Common Ground | Terrain commun A Culture of Health

Mental health services are chronically underfunded - many people with mental health care needs are NOT able to access services unless they can afford to pay high fees in the private sector. Early recognition, access to treatment, and supports for people before their concerns become crises (or mental health concerns escalate) are necessary to support a healthy Ontario.

As their parents did a generation ago, today's Ontario families struggle to find accessible, affordable, quality childcare. The provincial government's commitment and substantial funding is welcome and the right first step for building a system of universal high quality childcare. Now what's needed is the follow-up: affordable, geared-to-income fees; a professional and properly paid child care workforce; public/non-profit... more »

Ontario needs to make telemedicine a core part of how health care is delivered in this province. Telemedicine expands care to people who cannot access it, makes it easier to access for those who find getting health care inconvenient or inefficient, such as seniors, and drastically streamlines services to make them more efficient.

Delivering on the promise of universal health care is challenging. Hundreds of thousands... more »

Todays seniors are expected to become ill as they age. Yet, the literature demonstrates that people have the potential to stay healthy as they age. Similarly, we have come to accept that seniors in long term care homes will suffer falls, skin breakdown and repeated hospital admissions. This is a dated approach to aging. We must transform our current illness focused view of aging to one of "healthy aging." People from... more »

School boards need to abolish the policy of asking for doctor's note when a student is sick. If a parent writes a note, this should suffice. I have a Grade 9 child this year entering high school, I think this policy is ridiculous as it wastes the GP's time to just see a patient for a note. Yet, the doctor will charge the Ontario gov't for seeing that patient (all because of a flu). This also frees up the doctor's time... more »

There should be optometry coverage for all under our health care program. Eyesight is essential. I am especially disappointed to hear that cataract surgery isn't covered unless the cataract has affected 70% of vision. This is not helpful to those whose cataract is positioned in the centre of the eye which would interfere with driving, reading, etc .much earlier. Very costly, especially for seniors on fixed incomes.... more »

Mental health costs the Canadian economy $51 billion per year. A large part of this cost comes from missed work and lowered productivity. Our proposal is to give all Ontario workers a fixed number of days off work, with no penalty and no requirement for a formal diagnosis. This will show Canadians that their mental health is a priority, and reduce the stigma in the workplace, while having the potential to educate employers... more »

The deinstitutionalization of psychiatric services connotes an event that took place through the late 1960s and early 1970s,
when many psychiatric hospitals and inpatient beds were closed and psychiatric inpatients were discharged into the community.
However, the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric services has in fact been continuous for the past 40 years. The idea
that deinstitutionalization is a completed event... more »

Often employers seek sick notes for employees needing a sick day as proof of illness, this practice often results as a tax on the sick as doctors notes are not covered by OHIP, but as well for many short term illness that are 1-3 days long that do not warrant medical intervention. This practice is no doubt a burden upon our healthcare system and working people of this province for the sole reason of employers not placing... more »

This idea is about wellness or healthy living. According to a recent national study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “The prevalence of stress in primary care is high; 60% to 80% of visits may have a stress-related component” [1, references at the end]. Ontario findings may be no different.
Stress is a behavioral problem. It results from our lack of deep acknowledgement of our unseen common ground leading... more »

The 3 month waiting period for OHIP coverage after gaining eligibility is being currently applied people who have been living in Ontario for years and years with OHIP-ineligible but legally valid immigration status - for example, in the case were that person was doing research in a PhD program under a study permit. It seems common-sensical that there should be no such waiting period in this case.

More generally, there... more »

The current publicly funded dental care programs need to be more robust with basic, denture care and preventive dental care covered in the OW Adult program. Dental programs should pay the providers enough to at least cover expenses. Investing in properly funded dental programs with essential services covered will improve oral health, decrease barriers to dental care, and decrease health care spending on costly ER visits... more »

A separate minister would better be able to focus on these pivotal issues and help finish implementation of the Health Ministry's Open Minds, Healthy Minds long term strategy.

A link to the ministry strategy: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/common/ministry/publications/reports/mental_health2011/mentalhealth.aspx

I'm hearing that people know there are mental health services available in Ontario, but don't know how to access them or where to begin. We should create a governmental agency called Mental Health Ontario, a one-stop shop for access to care for key mental health services similar to Cancer Care Ontario. This agency would be responsible to drive continuos improvement in prevention, recognition of risk, mental health screening,... more »

Offer one free dental cleaning for seniors. Dental care is often sacrficed by seniors on fixed income. They no longer have dental coverage after leaving the workplace upon retirement. One small step towards fairness and help for our seniors.