All Resources
Compassionate Minds – Anna Greenberg – Episode 8
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Anna Greenberg. Anna is a highly regarded member of Ontario Health’s senior leadership team, serving in a number of roles since the organization’s beginning. She served as the inaugural Chief of Strategy and Planning and as Chief Regional Officer, Toronto and East, for…
Resilience and Reverence, Tradition and Transformation – Episode 17
This episode features Jerry Fontaine, an esteemed Anishinaabe scholar, author, and community leader from the Sagkeeng First Nation. Known for his dedication to Indigenous sovereignty and environmental justice, Jerry has spent decades working to protect Indigenous rights, traditional lands, and cultural heritage. His work centres on reclaiming and revitalizing Anishinaabe knowledge systems, blending academic rigour…
In Harmony with Nature: Hunting, Healing, and Creating w/ Randy Trudeau
This episode features Randy Trudeau. Randy Trudeau is a hunter, trapper, fisher, artist, and traditional medicine harvester from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, located in Northeastern Ontario. Deeply connected to the land and its teachings, Randy’s life revolves around Indigenous practices and traditional ways of living. As a skilled hunter and trapper, he has…
The Healing Alliance: Western Medicine Meets Indigenous Traditions, Part Two
Welcome to part two of this two-part special, co-hosted with Dr. Karen Hill of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University and host of Two Row Medicine podcast. Two Row Medicine is a new podcast navigating relationships from a traditional Indigenous perspective in the 21st century. On June 8th and 9th, 2024, Indigenous healers, elders, health administrators,…
The Healing Alliance: Western Medicine Meets Indigenous Traditions, Part One
Welcome to part one of this two-part special, co-hosted with Dr. Karen Hill of the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University and host of Two Row Medicine podcast. Two Row Medicine is a new podcast navigating relationships from a traditional Indigenous perspective in the 21st century. On June 8th and 9th, 2024, Indigenous healers, elders, health administrators,…
Compassionate Minds – Donna Duncan – Episode 7
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Donna Duncan. Donna Duncan is a passionate seniors’ care, mental health advocate, and broader public sector leader, bringing more than 20 years of experience in advancing transformative change at organization and system levels. As CEO of the Ontario Long Term Care Association, Donna…
Compassionate Minds – Sophia Ikura – Episode 6
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Sophia Ikura. Sophia is the founder and Executive Director of Health Commons, a pioneering organization dedicated to addressing health disparities by combining the tools of a diverse set of disciplines from epidemiology to service design and political science to bring community-driven solutions into…
Reclaiming the Knowledge and Practices of the People
This episode features Dr. Marlene Pierre and Jeordi Pierre of S.O.I.L – The School for Indigenous Learning in Neebing, Ontario. Dr. Marlene Pierre is a respected Elder and community leader from Thunder Bay, deeply rooted in her Anishinaabe heritage. With decades of experience in education, healthcare, and cultural preservation, Dr. Pierre has dedicated her life…
Optimizing AI – Part Two
Thank you for joining us for this special episode of Good Tech Compassionate Healthcare. In May of 2024, AMS Healthcare was thrilled to convene 170 healthcare stakeholders from across Ontario to delve into the timely and ethical scaling of AI in our healthcare sector. The insights we gained were invaluable. The conference revealed a consensus…
Optimizing AI – Part One
Thank you for joining us for this special episode of Good Tech Compassionate Healthcare. In May of 2024, AMS Healthcare was thrilled to convene 170 healthcare stakeholders from across Ontario to delve into the timely and ethical scaling of AI in our healthcare sector. The insights we gained were invaluable. The conference revealed a consensus…
Healing the Past to Guide the Future w/ Ernie and Charlotte Kwandibens
This episode features Ernie and Charlotte Kwandibens. They are esteemed Indigenous elders and community leaders, renowned for their unwavering dedication to cultural preservation, education, and environmental stewardship. Born and raised within their traditional lands, Ernie a member of Whitesand First Nation, and Charlotte a member of the Waswanabe First Nation, have committed their lives to advocating…
Compassionate Minds – Dr. Brian Hodges – Episode 5
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Brian Hodges. Brian Hodges is Executive-Vice President Education and Chief Medical Officer at University Health Network, and Professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Brian…
