What basic income could do for our health
In this sixth episode of Upstream Radio we speak with Dr. Evelyn Forget, Armine Yalnizyan and Dr. Danielle Martin about the costs and benefits of a Canadian basic income policy, including opportunity costs, focusing in on what it could all mean for our health.
Read morePost boxes tell a lot about community health
Where you live plays an important role in determining your health. Six-digit postal codes are often used in health research to identify where people live and to work out environmental exposure measures, which are then linked to health data.
Read moreCanadian opioid crisis plan must address social causes
Canada lacks a system to track co-existing mental health conditions or co-ingestions in opioid-related fatalities, and our evidence base on opioid overdoses is disappointingly sparse. As we seek to build upon it, we will need to do so with a view to the significant role that mental health and substance abuse can play in worsening opioid misuse.
Read moreMy Light Bulb Moment: Our worst epidemics have social roots
In nursing school I learned about the social determinants of health. I read countless pages, wrote lengthy papers and sat in many lectures all dedicated to the topic. But despite this 'knowledge' I gained at university, the reality of how our health has social sources didn’t really hit me until I ventured out into the real world.
Read moreSaskatoon Health Equity Impact Assessment
Developed jointly by the Saskatoon Health Region and Upstream, this report applies a health equity lens to the City of Saskatoon’s Growth Plan to Half a Million. Find the report here.
Let's explore a more complete story of food
Globalization has played an immense role in the way that we cultivate and produce our food. The globalization of food allows us to experience different cuisines from all around the world.
It’s a luxury that is neither sustainable nor practical, and influences not only the way we prepare and consume food, but how we value and understand food. These four films by Andrea Cessna are aimed to critically reflect global food on a local level.
Read moreUpstream Radio: Colonialism isn't behind us
In this fifth episode of Upstream Radio we speak with Cindy Blackstock, Max Fineday and Janelle Pewapsconias about the colonial sources of our greatest national health emergencies, and how the processes of colonization aren't in Canada's history, but still grow and perpetuate in our politics and communities today.
Read moreCanada's housing crisis is a public health emergency
In emergency rooms and front-line clinics, patients are triaged based on the urgency of their illness. The sickest are seen first, followed by those in less immediate danger. A high-quality health system would connect these efforts to a larger plan to prevent illness and keep people healthy, but still make sure help is there in a hurry when things go wrong.
Unfortunately, in Canada, we aren't there yet.
Read moreOur National Housing Strategy can be a foundation for better health
The Trudeau government’s first budget announced new investments in affordable housing. Its decision for a National Housing Strategy was warmly welcomed by social housing providers and right to housing supporters. These developments inspired hope for the 1.6 million Canadians struggling to pay their rent, especially the 770,000 who spend more than 50% of their income on rent.
Read moreMy Light Bulb Moment: We need housing for health
I remember how little my jeans, sneakers and light jacket did against the -30 degree cold of a Saskatoon winter. I’d just woken up on a cold cement floor, shivering under the thin fleece I had for a blanket. I was given a plate with some bread and boiled egg, then left to roam the downtown streets. The idea was to get a sense of what it’s like to be homeless.
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