Blogs

The Heart and Stroke Foundation's 2010 Annual Report on Canadians' Health warns that a "perfect storm" of risk factors and demographic changes are converging to create an unprecedented burden on Canada's fragmented system of cardiovascular care, and no Canadian - young or old - will be left unaffected. Adding to the perfect storm, troubling disparities persist between provinces and territories.

For well over two decades there have been dire warnings of a looming crisis in the health care system due to the exponential increase in the ageing population, the burden of chronic disease and significant workforce shortages. In rural areas, we are now seeing the beginnings of catastrophic health workforce shortages that without action will cripple the health care system.  Read more

The Canadian Health care system as compared to the US by Uwe Reinhardt, a leading adviser on health care economics and professor of political economy at Princeton University read more ....

An essay by Micheal Pollan in the New York Times - Fascinating view on the state of food ... read more (long - 12 pages)

Rural people were once better off in terms of physical activity, nutrition and weight than urbanites.

However, according to a recent report released by the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, rural residents now fare worse than their urban counterparts in regard to obesity rates — the opposite of what existed prior to 1980. For more ....

Cameras from A Channel TV news were rolling as Rob Petrella and his team demonstrated the data gathering technology which will be tested in the newly lauched pilot project . Gateway board and staff were given insight into the potential for addressing the need for lifestyle modification as the first line of attack on type B diabetes and other ĺifetyle driven illnesses in our community.

The Perth District Health Unit surveyed 770 adults in Perth and Huron counties as part of the In Motion program to get people off the couch and moving. On the surface, results look good, especially in a community where 50 per cent of the population is overweight or obese. But most of the 70 per cent who exercise reported they participate in "light" activities rather than moderate or vigorous workouts.http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1382704

In fact, Statistics Canada reported in June 2008 that about 4.1 million Canadians aged 12 or older don't have a family doctor.

About 1.5 million people said they simply could not find one. The federal agency reports that 78 per cent of those 4.1 million do seek medical care elsewhere, with most using walk-in or appointment clinics.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/08/f-elxn-doctorshortag...

Gateway Institute gets official launch

A dream 18 months coming was realized last week when the Gateway Rural Health Research Institute was officially launched, opening the doors of a national one-of-a-kind health facility in Seaforth.

[read more]

Gateway began with Google search - Posted By Susan Hundertmark - It all started with a Google search of a rural health centre to use as a model for a new family health team building in Seaforth. [read more at the jump]