The Fine Line Between Traditional Healing and Western Medicine w/ Esstin McLeod
This episode features Esstin McLeod. Esstin (Niganobe), an Anishinaabe Kwe from the Mississaugi First Nations in Mid-Northern Ontario, is a Healer and Medicine Practitioner. She offers spiritual consultations and remedies to Native healthcare centers in Northern Ontario. In her role as a Medicine Practitioner, Esstin provides plant-based remedies and instructional guidance. As a Healer, she…
Compassionate Minds: Dr. Keith Thompson Episode 4
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Keith Thompson. Dr. Thompson is a family physician, a graduate of the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, and an Adjunct Faculty Professor with both the departments of Family Medicine and the Institute for Earth and Space Exploration at Western University. He…
Incorporating Traditional Healing into Practice w/ Dr. Karen Hill
This episode features Dr. Karen Hill. Karenna’onwe (Gaw-law-naw-oo-way) – Dr. Karen Hill is Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She is the mother of two sons and step-mother to five daughters. She currently has 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandsons. She completed medical school in 2003 and Family Medicine Residency in 2005…
Compassionate Minds: Dr. Lisa Richardson Episode 3
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Dr. Lisa Richardson. Dr. Lisa Richardson practices General Internal Medicine at the Toronto General Hospital and is the Associate Dean, Inclusion and Diversity; as well as Acting Vice Dean, Strategy, at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She is an education…
Decolonizing Education: Impact on Indigenous Communities w/ Renee Linklater
This episode features Renee Linklater. A PhD who hails from the Rainy River First Nations in Northwestern Ontario. She earned her doctoral degree from the Department of Adult Education and Counselling Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. With two decades of experience, Renee has extensively collaborated with…
Virtual End of Life Care
In this conversation, Kieran Quinn, a general internist and palliative care clinician-scientist at Sinai Health in the Department of Medicine and at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, and James Downer, a critical care and palliative care physician in Ottawa, discuss virtual end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic.…
Compassionate Minds: Nicole Woods – Episode 2
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Nicole Woods. Nicole (Nikki) Woods, PhD is the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair for Research in Health Professions Education. She is also Director of The Institute for Education Research (TIER) at University Health Network and Senior Scientist at The Wilson Centre, University of Toronto. Dr. Woods leads an…
Ancestral Echoes: A Journey to Reconciliation and Healing w/ Isaac Murdoch
Today’s episode features Isaac Murdoch, also known by his Ojibwe name Manzinapkinegego’anaabe / Bombgiizhik, who hails from the Fish Clan and belongs to the Serpent River First Nation. Raised in the traditional lifestyle of hunting, fishing, and trapping, he dedicated many years to learning from Elders in the northern regions of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.…
Nurturing Ojibwe Wisdom through Language Revitalization
This episode features Dr. Wendy Makoons Geniusz, who hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and has ancestral roots in the Cree community of Manitoba. Currently serving as a professor at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Dr. Geniusz has been actively involved in projects aimed at revitalizing Ojibwe language and culture in Indigenous communities across the Great Lakes…
Compassionate Minds: Adil Khalfan – Episode 1
In this episode, host Helen Angus, CEO of AMS Healthcare, speaks with Adil Khalfan. Adil Khalfan is President and CEO of Kensington Health, a not-for-profit health service organization located in Toronto, Ontario. Adil has a vast background in nursing, public health, international development, and health system strategy in Canada and internationally. His career has crossed…
Leveraging AI to Enable Compassionate and Equitable Community Care and Nursing
In this conversation, Charlene Ronquillo, a Filipina scholar, registered nurse, and health implementation expert at the University of British Columbia School of Nursing, engages in a captivating dialogue with Chantelle Recsky, a dedicated nurse and postdoctoral research fellow. Together, they delve into the crucial topic of “Advancing Compassionate and Equitable Healthcare through Technology.” Charlene, an…
The Compassion Code, Promoting Fairness in AI for Mental Health
In this conversation, Laura Sikstrom, a Medical Anthropologist and Project Scientist at The Krembil Center for Neuroinformatics at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and an AMS Healthcare fellow in Compassion and AI, speaks with Sean Hill, the Director of The Krembil Center for Neuroinformatics, Senior Scientist at the Center for Addiction and Mental…
