Statistical Analysis : A Study On The Study And Their Percentages Across The Three Selected Provinces

Oral health has a direct impact on the general health, hence, it is important that all Canadians have adequate access to dental care services. Over the years successive Governments have reduced financial support to programs delivering dental care to most vulnerable populations. As a result, many low income families and other vulnerable groups have been unable to access dental care. There is further escalation in the disparities in oral health care among Canadians, as the number of Canadians losing dental care benefits continues to increase. Also, higher oral health care costs can be expected in the near future due to shortage of health care professionals.

Health care expenditure accounted for an estimated 11% (214.9 billion) of Canada’s GDP in 2014 (CIHI, 2014). Canada boasts a universal, cost-effective and fair health care system to its citizens (Picard, 2010). However, despite great claims and large expenses incurred Canada’s health care system has been reported inefficient in it’s delivery to the population (Davis, Schoen, & Stremikis, 2010; Picard, 2010). As inconsistencies exist in health care delivery across the country, choosing priorities for the health of the Canadian people becomes of vital importance. In Ontario, progress toward a better health care system has been stated to be moving forward by putting the needs of the “patient’s first” (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care [MOHLTC], 2015). This policy brief will give a background of health care issues in Canada related to Ontario. Three evidence-based priorities will be suggested for Ontario’s health policy agenda for the next three to five years. Furthermore, through a critical analysis of these issues a recommendation of the top priority issue for the agenda will be presented.

It is expected that with the baby boomers significantly using the health care dollars, the provinces and territories will end up spending 60% of their GDP on health care services which accounts to $530 billion dollars of debt ( Robson, 2001). This discrepancy will put pressure on the federal government and encourage provincial policy makers to rely more on the federal government for funding instead of finding their own way to manage their health care systems better. Population aging affects the demand for and costs of health care services, given that seniors account for about 45% of provincial/ government health care dollars (Ng,Sanmartin,Tu, Manuel, 2014, pg 15). Seniors are not only the largest user group of health care, but their hospital visits and admissions are higher than any other age group. This is merely because seniors tend to have more chronic conditions which derive them to use the health care services. Due to the health care problems that many seniors face, it is important to address the future directions in which the sustainability of the universal health care resides.

This paper will discuss the Canadian healthcare system compared to the United States healthcare system. Although they’re close in proximity, these two nations have very different health care systems. Each healthcare system has its own difficulties, and is currently trying to find ways to improve. Canada currently uses the Universal Health Care system; which provides healthcare coverage to all Canadian citizens (Canadian Health Care, 2007). The services are executed on both a territorial and provincial basis, by staying within the guidelines that have been enforced by the federal government (Canadian Health Care, 2007).

In order to propogate the knowledge of above determinants and improve health status of Canadians, Health Canada has set up a number of community heath organizations and agencies. The work of these agencies can consist of creating awareness, improving socio-economic status, advocating better working conditions and so on. Unfortunately, many groups such as aboriginal people, recent immigrants and people with disabilities experience challenges in accessing these resources and still cotinue to lead an unhealthy life.

The Social Determinants of Health are the living conditions people experience, which plays a vital role in shaping population health (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010). Government policy is one of the Social Determinants of Health and also the one that can strengthen or weaken the other Social Determinants of Health such as education, income, employment etc. The Social Determinants of Health for Canadian young adults become worse today while the older Canadians today, young Canadians a generation ago, experience better Social Determinants of Health. This is because the Canadian government and policy maker put less effort to develop public policy so that the Social Determinants of Health are not strengthened today (Mikkonen & Raphael, 2010). I choose

In 1967, Tommy Douglas had a great impact in establishing Canada’s universal health care system which guarantees health care to its residents regardless of factors such as race or ethnicity, religion, income, and age (Tommy Douglas: The Father of Medicare, n.d., para.1). In the 1974 Lalonde Report it emphasizes that health services were only one of the many factors that affect health (A New Perspective On the Health of Canadians, 1974). Others factors which include income, food security, the level of education, shelter, status of health, social status, employment and working conditions, and living conditions also contribute to the status of ones’ health. These factors are known as the social determinants of health or one’s socio-economic status that provide an insight to the health of Canadians.

