Christina Spencer's blog

Maclean's columnist Ken MacQueen reports on why one study ranks Canada dead last in timeliness and quality care.

On Jan. 26, Maclean’s hosted “Health Care in Canada: Time to Rebuild Medicare,” a town hall discussion at the Sir James Dunn Theatre, Dalhousie University, Halifax. The event, in conjunction with the Canadian Medical Association, was broadcast live by CPAC. The conversation on health reform continues in the coming months in the magazine and at town halls in Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa.

More than two-thirds of Canadians trust the health information they're getting online, a CBC News/Leger Marketing survey suggests.

However, a recent study done by researchers at the Department of Pediatrics at Nottingham University Hospitals in Britain casts some serious doubt on the validity of health information found online.

Their study looked into 500 websites and found only 39 per cent provided the correct information to a question about common childhood ailments. Eleven per cent gave a wrong answer and 49 per cent were unable to provide any answer.

Researchers found that government-run sites were consistently accurate in their health advice, while news sites were right only 55 per cent of the time and those that were sponsored by a product or service gave no helpful advice.

The study was published in April in the international peer-reviewed journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The third annual conference of the McGill University Health Centre’s Institute for Strategic Analysis and Innovation (ISAI) focused on Realizing Information Technology's Promise to Improve Healthcare.

The Society for Participatory Medicine is devoted to promoting the concept of participatory medicine by and among patients, caregivers and their medical teams and to promote clinical transparency among patients and their physicians through the exchange of information, via conferences, as well through the distribution of correspondence and other written materials.

The Society aims to "advance the understanding of physicians and other professionals in the importance of well-informed, empowered and engaged patients making informed decisions about their care and treatment." Although it is an American resource, it has a valuable message which transcends borders and can affect patients regardless of their location.

Here are some interesting aspects of the site:

The Journal of Participatory Medicine

They are nasty drug-resistant bacteria that haunt hospital hallways, infecting thousands and killing an estimated 12,000 Canadians annually, and now a new initiative aims to put the squeeze on superbugs.

What started as a pilot project at five hospitals about two years ago expanded Monday to another 30. The bug-fighting approach places the onus on front-line staff, not infection-control doctors, to come up with practical strategies for their particular floors to reduce the spread of hospital-acquired infections.
More related to this story

* Disinfection tags: A new approach to hospital infection control
* No threat from ‘superbug’ case, health officials say
* New research identifies ‘most burdensome’ diseases

Medical journalist Kate Johnson talks with PAC president Sholom Glouberman about how, or if, the patient perspective is considered and how to effectively trigger change.

The Patients’ Association of Canada is gearing up for its official launch next month and I’ll be watching with interest to see what kind of spin they put on their message. Without a doubt, a group that aims to add the patient voice to healthcare policy debate is filling a gaping void. The question is whether PAC’s voice will simply join the throng or whether it will trigger change.

Jan 6, 2011 - Although patient-centred care is becoming all the rage in Canadian health care, there’s nothing in the way of a national voice for patients.

But after nearly four formative years, a Toronto-based group hopes to fill that void by officially launching itself as The Patients’ Association of Canada, a patient-led and patient-governed charitable organization that can advocate on behalf of patients on a level with that of existing national associations of doctors and nurses.

The planned Feb. 15 official launch is the prelude to the development of a national platform that presents patient’s concerns and needs to the country’s decision-makers, says Sholom Glouberman, cofounder of the association and philosopher in residence at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto, Ontario.

Dr. Michael Nurok, co-author of the widely discussed editorial 'Going Under the Knife for Elective Surgery: Is your Surgeon well-rested?', written for the New England Journal of Medicine, recommends that more responsibility be in the hands of patients by asking whether a surgeon is sleep-deprived.

Doctors who are on-call and awake all night working should inform daytime elective surgery patients of their sleep-deprived status, an article in a prestigious medical journal says.

These surgeons should have informed, written consent from the patient before proceeding with the operation, argues the perspective piece published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

Co-author Dr. Michael Nurok said there's a general assumption that physicians will care for patients in the best possible state.