Generative AI in Healthcare
In this episode, AMS Board Members Kumanan Wilson, Interim CEO and Chief Scientific Officer, Bruyère Research Institute, chats with Jaron Chong, Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Radiology at the Department of Medical Imaging at Western University and Chair of the Canadian Association of Radiology Standing Committee on Artificial Intelligence. They discuss the opportunities for generative AI in healthcare diagnosis, efficiencies, and education,…
Mental Wellness and Renewed Frameworks w/ Dr. Carol Hopkins
This episode features Dr. Carol Hopkins from the Lenape Nation at Moraviantown, Ontario. Dr. Hopkins is the CEO of the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation. She is host of the podcast, Mino Bimaadiziwin. Carol was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 2018. In 2019, she was recognized with an honorary Doctor of Laws from Western University. Carol has spent more than 20 years in…
Finding The Balance Of Your Being w/ Perry McLeod-Shabogesic
This episode features Perry McLeod-Shabogesic of the “Crane Clan” is an Ojibway Anishinabe from N’biising (Nipissing) First Nation (NFN). He has been a artist, cartoonist, writer, traditional helper, medicine harvester and cultural resource person in and around his community for many years. Perry’s spirit name is “Aandzooked”, which means “Teller of sacred stories” in Ojibway.…
Technology, Compassion and the Social Determinants of Health
In this conversation, Ibukun Abejirinde, a scientist at the Institute for Health System Solutions at Women’s College Hospital, and Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, and an AMS Healthcare Fellow in Compassion and AI chats with Terence Tang, a General Internal Medicine Physician at Trillium Health…
Learning Our Teachings For Our Own Survival w/ Dr. Ed Connors
This episode features Dr. Ed Connors, an Indigenous Psychologist of Mohawk ancestry from Kahnawake Mohawk Territory. He has worked with First Nations communities across Canada since 1982, in both urban and rural centres. His work over this time includes being Clinical Director for an infant mental health centre in the City of Regina, and Director for…
Onaubinisay, Walks Above the Ground pt2 w/Jim Dumont
This episode is the second part, featuring Jim Dumont, also known as Onaubinisay, meaning Walks Above the Ground. Jim Dumont is an internationally renowned Elder, speaker and traditional knowledge keeper. He is known as the Gichi-aya’aag, the Elder of the Elders and the Eastern Doorway of The Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge. In 2011, Jim was…
Onaubinisay, Walks Above the Ground pt1 w/Jim Dumont
This episode features Jim Dumont, also known as Onaubinisay, meaning Walks Above the Ground. Jim Dumont is an internationally renowned Elder, speaker and traditional knowledge keeper. He is known as the Gichi-aya’aag, the Elder of the Elders and the Eastern Doorway of The Three Fires Midewiwin Lodge. In 2011, Jim was awarded a Doctor of…
How Indigenous Healing Intersects with Biomedicine w/ Diane Longboat
This episode features Diane Longboat, a member of the Turtle Clan and Mohawk Nation At Six Nations Grand River Territory, Ontario. She is a Ceremonial Leader, traditional teacher, healer, an elder. Diane is founder of Soul of the Mother, a healing lodge on the shores of the Grand River and Six Nations and has extensive…
Risk Algorithms and Self-Management of Care in Older Adults
In this episode, Dr. Connie Schumacher, Assistant Professor of Nursing at Brock University and an AMS fellow in compassionate AI, and Dr. Andrew Costa, Associate Professor at McMaster University and the Research Director at the St. Joseph’s Health System Center for Integrative Care in Hamilton and Connie’s mentor, discuss Connie’s research on compassion centered communication of risk…
The Power of Spirit Can Facilitate Healing w/Hilton King
The second episode of “Indigenous Medicine Stories,” showcases the inspiring journey of Hilton King, an Indigenous helper with a vast background in Indigenous mental health, addictions, justice, and child welfare, who currently dedicates his expertise to the Indigenous child and family services sector. As a trained social worker, Hilton humbly shares his personal experience of…
An Introduction to Indigenous Medicine Stories
This inaugural episode of “Indigenous Medicine Stories,” features Dr. Darrel Manitowabi, the Hannah Chair in Indigenous Health and Indigenous Traditional Medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, as our guest and host of the podcast. “Indigenous Medicine Stories” is a groundbreaking podcast that delves deep into the rich tapestry of Indigenous medicine practices, exploring…
Digital Monitoring of Stress Responses Among Nursing Professionals
