Canada Values Health - Dialogue on Health Care -

Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure?

2009-02-27 13:06:55

Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure?

How much should we be investing in health prevention programs in order to reduce health care costs? Should we reward Canadians who take steps to maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent chronic illness? What sort of prevention strategies should be priorities for our health care system?

Your responses
How do we correct the Environmental causes of illness? Bharbara Posted: 2009-12-28 09:11:59 The following information is from the letter i sent to the Copenhagen regarding the warming of the World. The release of garbage leachate on to the streets and lanes of North American communities has become increasingly dangerous to the World as we create more and more chemical combinations, that in turn wind up inside these compactor garbage trucks, mixing with many other forms of chemical combinations, not meant to be combined. I am focusing on the cumulative affect of the release of garbage leachate poisons in this manner since compactor garbage trucks first began to be used on the North American Continent in 1938. In this note, I am sending you information that focuses on the 'Environmental Sustainability' concept put forward by the Canadian politicians and others. There is nothing resembling Sustainability in our Environment at this point in time and every politician in the the Canadian Federal Government, the British Columbia Legislature, every Environment Minister Provincial and Federal in Canada and Vancouver City Hall have known we are being poisoned, for many, many years, as is shown in the information presented in the following flickr link. In the following link you will see the documentation from 1991 to 2003. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bharbara/collections/72157603541114578/ No level of Canadian Government, Civic, Provincial or Federal have stopped garbage leachate from being spread all over the streets and lanes of Canadian cities and towns where these compactor garbage trucks are being used. I must say that I do have high hopes for the government in control of Vancouver City Hall at this point. Nothing could be worse than the NPA government we had at City Hall for far to long. When COPE was in control of Vancouver City Hall there were some things done that I thought would lead us into finally stopping the poisonings from continuing. COPE voted to obtain a fleet of automated garbage trucks that would stop the release of leachate on the streets and lanes of our Vancouver communities. The problem is COPE was no longer the controlling government in the following election so the issue of the release of garbage leachate from compactor garbage trucks owned and operated by private haulers was not addressed and corrected. The only thing that was partially corrected was the City Hall trucks now had some trucks that did not release garbage leachate all over the streets. In the following link it is in mid November when the true problem becomes most visible but I have added all of the photographs and videos from October 2008 to April 2009. OCTOBER 2008 TO APRIL 2009 LEAKY COMPACTOR GARBAGE TRUCK http://www.flickr.com/photos/bharbara/collections/72157622539601206/ In this flickr site there is also the answers to questions asked of the Canadian Minister of the Environment in Petition 277 This has been occurring for so long and is so widespread it's very frightening. I am sending you information so you can access Petition 277 which is published on the website of the Environmental Sustainability Department in the Canadian Auditor Generals Office. http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_277_e_32988.html
wasted effort jwickstrom Posted: 2009-11-23 23:12:54 Lots of ideas but little meat on the bone. Mr Cole is closest to the truth of the matter. All of the wasted procedures, tests, prescriptions and their side effects are what keeps small cities running. Aging is big business and every elderly canadian believes it is his or her right of passage..owing or due to them (from previous heavy taxation) to be provided the "best" care which unfortunately remains medical care. There is no incentive for change. Government is too unstable and unwilling to actually confront the problem head on..which is to cut back and limit the powers of the Medical Associations. Unfortunately lawyers and mds (read politicians) are buddies, and feathers of the same vulture. No preceptible change will be forthcoming anytime soon.
More regulations please. pdworatz Posted: 2009-05-11 09:12:26 We need to stop blaming the victims and encourage our governments to create regulations which make it easy for people to make healthier choices. For example, if low income people live in a neighborhood that does not have a fresh food market or a grocery store (studies have shown this to be a problem and have labelled these urban areas as 'food deserts') where they can purchase fresh produce, then they may buy convenience and fast foods which are higher in sodium and fat and are more expensive. This is just one example where the government could create regulations or incentives to ensure that all people have access to healthier choices which will aid in prevention of obesity and chronic disease. When we think about obesity prevention we need to think about government policy.
Yes of course but there's no money in it colejster Posted: 2009-04-15 05:34:51 Clearly preventing sickness is the best approach but because there's virually no money to be made, it just doesn't happen. The discussion paper mentions that our current health system costs us $172B/year, $5000 per person here in Canada. Well that $172B provides big incomes for many people, albeit a select group, actually contributing over 10% to our GDP. And it's almost all based on treating sick people. If we all got healthy, that part of our society would be unemployed. There'd be a recession in the health sector! Oh no! It seems to me that the priority of our current health system is to protect that select group of players who make out quite well just the way it is. These people clearly would not want to see, for example, the following recommendations implemented: 1. Open provincial health plans to other care givers like naturopaths, chiropractors, dietitians, and others who tend to look at the whole person and who tend to look at prevention first. 2. Take the patent protection away from pharmaceutical companies who basically rule our health care system. 3. Take the same approach to junk food and unhealthy lifestyles as we have for tobacco. Tax the bad food/lifestyles and encourage, through tax breaks, the good. 4. Pay doctors, that is all qualified care givers, not just MDs, to keep people healthy not just to treat them when they're sick. 5. Put up publicly-paid billboards that state "Eat this, Not that" with lists and pictures of the good and bad. ..........and there are many more. The Romanaow and Kirby Health Commissions made many health prevention recommendations. What happened? Status quo seemed to prevail because none of them went anywhere. We need to admit that health promotion and sickness prevention are not priorities of our current health care system. Then we have to move strongly to change that. But it will take some political guts to do so because a lot of well-heeled and powerful interests will not be happy. - Jake Cole
