[homeles_ot-l] The Canadian Facts FW: Social Determinants of Health

[Lynne Browne]

FYI both Bonnie Dinning and Linda Lalonde have passed this on today. Chapter
9 is on housing and homelessness.

 

Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)

147 Besserer St., 2nd Floor, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7

Cell 613-513-6647

Office 613-241-7913, ext. 205

www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/> 

 

 

>From Linda: “This is an important report, released minutes ago, that shows
that 'health' is more influenced by living conditions than by the health
care system. It also documents how poorly Canada is doing in providing the
necessary elements that support good health outcomes. The report is free to
the public at http://www.thecanadianfacts.org/.”

 

From: Bonnie Dinning [mailto:bonniedinning at igs.net] 
Sent: April 28, 2010 9:46 AM
To: 'Lynne Browne'
Subject: FW: [CLICK4HP] Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts

 

For consideration to send to the listerv

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Health Promotion on the Internet [mailto:CLICK4HP at YORKU.CA] On Behalf

Of Dennis Raphael

Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010 8:56 AM

To: CLICK4HP at YORKU.CA

Subject: [CLICK4HP] Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts

 

Colleagues: Part I of our push is getting the message out to the media. York
University is putting out a press release today at 10 AM EDT.  If you have a
local media contact or contact, please pass this onto them. Columnists are
especially likely to be receptive to this message. Tomorrow, we begin Part
II of the communication plan, using our own contacts and networks. 

http://thecanadianfacts.org/The_Canadian_Facts-Press.pdf 

 

 

York U health researchers produce public primer on who gets sick and why

 

TORONTO, April 28, 2010: A report released today by York University health
researchers offers Canadians the opportunity to learn how their living
conditions will determine whether they stay healthy or become ill. 

 

Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts shows why these factors
are so important for health and documents the state of these living
conditions in Canada in an accessible manner for the Canadian public.

 

“Our key message is that the health of Canadians is much less determined by
the health care system than we typically think. Much more important are
public policies that influence our living conditions,” says Dennis Raphael,
Professor in York’s School of Health Policy & Management and the report’s
co-author.

 

Raphael and visiting scholar Juha Mikkonen explain in everyday language and
with compelling graphics how Canadians’ health is shaped by how much income
and wealth they have, whether or not they are employed and if so, the
working conditions they experience. They pull together a wide range of
research to show how health is powerfully influenced by Canadians’ ability
to obtain quality education, food and housing, among other factors.

 

The report finds these conditions are declining with serious ramifications
for the quality and longevity of Canadians’ lives, and outlines specific
ways that the situation can be improved. The report is free to the public at
http://www.thecanadianfacts.org/

 

Former Minister of Health and Welfare Monique Bégin states in the report’s
foreword: “While one of the world’s biggest spenders in health care, we have
one of the worst records in providing an effective social safety net. What
good does it do to treat people’s illnesses, to then send them back to the
conditions that made them sick?”

 

Contrary to the popular belief that Canada is a caring nation with strong
supports for citizens, the report shows that Canada has one of the worse
records among wealthy developed nations in providing Canadians with the
conditions necessary for health. These supports are eroding

with significant effects on Canadians’ health, according to Raphael.

 

“This is not a storyline that’s familiar to most Canadians,” he says. “We’re
still stuck in those glory days where Canada really was one of the best
places in the world to live. Sadly, that is no longer the case. What’s
frightening is that many of these aspects are completely beyond any one
individual’s control.”

 

For example, new immigrants have difficulty getting accreditation for their
skills, and are forced into service jobs where they can barely afford to
feed their families. This leads to a host of problems that directly affect
health and overall quality of life.

 

“It’s all interrelated. It’s time to act on these issues,” Raphael says.

 

A striking example is found in maps that show a clear correspondence between
poverty levels, prevalence of adult-onset diabetes, and concentration of
visible minorities in Toronto neighbourhoods.

 

The report provides concrete recommendations for improving this situation.
For example, in regard to the increasing occurrence of hunger in Canada, it
recommends: 

*        Increases in minimum wages and social assistance rates to the level
where an adequate diet is affordable.

*        Governments assuring that healthy foods are affordable (e.g. milk,
fruits, and foods high in fiber)

*        Provision of affordable housing and childcare that would reduce
other family expenses and leave more money for acquiring an adequate diet.