Biographies Gillian Strudwick Venkat Bhat If you wish to participate in the study Program: Interventional Neuropsychiatry Program Study Funder Department of Defense, Canada (IDeAS Program) UHT-St. Michael’s link to the Phase 1 of the current project (Phase 2) Useful Resources: https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/sciencebrief/burnout-in-hospital-based-healthcare-workers-during-covid-19/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35614505/ https://theconversation.com/high-rates-of-covid-19-burnout-could-lead-to-shortage-of-health-care-workers-166476 https://www.researchprotocols.org/2022/2/e32240/ Pertinent Publication Links: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34871178/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9731177/ https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=10095849 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36310921/ Listen to the Podcast HERE
Digital Therapeutics Informed by Lived Experience
In this conversation, Quynh Pham, Scientific Director & Principal Investigator at the Centre for Digital Therapeutics at the University Health Network and an AMS Healthcare Fellow in Compassion and AI speaks with Joseph A Cafazzo, (Cafahzzo)biomedical engineer, educator and researcher and the Wolfond Chair in Digital Health, University Health Network Quynh and Joe engage on…
Designing the Future of Aging in Place
Jen Recknagel Director, Innovation and Design, NORC Innovation Centre Jen combines a background in human-centered design to address challenges at the intersection of health and its social determinants. Experienced with executing a variety of service design projects, she is currently the Senior Design Lead at UHN OpenLab, and Director of Innovation and Design at the…
National licensure, better virtual-care needed to fix system ‘close to the precipice’: CMA president
This article was written in partnership with Healthy Debate, and is part of a series of seven articles that explore the relationship between technology and compassion in the field of health care today, and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Author: Inori Roy Illustrator: Winsome Adelia Tse Of all the responsibilities anesthesiologists undertake in their day-to-day duties,…
The past, present and future of race and colonialism in medicine
Ellen J. Amster, AMS Healthcare Hannah Chair.May 24, 2022 This article was first published in the CMAJ on May 24, 2022. The original article can be accessed here. Western medicine has begun a reckoning with its inconvenient pasts, from dethroning medical heroes to an increasing awareness of how doctors have treated colonized and enslaved populations.…
Compassion in Digital Mental Health
Good Tech, Compassionate Care Podcast: Today’s conversation focuses on how digital interventions during COVID impacted the way we deliver compassionate care.
AI Democratizing Access to Parent Child Quality Assessment
Good Tech, Compassionate Care Podcast: Today’s conversation focuses on how digital interventions during COVID impacted the way we deliver compassionate care.
Mandatory COVID-19 vaccination in schools this fall? Ontario’s 1982 legislation spurred organized opposition
This blog was written by AMS Healthcare History of Medicine and Healthcare Program 2020 project grant recipient Catherine Carstairs and her colleagues from the University of Guelph. It very nicely supports the AMS Healthcare concept that History of Medicine research can and does act as a source of lessons that shape or inform the Canadian…
A Supportive Action Plan for Patients, Caregivers and Organization
AMS Healthcare has put together this guide that outlines key messages and requests targeted to the various decision-makers and stakeholder groups with whom you may meet.
Patient and Caregiver Report on Technology and Compassion During COVID-19
Using the data gathered from our 2020 Virtual Conference: Hearing Your Voices, AMS Healthcare has compiled a set of recommendations for ensuring healthcare remains compassionate in the face of technological advancements.
Building Virtual Relationships
Drs. Alika Lafontaine and Brian D. Hodges discuss Building Virtual Relationships.
Communities are taking the lead on vaccinating hot spots
The provincial system for booking vaccine appointments, which has been confusing and dysfunctional for many, can require resources and skills that those who are most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 don’t always have.
Saying Goodbye on FaceTime
Participating in that call was “gut-wrenching,” Shaikh said, but she realized that to maintain the emotional stamina she would need to make it through the pandemic, she would “have to change (her) perspective.”
Virtual simulation in nursing education: Balancing care for the ‘failing heart’ and the ‘breaking heart’
Proponents of the simulations say they give students a solid foundation of technical and theoretical knowledge, but more importantly, they develop higher-level cognitive skills.