Prevention is the key awright Posted: 2009-03-25 13:50:16 If we could take more responsibility for our own health and try to prevent disease before it happens and as a country spend more to help people do this, instead of spending so much on disease after it occurs, we could possibly save billions.
Prevention is easy Nutrition Sleuth Posted: 2009-03-18 06:33:04 Just end the totally false synthetical chemical drug monopoly on health claims and tens of billions will be saved very quickly and Canadians health will improve so dramatically that it will pleasantly shock everyone.
Chemicals are not medicines Nutrition Sleuth Posted: 2009-03-18 06:29:23 It is very sad and incredibly expensive that only man-made synthetic chemicals can be legally approved as medicines in Canada and the USA. Chemicals do unintended harm, exclusively address symptoms (by design and by nature) and really are not medicines at all. Not a single one has ever cured anything, yet we dole out untold billions into the coffers of multinational chemical companies, while enduring multiple epidemics of degenerative disease, that are decomating us, and shortening lives on an unprecedented scale. Level the playing field by allowing natural products (the only true biologically-sound medicines) to be legally marketed and sold with their valid claims, which are in fact validly supported by true science (unlike the non-science that supports chemicals). As for living longer, the key is living longer in health, and not spending 10-15 years as a bed-ridden invalid, as is increasingly the case. Nutritional deficiencies and chemicals cause disease and early death. Our entire society is chemical based and that needs to change especially regarding health. Just look at the astonomical expense and the atrociously poor results. We are the very worst value performer in health care in the world. I also strongly question that we are living longer and longer. According to what independant and credible authority? I observe so many lives unecessarily ending early from cancer, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, etc that we in fact dying much younger. There are real cures that are being suppressed for profit reasons. I know of many, but no one is interested because solving the true cause of a disease, is illegal in Canada. So we send our money to foreign corporations for their chemicals while Canadians die in the emerg hallways because we cannot afford to staff our facilites. This is the true cause of this whole initiative to downgrade services, money. We have a sickness care system that actually induces illness, not a health care system.
All economic arguments about health care are foolish benvandermeer Posted: 2009-03-16 14:19:19 If you want to prevent spiralling health care cost, prevent people from getting over 70. There are no rational economic arguments for improving health care. Want to prevent spiralling costs? Encourage smoking and obesity. People die young and relatively cheap. Don't cure heart disease. All people you save from heart disease have to die later of much more expensive diseases: Cancer? Our health care is so successful, our life exectancy keeps rising. For every year life expectancy rises, health care costs rise exponentially. People over 81 costs more than $20000.00 a year. Our problem is that we think all death is preventable. We refuse to factor in the inevitability of death. There are no rational economic arguments for prevention.
Rewards for prevention blynn Posted: 2009-03-12 11:54:41 It is getting to be that the focus is placed on those that are sick, vs those that work hard to maintain health. Money is thrown at the needed med's, treatments, tests, hospitalizations, etc. for those that refuse to take action and be responsible for their health. There are those that have health issues that need medical assistance no matter what. But, even if you are in a wheelchair, you can still try to do something to minimize your future health risks. I have a chronic spinal condition, but because I know the cards are stacked against me, I work harder to maintain muscle strength, eat right, etc. I still need some meds though. But, I pay for my own physio, massage and meds...because I want a quality future. It frustrates me to see some people overusing the system at no charge and not doing anything to improve their life.
Mental Health Care JP Posted: 2009-03-08 19:50:13 If only there were more mental health care professionals available to council AND medicate at the same time, adults AND children. I suffered from post partum depression that went undianosed for years over the time that I delivered 3 babies. I had to go to one place for counciling, one place for diagnosisi and one place (out of town) for medication consulting. Never did I have a clear picture of how I was going to get better and what getting better would look like and how long it could take. So many questions and not enough people in my city to handle the patient load. My city is Hamilton Ontario. My son also needed to be seen by mental health care professionals and was popped around from Hamilton to Burlington for diagnosis, treatment etc.. from too many different sources, none of them connected. We need to invest in the mental health of people, diagnosis and treatment at an early stage.
Prevention is key, but requires long term vision EBG Posted: 2009-03-04 08:31:31 Prevention is definitely where efforts should be concentrated. Many chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and cancer are preventable. Smoking and tobacco use are among the biggest culprits in chronic disease, but little is done to protect the population from these toxic products. Education and public policies are required to encourage and enable healthy choices in regards to diet and exercise. The problem with prevention is that the returns on investment aren't evident for 20 years. Few have the vision, or longevity in positions of influence, to put a comprehensive prevention strategy into practice.
