R u sure ur going to have that?

So I went out for dinner with my family which we do often when we are all home to spend time with each other. This was a pretty fancy place with dark walls and leather booths and fancy crystal chandeliers and even the waiters working were all dressed in black shirts and ties and all the waitresses were wearing black miniskirts or mini dresses. I expected that everyone working there would be polite and courteous because of the image that this restaurant has created for itself. I didn’t pay attention to what my family ordered, I don’t even remember what anyone ordered (but I would imagine my brothers had some sort of burger) but I had a taco salad with grilled chicken and water to drink as always (I don’t actually drink it) because I get too full having a meal and a drink so I almost never order a drink. So we all ate, talked, argued, and up until now it was the same as any other time I go out with my family for dinner.

After we finished our meals, the waitress asked us if we wanted dessert. Actually, let me repeat exactly what she said. She said: “I know you guys are trying to be healthy but do you want any dessert”? I almost never analyze what people say and think about it and what they meant exactly (like you said what you said and who cares I’m not going to analyze that) but this time I did. In fact I was furious with her. Maybe it was her tone of voice and the slight eye roll, I don’t know, but it just frustrated me. It’s been about 4 months since this happened and I still remember it sometimes. The way she said it “I know you guys are trying to be healthy but do you want any dessert”? Um, no, were not “trying” to be “healthy”, just because someone is eating a salad that means their “trying” to be healthy? And that means they can’t have dessert? Who is she to decide if I’m “trying” to be healthy anyways? Maybe I wasn’t “trying” to be “healthy”, maybe I was “trying” to be “unhealthy”, because I did have plans of having a dessert after my salad (which I did and it was amazing). So, no, you don’t know that we are trying to be healthy!

What does that mean anyway? What does being healthy mean? Having a salad? Not ordering a pop? Not eating dessert? This brings me to a point that I often ponder about which is how people always associate health with food. Fruits and vegetables in particular, they’ve become a symbol of health, I bet if you Google the word health now you’ll see an image of an apple. But people never think about mental health or social surroundings as being contributors to health. Like the waitress that frustrated me, maybe this will negatively impact my health (don’t worry though I’m not THAT sensitive).

To conclude, I think that the definition of health is destroyed, or misunderstood (actually, did people ever understand it from the beginning?) and people should not judge certain issues about health based on false information. As I’m typing this I just remembered, my brothers ordered chicken wings as an appetizer (I didn’t have any, I don’t like them), and the waitress still called them/us healthy after that!

Tommy Douglas vs. Justin Bieber

In seminar of week 4 of this course we were asked to address any issues or questions we had about the concepts we learned in the previous weeks of this course. Everyone in the group i sat with had something so say about Tommy Douglas. Apart for that he is a great person and an influential figure in Canadian history, we all asked each other why that at this point in our education (3^rd/4^th year) do we not know about him? It seems like he is such an important figure in the development of the Canadian health care system yet none of us even new about him. Some of us said we might have learned about him in the past and forgot about him but I was sure I’ve never heard of him before, otherwise I would have definitely remembered him.

Apart from Tommy Douglas, why do we as Canadians know so little about the development of the Canadian healthcare system, or even the current state of this system? I’m not just saying that Canadians do not about their healthcare system just because I don’t know about it, but from peers that I chatted with in classes and even from reading some of your blogs, it seems that that is the case. I mean we were discussing healthcare reform the previous week but before taking this course how much did we really know about the Canadian healthcare system? Ok, we may not completely understand all the nitty gritty of the Canadian healthcare system that might not be openly discussed amongst the public such as regulations, policies, and funding, but what about the things that are made for the public? The things that we are supposed to know about? The things the government wants us to know about. Why do we not know about them? Things such as community healthcare services provided by our local community centres or health centres. From the group that I chatted with in seminar, most of us mentioned we do not really know much about the healthcare services provided by our local community centres. Also, all of us said we have never even seen a health centre! We have all indeed seen community centres (though we do not quite know the services they provide in terms of health care) but none of us have actually seen a health centre. So, I ask, why do we Canadians know so little about our country? Why are we so oblivious to what goes on around us, even within our local communities?  

I feel like as Canadians we have a long way of educating ahead of us. Not just about Canadian history such as influential figures in the development of Canada (e.g. Tommy Douglas, although he didn’t develop Canada, though some people argue that Canadian healthcare is part of their Canadian identity) but also about public services/health services provided by the Canadian government.

"Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world." Tommy Douglas

To reform or not to reform?

In week three of this course there was much discussion of the Canadian healthcare system and much debate over whether it is effective or not. I personally do not have much experiences with the Canadian healthcare system (besides just going to my family doctor if I have the flue) so I couldn’t really relate to what was being discussed in class and seminar. From the very little experience I do have with the Canadian healthcare system (going to my family doctor) I have to say I feel like the service is poor. I always thought it was just my family doctor that doesn’t provide good service (I hope she doesn’t read this) but from reading Romanow’s article and hearing what my classmates had to say about healthcare services I feel like most Canadians are facing this problem of poor services and not just me (so maybe it’s not my family doctors fault).

 So whose fault is it? Is it the Canadian government’s fault which does not provide training for doctors regarding proper communication with patients? Or is it the doctors fault themselves who are too busy to want to talk to their patients? I’m not trying to blame anyone here but I think it is important to answer this question before discussing healthcare reform. If the Canadian government does start to change its current approach to healthcare services will the “new and improved” approach truly be effective? If for example training regarding communication skills are provided to doctors, will the doctors even follow through with this? Or will their busy schedules hold them back from in depth explanations to their patients? I can’t imagine my doctor actually taking time to talk to me rather than just give me her back and ask me how I’m doing while writing out that messy prescription. (I don’t know why the doctor in the image below is smiling at the fact that he has his back to his patient and is just thinking of which medication to prescribe him).

It may sound like I’m against healthcare reform but I’m not, I’m just questioning how effective it will be. Many points were mentioned in class regarding healthcare reform such as quality of care, accessibility, and timeliness (these are ones that I found were most important). I think these points, as well as all the others mentioned in class/seminar, are important to address but we have to think: is it actually possible to meet all these expectations?   

            Before I end I just wanted to mention one more thing. A certain topic was discussed in class and lecture and this is the “one size fits all” concept. It was argued that the Canadian healthcare system should be tailored to individuals’ needs but in my opinion how realistic is that? Canada has a population of 33 million so it’s safe to say that having tailored healthcare for everyone is impossible. I’m sure no country is able to do this so why is everyone complaining that Canada isn’t doing this? I completely agree that healthcare should be tailored to meet each individual’s needs but this is just not realistic.

Have a look at this clip regarding Canadian healthcare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXJgkvF19QA I was shocked! I didn’t know Canadian healthcare was that bad. If you don’t want to watch the entire clip fast forward to 3 minutes. In a town outside Toronto they have a lottery for winning a family doctor!