Links and Resources
Below I have included a collection of logos and images, each with a corresponding link that will open the organization/government site for their respective image. These include OMNI Health Care, the organization I belong to, and UFCW Local 175 as they provide the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the union positions that I oversee. I have also included the Occupation Health and Safety Act as this act holds the answers and forms the foundation of the Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) that I am apart of. The Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care and the Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) are included below since the Fixing Long-Term Care Act 2021 (FLTCA) and the ESA set the standard throughout my workplace. Lastly, an image of the Ontario Public Health logo has been included as they are a regualtory body throughout the province.
Each of the resources included below create numerous obligations for myself as a professional. OMNI Health Care has company policies that I am required to follow. As a member of the management team, I am obligated to make decisions that are resident focused. This requires me to serve as an on-call manager from time to time where I have to understand the company policy for fire evacuations, complete WSIB incident reports, critical incident documentation, and come in after hours if we are understaffed. Failure to oblige could result in disciplinary action. Additionally, I am obligated to follow the UFCW Local 175 Collective Bargaining Agreement in regard to payroll wages, payouts, vacation banks, scheduling, and call-in procedures or I could face grievances. As a member of the JHSC, I use the OHSA and obligated to follow the policies that are listed. There are specific sections of the OHSA that outline health care specific policies I am obligated to follow as they set a standard throughout Ontario. In addition, I am obligated to follow the FLTCA and ESA as they set the overarching guidelines for my position as Office Manager and Nursing Administrative Services Manager. Ontario Public Health also provides our organization with the appropriate COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions that form the foundation for our screening questionnaires and visitation procedures. Failure to oblige could result in fines for the company that I work for as well as disciplinary action against myself.
Multilevel Approaches to Understanding Health
Socio-ecological Model of Health
(CDC, 2022)
Click the image above to gain access to the article:
Design of an intervention addressing multiple levels of influence on dietary and activity patterns of low-income, postpartum women
Chronic Disease Prevention and Management
This infographic shows numerous statistics that capture the dangers associated with smoking and its direct impact on lung cancer. It also outlines the risk factors of lung cancer such as air pollutants, genetics and smoking with ways to prevent and control risk factors associated with lung cancer incidence (Shroff, 2016).
The following video shows the risk factors and symptoms associated with lung cancer. Risk factors outlined in the video are genetics and tobacco use, with symptoms including coughing and loss of weight. The video further explores potential treatments such as robotic surgeries and smoking cessation programs (UC Davis Health, 2020).
This article explores the correlation between socioeconomic status with risk factors of Cardiovascular disease in Canada. A cross-sectional survey was performed which identified an inverse relationship between risk factors and socioeconomic status, which was most apparent in smokers. Low SES individuals in the study also had the highest cholesterol levels, which is a risk factor of cardiovascular disease (Choiniere, 2000).
Vulnerable Populations: Indigenous Communities
Attached is a research paper that examines the health impacts of Grassy Narrows. In the early 1960s, 10,000 kg of mercury was spilled into the river that runs through the Indigenous reserve which has made the water undrinkable and has led to fish being contaminated with mercury. This river system was depended on by the Indigenous community of Grassy Narrows. Although the findings have shown that the mercury levels in the aquatic eco-system have declined over time, the rate of premature death (under 60 years old) was apparent in those who ate freshwater fish contaminated with mercury. (Filibert et al., 2020).
Attached is a research paper that examines the health impacts of Grassy Narrows. In the early 1960s, 10,000 kg of mercury was spilled into the river that runs through the Indigenous reserve which has made the water undrinkable and has led to fish being contaminated with mercury. This river system was depended on by the Indigenous community of Grassy Narrows. Although the findings have shown that the mercury levels in the aquatic eco-system have declined over time, the rate of premature death (under 60 years old) was apparent in those who ate freshwater fish contaminated with mercury. (Filibert et al., 2020).
The attached article provides insight on the housing conditions on reserves throughout Canada. Those who live on reserves are faced with overcrowding that equates to seven times more individuals than the average non-reservation home. With these rates of overcrowding, infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and bronchitis. (The Health of Canada’s Children and Youth, 2022)
Vulnerable Populations: Older Adults (65+)
This article by Huyer et al (2020) explores the vulnerability of older adults and the need for institutionalized care as the majority of older adults from the community who were diagnosed with dementia were deceased within 5 years.