 

Sobering statistics cited by the report include:

 

- 15 per cent of Canadian children are living in poverty, putting Canada at
a rank of 20th out of 30 of the world’s wealthiest nations as defined by the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

 

- Only 17 percent of Canadian families have access to regulated child care.
Canada ranked last among 25 wealthy developed nations in meeting various
early childhood development objectives.

 

- Canada is amongst the lowest in its coverage of total health care costs.
Medicare covers only 70 per cent of total health care costs, giving Canada a
rank of 22nd of 30 OECD nations for public coverage of health care costs.

 

- Canada is among the nations with the greatest gap between men’s and
Women’s earnings. Canada ranks 19th of 22 OECD nations in reducing the
earnings gap between men and women.

 

- Over 40 per cent of Canadians with disabilities are not in the labour
force, forcing many of them to rely upon social assistance benefits.  Canada
ranks 27th of 29 in public spending on disability-related issues.

 

 

What People are Saying about The Canadians Facts

 

“This wonderful document, Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts
is about us, Canadian society, and what we need to put faces and voices to
the inequities, and the health inequities in particular, that exist in our
midst. Only when we see a concrete description of these complex and
challenging problems, when we read about their various expressions in all
the regions of the country and among the many sub-groups making up Canada,
can we move to action.” 


Hon. Monique Bégin, PC, FRSC, OC from the Foreword. (Member of WHO
Commission on Social Determinants of Health, and Former Minister of National
Health & Welfare of Canada)

 

“Congratulations on this most valuable contribution to Canadians’
understanding of what really needs to change in order to improve population
health. My hope is that it also sends a strong yet accessible message to
those of us in the Canadian health system about how we need to change our
practice.”

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, MD, MHSc, FRCPC, Chief Executive Officer, Sudbury &
District Health Unit

 

“Juha Mikkonen and Dennis Raphael have created a resource that is at once
educational, easy to read, evidence-based, and a powerful call to action. I
hope to see this document open on the desks of policy makers, public health
professionals, students, and front line health providers. This important
contribution to the dialogue around social determinants of health in Canada
offers both an accessible resource, and a straightforward guide to what we
need to do to reduce inequities in health.” 

Dr. Gary Bloch, Family Physician, St. Michael?s Hospital, Toronto; Assistant
Professor, University of Toronto

 

“This is a superb document for getting the message out there regarding the
politics of health. There is nothing like it in Canada. The text and the
graphs will enlighten even the skeptics. The cover art is great. The layout
is engaging and the whole thing is entirely readable. I’ll be using 

it in every class I teach.”

Dr. Elizabeth McGibbon, St. Francis Xavier University

 

“Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
everyone has rights ‘to an adequate standard of living’ and ‘the enjoyment
of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.’
Nonetheless, the evidence for comprehensive action on the social
determinants of health is overwhelming. Like highly skilled trial lawyers,
Juha Mikkonen and Dennis Raphael have assembled this evidence, concisely,
clearly and compellingly, into a single document. As a result, the prospect
of realizing the rights that constitute an international standard for a
decent human life is that much brighter. Bravo!”

Rob Rainer, Executive Director, Canada Without Poverty

 

“The Canadian Facts so succinctly described in this readable little book are
not nice ones. But beneath the intersecting pathways by which social
injustices become health inequalities lies the most sobering message: Things
are getting worse. We have lived through three decades where the predatory
greed of unregulated markets has allowed (and still allows) some to
accumulate ever larger hordes of wealth and power while denying others a
fair share of the resources they need to be healthy. This book is a
fast-fact reference and an invitation for Canadian health workers to join
with social movement activists elsewhere to reclaim for the public good some
of these appropriated resources.’

Dr. Ronald Labonté, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Globalization and
Health Equity, University of Ottawa

 

“With unusual clarity and insight, this informative resource will help
change the way readers think about health.  It renders visible how
underlying social and economic environments influence health outcomes even
more than personal behaviors, genetic profiles, or access to healthcare.
Solutions, it reminds us, lie not in new medical advances or even ‘right
choices’ but in the political arena: struggling for the social changes that
can provide every resident the opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling
life.”

Larry Adelman, creator and executive producer, “Unnatural Causes: Is
Inequality Making Us Sick?” 

 

 

 

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