Seniors with dementia in LTC homes are using virtual reality to relive their pasts
Caregivers and researchers hope that LTC residents who visit lifelike simulations of meaningful places from their pasts will recall old memories not yet motheaten by dementia, causing them to feel a sense of wistful joy, a swell of pride and to open up to others.
Could AI make health care more human?
CHARTwatch, is a tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to continuously monitor the medical status of patients on Saint Michael’s General Internal Medicine unit.
‘You need not be alone anymore’: The doctor redefining palliative care
Palliative care physicians were no longer on-call consultants or experts brought in only when it became clear that a patient was forgoing curative or life-prolonging medical treatment. They became a fixture of the emergency department.
How one ER partnered with a mental-health organization to care for youth in distress
First-hand knowledge of what it’s like to struggle with mental illness and substance use – and what it takes to recover – complements the clinical expertise of the ER team.
Exploring Technologies and Their Impact on Compassionate Digital Care
Good Tech, Compassionate Care Podcast: This conversation focuses on exploring technologies and their impact on compassionate healthcare
Teaching Compassion in Digital Healthcare
Good Tech, Compassionate Care Podcast: In this conversation, Educators and Learners reflect on the challenges of teaching, and learning, compassion in this digital age.
Digital Interventions During COVID on Mental Health
Good Tech, Compassionate Care Podcast: Today’s conversation focuses on how digital interventions during COVID impacted the way we deliver compassionate care.
Compassion, Equity and Moral Courage, Reflecting on Lessons From COVID
Good Tech, Compassionate Care Podcast: A discussion on Compassion, Equity and Moral Courage and a reflection on lessons learned from COVID.
Leading with Care in a Technological Age
Dr. Jane Phillpot moderates a panel of authors including, Brian Hodges, Gillian Strudwick and Tina Martimianakis.
Vertical Aging The Future of Aging in Place in Urban Canada
On February 3rd, 2021 OpenLab and AMS hosted a webinar to launch Vertical Aging: The Future of Aging in Place in Urban Canada and the release of the three reports.
Without Compassion, There is No Healthcare
28 outstanding Canadian healthcare leaders confront the challenges threatening our current and future healthcare system. Across a variety of domains, the authors ask, What is compassion?
Vertical Aging: Social Spaces
The design of our physical spaces matters more to psycho-social states of well-being than ever previously imagined. This report aims to understand the stock of rental apartment buildings (in Toronto) that qualify as NORCs.
Vertical Aging: The Connected Care Hub
Connected Care Hub is a mixed model of service delivery that utilizes both physical and digital supports to help seniors in NORC buildings age in place.
Vertical Aging: The Digital Neighbour Network
In order to remain at home, most seniors will need some type of support to get by. Neighbour-to-Neighbour networks may help fill that gap, especially if located within the same building or neighbourhood.
Hearing Your Voices Conference Panel 1: The power of lived experience
Hear from patient partners who share their lived experiences and offer their suggestions on what makes a compassionate digitally enabled healthcare system.
Hearing Your Voices Conference Panel 2: Is technology truly a solution?
Technology is often seen as critical to how health and healthcare evolve. This discussion explored areas where technology may be a good solution, but not the only solution. It also mentions where low-tech options might better serve patients, caregivers, and their healthcare partners.
Hearing Your Voices Conference Panel 3: Digital Health: How do we get there together?
Concerns have been raised about equity in accessing digital healthcare and ensuring patients, physicians, and providers are supported to partner in care together. This panel explored the challenges and barriers and offered insight and expertise for drivers and solutions.
Hearing Your Voices Conference Panel 4: How do we make it happen?
This panel discussed the support patients and caregivers need to fully engage with digital health technologies; the support providers need and how we prepare them for digital health technologies, and the leadership required to help us realize this future.
Nursing and compassionate care in the age of artificial intelligence
This report outlines 15 recommendations to prepare nurses and nursing students to use artificially intelligent health technologies (AIHTs) to augment the patient experience, while ensuring the delivery of quality, person-centred, and compassionate nursing care.