This graph from 2019 illustrates that the number of older adults in Canada are reaching unprecedented numbers and shows that the population of older adults outnumbers the youth population. With this, we can observe the need for a larger work force in health care and caregivers in order to provide the necessary care for this demographic (Government of Canada, 2020).
This video looks to explain the necessity for social support networks older adults during COVID-19, especially in the early stages. Some key points from this video look to explain community-dwelling older adults and the association with their increased susceptibility to adverse health outcomes (Science Animated, 2020).
The Future of Healthcare in Canada
The following video expands on virtual care in Canada as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and how this could influence the future of healthcare in Canada. It looks at how to integrate virtual care into our current methods with a call for a hybrid model with a mix between both in person and virtual appointments (Global News, 2021).
The following article looks at the future of longterm care in Canada. In previous posts, I have looked at the aging population and how the need for longterm care homes will continue to grow. I work in the private sector as I have previously mentioned, and the following article compares privatized to non-privatized forms of longterm care. Both have shown that staff believe they provide “bare-bones” levels of care to older adults as they are overworked. This article overall supports the need for publicly funded longterm care homes as there is a greater cooperation between management and staff as there is less cutting corners to cut down the costs of operating these homes (Molinari, 2021).
This resource, Valtech, outlines the future of healthcare in Canada, claiming we are on the path to a more virtual format of assessing conditions. This coincides with recent posts I have made throughout the course pertaining to the aging population and how our current health care system is unsustainable. This could be a potential future direction we could take in Canada as it would allow a more rapid assessment of diseases and would eliminate the unnecessary stress on our system. With this avoidance of stress, one could potentially amend the Canada Health Act to include pharmacare and coverage of dental and mental health services with the saved money (Valtech_,2022).
References
Centre for disease control and prevention. (2022, January 18). The Social-Ecological Model: A Framework for Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/about/social-ecologicalmodel.html
Choinière, R., Lafontaine, P., & Edwards, A. C. (2000). Distribution of cardiovascular disease risk factors by socioeconomic status among Canadian adults. Cmaj, 162(9 suppl), S13-S24.
Crash Course. (2021, November 15). How Does Disease Move? Crash Course Geography #34. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaHTOFphlMY
Global News. (2021, October 31). COVID-19: How does the future of health care look?[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ckNw2WFOn8
Government of Canada. (2021, July 20). Aging and chronic diseases: A profile of Canadian seniors. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/aging-chronic-diseases-profile-canadian-seniors-report.html
Government of Canada. (2020, Oct 7). Social determinants of health and health inequalitites. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html
Huyer, G., Brown, C. R., Spruin, S., Hsu, A. T., Fisher, S., Manuel, D. G., & Tanuseputro, P. (2020). Five-year risk of admission to long-term care home and death for older adults given a new diagnosis of dementia: a population-based retrospective cohort study. CMAJ, 192(16), E422-E430
Lowcock, E. C., Rosella, L. C., Foisy, J., McGeer, A., & Crowcroft, N. (2012). The social determinants of health and pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza severity. American journal of public health, 102(8), e51-e58.
Molinari, N., & Pratt, G. (2021). Seniors’ long‐term care in Canada: A continuum of soft to brutal privatisation. Antipode.
Peterson, K. E., Sorensen, G., Pearson, M., Hébert, J. R., Gottlieb, B. R., & McCormick, M. C. (2002). Design of an intervention addressing multiple levels of influence on dietary and activity patterns of low-income, postpartum women. Health Education Research, 17(5), 531-540.
Science Animated. (2020, November 26). Can we improve social support for the elderly during COVID-19? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e22gKPjjHz8
Shroff, S. (2016, March 22). Med India: Lung Cancer Infographic. https://www.medindia.net/health-infographics/lung-cancer.htm
UC Davis Health. (2020, February 4). Lung Cancer: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh_RTh2lNSU
Valtech_. (2022). Transforming Health. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=valtech&sxsrf=ALiCzsap875r9iOAyHkaL6kymoNtZpTo9A:1659492618343&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwin6Jfgy6n5AhX0pIkEHc7nCloQ_AUoA3oECAMQBQ&biw=828&bih=678&dpr=2