviour diverts attention away from patient care, diminishes team collaboration and is associated with medication errors, patient neglect, surgical complications and death.5 Health care team members experiencing incivility have decreased well-being, increased burnout, higher rates of absenteeism and premature departures.5

Accepting incivility as inevitable in a stressful environment or excusable in “high value” physicians perpetuates the behaviour

Learners exposed to incivility are more likely to exhibit it.1 Successful interventions for disruptive physicians include individual coaching and therapy.4 Structured approaches to improve emotional intelligence, introspection, conflict resolution, leadership and mindfulness have led to positive behaviour changes in the clinical environment.4

Organizational leadership is essential in successfully preventing and addressing incivility

Leadership training, role modelling, wide dissemination of institutional definitions and policies for incivility, improved reporting mechanisms and implementation of a

Respectful care for pregnant people living with obesity

Pregnant people living with obesity are at elevated risk of severe maternal and fetal complications.1 Reducing the incidence of adverse outcomes necessitates the accurate and respectful communication of these risks to people living with obesity. In related research, Ramji and colleagues add to this evidence with their analysis of more than 650 000 births in Ontario, observing that prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) greater than 30.0 was associated with an increased incidence of stillbirth.2 The association persisted after adjusting for comorbidities, suggesting that obesity is an independent risk factor for this tragic outcome. Higher prepregnancy BMI is also associated with increased risk of gestational hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, miscarriage, preterm birth, macrosomia, and cesarean deliveries, and the risk is greater if gestational weight gain is excessive.1 These findings underscore the importance of adhering to current clinical practice guidelines, which recommend monitoring gestational weight gain and increased surveillance of pregnant people at higher weights.3 However, focusing discussions on the weight of patients may be counterproductive, and a nuanced approach to providing prenatal risk counselling is needed.

Focusing on weight during communications of risk may reinforce weight bias, weight stigma, and discrimination for pregnant people. Negative weight-related attitudes, beliefs, assumptions, and judgments prevalent in society, and harmful social stereotypes that are held about people living with obesity, are associated with adverse physical and mental health consequences. 4 Weight stigma experienced by pregnant people with obesity manifests as inappropriate or judgmental comments (e.g., related to their fitness to parent a child) and unfounded assumptions or misconceptions surrounding lifestyle behaviours, including assumption of laziness.5

The few, predominantly qualitative, studies that have evaluated weight stigma during pregnancy suggest that health care providers feel they have insufficient training and lack the skills to confidently counsel pregnant people about weight-related risks and

New Brunswick officials paid nursing firm for meal allowances workers never received

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The Campbellton Regional Hospital in northern New Brunswick.Chris Donovan/The Globe and Mail

New Brunswick officials paid for the meal allowances of nurses and orderlies deployed to the province by private staffing agency Canadian Health Labs, but that money was never passed on to the company’s workers, according to nine sources, as well as documents obtained by The Globe and Mail.

A Globe investigation into the skyrocketing costs of private travel nursing published in February found that CHL invoiced health authorities in Newfoundland and Labrador $1.6-million in meal allowances for the nurses it dispatched to that province, but told workers they were required to pay for their own food. Newfoundland’s province’s Liberal government has asked its comptroller-general to probe those billings.

The Globe has confirmed that the same billing discrepancy took place in New Brunswick, a province that leaned more heavily on CHL than Newfoundland. The province’s Vitalité Health Network, which delivers French-language medical services, paid CHL for meal allowances for its travelling staff, but the company’s workers were told they were on their own when it came to paying for meals, documents and interviews show.

Unlike Newfoundland, The Globe has been unable to determine the total cost of the meals billed to Vitalité by CHL. The company’s current nursing deal with Vitalité runs to 2026 and is worth a maximum of $93-million.

Toronto-based CHL entered the travel nursing business during the pandemic and quickly carved out a niche relocating health care workers to Atlantic Canada so they could take on jobs at understaffed health facilities.

As part of its contracts with Vitalité, CHL charged taxpayers $46 a day for meal allowances for each out-of-province nurse or personal support worker, the health authority confirmed to The Globe.

But nine nurses CHL assigned to Vitalité told

Sudbury news: Trudeau talks about northern Ontario healthcare

The prime minister was in northern Ontario on Friday to talk about healthcare in the region.

Last month, Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed a $3.1 billion healthcare deal – a three-year agreement meant to improve access to primary healthcare and reduce wait times.

PM Justin Trudeau (centre) speaks at Health Sciences North hospital in Sudbury, MPs Viviane Lapoite (second from left) and Marc Serre (second from right) also made remarks. March 1/24 (Angela Gemmill/CTV Northern Ontario)“Even within provinces we know there are different needs within different regions,” said Trudeau to the media while speaking at Health Sciences North (HSN.)

The PM highlighted details specific to northern Ontario from the recent deal with the province.

Federal officials said the funding is all part of a $200 billion investment for all of Canada, over the next 10 years.

“We also have to be honest that our healthcare systems haven’t been meeting the mark of what Canadians expect, over the past years,” said Trudeau.

The PM announced an additional 30 undergraduate and 41 post-graduate spots to be created at northern Ontario’s only medical school, NOSM University to help address the region’s doctor shortage.

Trudeau said the federal government is also moving forward with better training on anti-indigenous racism.

HSN president and CEO David McNeil said the facility works to create culturally safe space for all patients.

“Ensuring that we’re providing care for all people in a way where they feel culturally safe regardless of their background or culture is a key priority of Health Sciences North,” he said.

Other highlights include increasing cancer screening through mobile units and more primary health teams across under-serviced areas in the north.

Ontario was the fifth province to sign a new healthcare deal – joining Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Prince

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