Empowering patients and caregivers in the era of digital health
This AMS-sponsored report is for patients and caregivers. It takes a look at health technologies (mobile apps, AI, electronic health records, etc.) to understand their benefits and risks (privacy concerns, equity and accessibility, etc.). It also explores the cultural changes needed before such technologies can be widely—and appropriately—implemented. Read it and you’ll be ready to help shape the way we incorporate digital health technologies into Canadian healthcare.
Nursing and compassionate care in a technological world
This AMS-sponsored report digs into the implications of artificial intelligence, machine learning, automation, and robotics for the future of nursing and for nurses’ ability to provide compassionate, person-centered nursing care. If you’re an RN, RPN, or NP, this report is for you.
The impact of artificial intelligence on clinical judgment
In this AMS-sponsored report, physicians and medical educators can learn about the current and potential links between AI and clinical judgment. It provides a clear explanation of how AI will likely support, but not to replace, the judgment of physicians.
Machines, ethics and equity
Dr. Jay Shaw discusses how digital technology is used in healthcare today and how its use is impacting equity and ethics in medicine.
Compassionate care in a technological world
Want to see examples of how technology is changing various professional roles in healthcare, or learn which issues we need to keep in mind in this context? View the presentation slides from this 2019 talk.
Designing healthcare services for excellence and empathy
Check out the slides from Professor Elizabeth Teisberg’s 2019 AMS talk that explored how healthcare can achieve better value for money.
14 resources on artificial intelligence, ethics, and governance
Gathered by AMS fellow Dr. Jay Shaw, these 14 articles offer a rich overview of the issues arising from the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, including the management of big data.
Compassion in a technological world: Advancing AMS’s strategic aims
This 2019 roadmap contains key questions, the answers to which will shape AMS’s role as a catalyst for innovation. It provides an overview of the most transformative technologies on the horizon and explores the potential impacts and issues ahead.
AI, machine learning and the potential impacts on the practice of family medicine
Will modern medical technology give physicians more time to focus on the human and healing portion of their jobs, or will it initiate workplace surveillance, productivity measurement, and eventually supplant human physicians? This report sets the stage for leaders in family medicine to prepare themselves, the profession, and their patients for conversations about the changes to come, given the possibilities offered by technology.
Preparing for the technological revolution in healthcare
This panel discussion about technology in healthcare featured Mr. Will Falk, Dr. Stephen Klasko, Dr. Aimee van Wynsberghe, and Hon. Kelvin Ogilvie. It was moderated by Dr. Seema Marwaha and recorded at the AMS 2018 Phoenix Conference in Toronto, Ontario.
Can history improve big-bang health reform?
Learn how professional historians can help policy makers make better decisions when they’re reforming universal healthcare programs. The author also shares the skills and competencies that professional historians need to meaningfully contribute to developing better health systems and policies.
Learning from Australia to expand Canadian medicare
This paper discusses four areas where Canada might learn from Australia in order to expand its medicare program. You’ll also learn about aspects of the Australian healthcare system that Canada should avoid.
Competition in healthcare: Lessons from the UK’s experience
Learn about competition as it relates to healthcare in the United Kingdom. Understand the impact of health policy reforms on the quality, productivity, and distribution of healthcare resources across socio-economic groups.
Nurses as change agents for a better future in health care: the politics of drift and dilution
This paper takes the 70th Anniversary of the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom as an opportunity to reflect upon the strategic direction of nursing policy and the extent to which nurses can realise their potential as change agents in building a better future for health care. As published in Health Economics, Policy…
Rising inequality and the implications for the future of private insurance in Canada
Income and wealth inequality have risen in Canada since its low point in the 1980s. Over that same period we have also seen an increase in the amount that Canadians spend on privately financed health care, both directly and through private health insurance. As published in Health Economics, Policy and Law Volume 13, Special Issue…
The impact of slow economic growth on health sector reform: a cross-national perspective
This paper assesses recent health sector reform strategies across Europe adopted since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. It begins with a brief overview of the continued economic pressure on public funding for health care services, particularly in tax-funded Northern European health care systems. As published in Health Economics, Policy and Law Volume 13,…
Why policy needs history (and historians)
Policy makers like the idea of new initiatives and fresh starts, unencumbered by, even actively overthrowing, what has been done in the past. At the same time, history can be pigeonholed as fusty and antiquarian, dealing with long past events of no relevance to the present. As published in Health Economics, Policy and Law Volume…
Medicare and the care of First Nations, Métis and Inuit
Medicare). The CHA provides for the federal transfer of funding to the provinces/territories, in exchange for provincial/territorial adherence to Medicare’s key principles of universality; comprehensiveness; portability; accessibility; and, public administration. Medicare is a decentralized health care system, managed independently by Canada’s 10 provincial and three territorial governments, allowing for regional adaptations to fit varying degrees…
Canadian medicare: Historical reflections, future directions
This special volume reflects on how history can help us better understand current policy problems in Canadian medicare.
