Blogs

The story of scurvy is an object lesson in adaptive policy development. The Royal Navy has traditionally been accused of delaying the application of research results for about 50 years before it introduced the use of fresh lemons and limes to eliminate scurvy among its sailors. In fact, the complex history of this policy shows just the opposite. It demonstrates the navy introduced citrus fruits well in advance of accepted scientific research, and that this introduction was a significant factor in the Napoleonic Wars.

In 2009, the South West Community Care Access Centre in London, Ontario, held a large conference on the future of Community Care. The conference precipitated discussion about five future scenarios for community care, including the effects of market dominance, scientific breakthroughs, environmental movements, global recessions, and the recognition of health complexity.

This presentation was delivered at the Markhaven Home for Seniors Annual General Meeting in 2008. The presentation explores five differing visions of society, each with distinct organizing principles and governing values, and hence, different implications for the experience of aging. The scenarios highlight the question of aging and its possible meanings in the future, as a way of focusing thought on the present and important issues of planning.

This presentation explores thinking and practice in health care on the problem of operational efficiency. Beginning with Frederick Taylor's principles of scientific management and their application to the assembly-line, the presentation utilizes brief case studies in which the human factors traditionally excluded from economies of industrial production, may be seen as highly relevant to the organization of health care. The case studies offer valuable comparisons between efficiency goals and unintended consequences in which 'the human factor' plays a large role.

A presentation in three parts, comprising: a collection of historical ideas about health, disease and primary care; a synopsis of our current understanding of health, disease and care; and considerations for future directions in our understanding and practice.

Sholom Glouberman, Joy Richards, Marilyn El Bestawi, Rhonda Seidman-Carlson, Lorne Teperman

This paper describes and examines a change program for nursing services in Complex Continuing/Long Term Care (CC/LTC) at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto. It presents a brief history of the rise of CC/LTC services and the difficulties associated with them. In particular it claims that demographic, professional and institutional changes have produced a differentiated specialization of supports which tend to disregard some necessary aspects of daily support for patients, and devalue the role of direct care workers in these settings. The "Reconnecting to Care" (RTC) initiative is a response the to these changes by nurses at Baycrest. In detailing why Baycrest has decided to get back to basics and reconnect to care and how it has begun to do this, this paper provides an overview of the reasons for this initiative, a little of how it has been implemented so far, and some initial lessons for nursing leaders and others.

Delivered at the Enkin Lectureship on January 24th, 2007 at the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery in Hamilton, Ontario. This presentation addresses the increase in grey zones in birth and death that arise from our deepening scientific understanding.

Delivered December 6, 2006 at the European Health Leadership Programme, INSEAD, in Fontainebleau, France. This presentation is based on work done for the Romanow Commission with Brenda Zimmerman of the Shulich School of Business.

In health care we might distinguish between complicated and complex problems. Although many aspects of health care systems are complicated others are best viewed as complex. The advantage of the distinction is that problems that are thought to be intractably complicated can be viewed more optimistically and often unraveled when they are seen as complex.