Canada is a ‘high-income nation’, possessing industrialized economies, technologically advanced industries, and high per capita income (Kendall et al. 2016: 24). Resulting in Canada much receiving international scrutiny as it has a vast number of individuals living in relative poverty (Kendall et al. 2016: 29). Particularly as many as five million, or one in seven people live in relative poverty in Canada (Kendall et al. 2016: 29). Constituting relative poverty is living below the standard of living relative to the average individual in Canada (Levine-Rasky 2017). In addition, income inequality acts as a social determinant of health (SDH), as it impacts the economic and social conditions of an individual or a community (Raphael 2016:

The provision of dental treatment in Australia is a topic that ignites a wide range of opinions and emotions among the various stakeholders involved. Much of dentistry in Australia is provided in the private setting, some estimates suggesting 83%1. Australians fund up to 60% of dental care via out of pocket payments1,2. Only a relatively small amount of dental care is provided in the public sector to patients who are often disadvantaged in regards to their oral health1. It is estimated that a large amount of the population is unable to access dental care due to finances; however the capacity of the public sector to provide dental care is limited. With limited funding and resources, the public sector is unable to provide dental care for all Australians and a large proportion of people are on long wait lists, some estimates of 650,0002.

Thesis Statement: Dental care costs should be covered under the umbrella of Canada’s publicly funded health care system because oral health is linked to our overall health, the current insurance scheme widens the gap between the rich and poor, and the dire need for universal dental coverage is rather a major social and health care issue that has to be acted upon by the Canadian government for the Canadians.

Comparing reasons for not participating more, at two spatial scales, showed that provinces and population sizes cannot be understood in isolation. Indeed, the urban structure of a province can highlight how participation is constrained, which makes it possible to define strategies to reduce barriers. The health condition limitation barrier was reported significantly more often in the Atlantic provinces than in Ontario, which is in line with the Atlantic’s higher disability rate, partly explained by the region’s fastest aging population distribution.[36] However, it was previously showed that older Canadians living in rural areas had lower access to physicians due to distance (9.4% of all Canadian physicians are located in rural communities compared with 21.1% of Canadians),[37] and were less likely to visit a general practitioner, especially in rural Atlantic (0.492 times less likely [p=0.002] to have a general practitioner than in urban

Overall the people polled for in this survey that declared they had Heart Disease were very similar in age, sex, marital status, body mass index and many other variables. One of the major differences is that forty five percent of Canadians suffering heart disease had below a high school education (Cutler and Pozen 2009). Overall this trend caused people in Canada to earn on average less then those in the United States that had Heart Disease. The P- values for their results were relatively low therefore the null hypothesis could be rejected. The most important statistic taken from the study was that out of the

Social determinants of health are social, economic and physical factors that affect the health of individuals in any given population. There are fourteen social determinants of health but Income is perhaps the most important of these because it shapes living conditions, influences health related behaviors, and determines food security. In Canada, people with lower incomes are more susceptible to disease/ conditions, higher mortality rate, decreased life expectancy and poorer perceived health than people with high incomes. In numerous Canadian studies and reports, there has been more emphasis on health being based on an individual’s characteristics, choices and behaviours, rather than the role that income plays as a social determinant of health. Although Canada has one of the highest income economies in the world and is comprised of a free health care system, many low income families are a burden on the system because of the physical and mental health issues influenced by income insecurity. Low income individuals are heavier users of health care services because they have lower levels of health and more health problems than do people with higher incomes. This essay will address income as a social determinant of health in three key sections: what is known on the issue, why the issue is important and how can health and public policies address the issue. The main theme that runs through the essay is the income related health inequalities among low income groups compared to

Currently there are many problems and flaws with the way the Canadian government’s policies deal with healthcare, income inequality and poverty. Time to time changes in policies have been made, perhaps to improve these issues, however, the gap between rich and poor keeps increasing and there is very little improvement in healthcare and the economy. In fact, healthcare keeps on becoming costly. Major issues like income inequality and poverty are not being taken care of by the government. According to Dr. Raphael (2002) poverty is caused by several reasons such as inequality in people’s income, weak social services and lack of other social supports (p.VI). He states, “Poverty directly harms the health of those with low incomes while income

The Danish government spent 9.5% of its GDP on Healthcare in 2006, whereas only 0.19% of the GDP was spent on Oral Health in the same year (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009). The government pays approximately 85% of the national costs of health care, while the remaining 15% come from individuals through co payments for treatments (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009). However, for dental care it’s almost the opposite, government only funds 20% of the national cost for adult dental services and the remaining 80% is paid by the dentist (Kravitz & Treasure, 2009).