A successful Charter challenge to medicare? Policy options for Canadian provincial governments
In September 2016, a case went to trial in British Columbia that sought to test the constitutionality of certain healthcare-related provincial laws. In September of 2020, the challenge was struck down. Colleen Flood’s paper—written before the court’s ruling—will help you understand the legal and policy options available to Canadian lawmakers who may want to limit two-tiered healthcare if a challenge to existing laws is eventually successful. It’s a clear look at an ever-present issue that links Canadian healthcare and the judicial system.
Bitter pills: the impact of medicare on mental health
When medicare shifted mental health care into outpatient psychiatric wings, it arguably improved care for many who could now get help without enduring long-stay institutionalizations. But patients were increasingly expected to take responsibility for their own health care plans, which presented challenges that persist today. In this paper, Erika Dyck examines the tradeoffs and considers historical lessons that can contribute to today’s discussions on public policy and mental health care.
Pharmaceutical policy reform in Canada: lessons from history
Canada is the only country with a broad public health system that does not include universal, nationwide coverage for pharmaceuticals. This omission causes real hardship to those Canadians who are not well-served by the existing patchwork of limited provincial plans and private insurance. It also represents significant forgone benefits in terms of governments’ ability to…
Doctors as stewards of medicare… or not?
Learn about the small, physician-led organizations that have supported Canadian medicare over the years. Understand their common characteristics and see how physicians might become better stewards of this important program in the future.
Expanding Canadian medicare to include a pharmaceutical benefit: Lessons from Israel
This article covers seven strategies that Israel uses to manage the costs of its national pharmaceutical program. Canada has much to learn from Israel if it hopes to expand Canadian medicare to include a pharmaceutical benefit for everyone.
Space, place and (waiting) time: reflections on health policy and politics
Health systems have repeatedly addressed concerns about efficiency and equity by employing trans-national comparisons to draw out the strengths and weaknesses of specific policy initiatives. This paper demonstrates the potential for explicit historical analysis of waiting times for hospital treatment to add value to spatial comparative methodologies. As published in Health Economics, Policy and Law…
Resilience is a Journey, Not a Destination
AMS Phoenix Fellow Dr. Edward Spilg discusses his Fellowship work around physician burnout, resilience and compassionate care.
“If only someone had told us”: Transitioning to end-of-life care
Dr. James Downar frames the importance of care transitions and their connection to quality of life at the end of life. He introduces a tool he built, which identifies patients nearing the end of their lives, so care teams can discuss the care approach with these patients.
The Costs of Caring, the Reward of Resilience: an Ecological Model of Sustainability in Healthcare
AMS Phoenix Fellow Dr. Andrea Frolic, discusses her work on self-compassion for healthcare professional. The Costs of Caring, the Reward of Resilience.
Rediscovering the Human Side of Medicine: a Framework for Educating Physicians in Training
AMS Phoenix Fellow Ms. Jill Sangha, presents her Fellowship work at the AMS 2018 Conference. Rediscovering the Human Side of Medicine: a Framework for Educating Physicians in Training.
The Opioid Chapters: Stories Behind the Statistics of Opioid Use in Ontario
AMS Phoenix Fellow Dr. Seema Marwaha presents her photojournalism work investigating the opioid crisis in Ontario.
The future of medical school admissions: An Orwellian story?
What will AI’s future role in healthcare mean for medical schools and their admissions processes? Hear Dr. Mark Hanson’s Orwellian tale about how algorithms and big business may change the game and why compassion is more important than ever.
Sir William Osler 1849-1919: A Selection for Medical Students
This free download contains a selection of Sir William Osler’s address to medical graduates and his fellow physicians. Each one is a wise discussion of life, medicine, and the connection between the two.