"Certain Circumstances" Issues in Equity and Responsiveness in Access to Health Care in Canada

A collection of papers and reports prepared for Health Canada
2001
ISBN: 0-662-32047-6
Cat. No.: H39-618/2002E

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Contents

Foreword

Part I Equity in Access to Health Care

Document 1

• Access to Health Services for Underserved Populations in Canada
  Prepared by: Sarah Bowen, Consultant, B.A., M.Sc., September 2000

Document 2

• Removing Barriers II - Keeping Canadian Values in Health Care
  Excerpted from the report edited by Ralph Masi, MD, May 2000

Part II Language and Barriers to Health Care

Document 1

• Summary Report - Symposium on Interpreting in a Health Care Setting
  Prepared by: Luc Rochefort, January 2001

Document 2

• Language Barriers in Access to Health Care
  Prepared by: Sarah Bowen, B.A., M.Sc., November 2001

Part III Barriers and Specific Population Groups

Document 1

• Access to Care: Exploring the Health and Well-Being of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Two-Spirit People in Canada
  Excutive Summary by: Bill Ryan, Shari Brotman and Bill Rowe, McGill School of Social Work

Document 2

• Report on the National Meeting of Canadian Researchers
  in the Field of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Two-Spirit People's Health
  Prepared by: Bill Ryan and Shari Brotman, McGill School of Social Work, March 2001

Document 3

• Health Promotion and Population Outreach in the Black and Caribbean Canadian Community
  Prepared by: Canadian Centre on Minority Affairs, April 2000

Document 4

• Report on Strategic Planning Workshop on Black and Caribbean Canadian Health Promotion
  Prepared by: Canadian Centre on Minority Affairs, March 2001

Part IV Toward Cultual Competence

Document 1

• Introduction to Cultural Competence in Pediatric Health Care, November 2000

Document 2

• Cultural Competence in Pediatric Health Care.
  Report of Proceedings of the National Workshop on Current Practices and Strategies in Pediatric Health Care

Part V Conclusion

Part VI Summary of Recommendations

• Common Recommendations - From All Papers and Reports
• Synthesis of Recommendations from Each Report

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Foreword

Accessibility is among the five principles that are fundamental to Canada's health care system, as described in the Canada Health Act.

But what is accessibility? What is reasonable access? And when we say "health care services", what services are meant? Traditional medical care alone, or care from health professionals other than physicians?

What groups of Canadians are not having their health care needs met? How best to try to serve them? What changes are necessary to health care policy, the delivery of health care services and the training of health professionals?

These and many other questions are explored by the authors of several papers prepared for the Health Care System Division of the Health Policy and Communications Branch of Health Canada, and by the participants of seminars and workshops sponsored by Health Canada.

The fact is that while Canada ranks among the top nations in the world in terms of the standards of health, this high standard is not shared equally by all sectors of Canadian society.

The use of health services in Canada is not generally affected by financial barriers such as income. "Nevertheless," wrote the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Committee on Population Health in its second report on the health of Canadians, "there appear to be persistent language and cultural barriers to the provision and/or the utilization of services in certain circumstances."

Health services-and the barriers to access of these services-function as determinants of health. When health systems fail to provide equitable care, or equitable access to care, they may worsen social disparities and be a factor in lowered health status.

In 1999, the Health Care System Division of Health Canada undertook an exploration of the issue of equity and responsiveness in terms of access to health care services in Canada. Abridged versions of papers and summary reports of seminars or workshops to date are presented in this publication, and a summary of the recommendations made to date follow.

This is but a beginning, however, much research and discussion are needed in the months ahead.

Ottawa, September 2001

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of Health Canada.

Permission is granted for non-commercial reproduction related to educational or clinical purposes. Please acknowledge the source.