Public Health and Prevention Jan Furic Posted: 2009-03-03 19:20:00 The issue of health care use/abuse in Canada is related to lack of Preventive Public Health. The guilty party are both the Municipalities (for poor willing of organizing it) and the and the Doctors (GPs only get involved if they are payed ). Nobody teach in Canada Preventive medicine , the professional get involved with clients/patients when they are sick!!!!
Prevention: Individual vs overall system costs realist Posted: 2009-03-03 13:34:13 We are victims of our own medical success. With more patients having curable or manageable conditions that were once death sentences or which once could be treated not cured with rudimentary care, costs of health care rise. Even if all patients lived in perfect health all of their lives, they would eventually age and the longer we survive, the more likely we are to need cataract surgery, new hips, new knees, new valves, cancer care and care for dementia. The fastest growing demographic is the over 85 year olds. It costs $20,000 a year for this group not $5,000. I am not suggesting these patients are not entitled to their care. I am merely suggesting that the better we get as a society preventing illness with upfront costs, the more we will pay during a patient's elder years. In essence, more prevention will lead to upfront costs as well as costs later. Prevention is excellent on an individual level for quality of life but it won't help contain health care costs overall.
Health true dialogue or Marketing folklore dialogue! confued Posted: 2009-03-02 09:25:25 It is very interesting, how governments at all levels spend alot of time in health care research. If one looks at the level of stress placed on todays Canadians, do to levels of control on communities. Canadians are not being given the opportunities to keep up with the levels of individual control. We are becoming machines to be controled, chronic illnesses, are chronic illnesses bottom line, it comes with life. If everyone on this planet, did not have some type of chronic illness, then it is a wonder of the egosystem. Human beings would not die! Health Care is Health care, primary care is health education. Human beings are being subjected to marketing of products of health care. If formal education can increase the bottomline of profit, then health care will be always taxed to the limits. Profit comes before human life, as one looks around many cities. We see market health care popping up like weeds. Each health (provider)professional fighting to draw in clients (pay for services to increase one's over all health. equals profit! Is it folklore medicince, to blind human beings to believe that one will live for ever. Maybe we need to look at why, when , and where and how this is truly playing out. The reasoning of the plan in health or is it health care marketing plan towards profit. Romanow Commission report was only a summary. We all need to slow down and smell the roses, and take time to have compassion, profit does nothing for human health or chronic symptoms. This is not OZ.
dental health John H Posted: 2009-03-02 08:39:26 If a person cannot eat properly they cannot enjoy a balanced diet. Plus many diseases are preventable with oral hygiene. Dental health should be a part of our healthcare.
An unnecessary death. Helen Posted: 2009-02-28 21:56:45 Yes!!! My husband became a quadriplegic very suddenly in July 2002. Â After having severe pain in his neck for 24 hours he went to Emerg at VGH in Vancouver. After an x-ray which several doctors pondered over for a long time they told him he had arthritis. Five days later he was paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 63. If he had had an MRI the cyst that was on his spinal cord would have been very visible and it could have been removed. He lived for 6 years as a quadriplegic and what he cost the health care system could have bought several MRIs. Our system is playing playing catch up on cases that could and should be diagnosed before they become a financial burden to the health system. He died last Sept. after waiting 10 months for a wound surgery that had it been done when diagnosed he would be alive today. During the 10 month waiting for his surgery his health degenerated before our very eyes and even though we begged for the surgery earlier there was no budging the waiting list. How about the MRIs working around the clock and on weekends to shorten the waiting list?
Very Much John L Posted: 2009-02-28 15:40:43 I have just spent 2hrs reading your 52 page report and it caught my attention. It would appear that throwing money at this thing wont make it go away. It is going to take a lot of cooperation from all interested parties,which up till now does not seem possible. When i read that the druggest or nurses want to help to lessen the burden on the doctors and do more the doctors seemed threatened by that and fight it.I for one thing the potental there is high.When i read that it takes $5000.00 per year for every man women and child to run this system that just blow me away.WE simply have to get along and find a better way.I am not one to leave things up to our levels of government as they have a bad track record so let us all get together and find our own solutions.If we can keep the populance healthy and happy before they even think about running to the doctor it cant help but be a better system.WE might start by keeping everyone at home to eat rather that always eating at fast food places.I also think a lot more could be done with our children at school to educate them as to better ways to keep healthy and the benefits of this,after all what we are teaching them now is not working.I will keep preaching so dont you guys stop.
YES!!! cas Posted: 2009-02-28 09:27:11 This is exactly what we should be doing. As a physiotherapist I see this as the biggest gap in our health care system. Countries that have switched to a preventative rather than reactive system have shown great success in improving health of it's citizens and are able to spend dollars on health areas of greatest need. The switch to a preventative system will be a difficult undertaking and it could be 20 years before it's impact is seen which is probably the biggest stumbling block for politicians and patrons. However, in the long run we cannot maintain our health care system as it is now, and we need to make revolutionary changes. We also need health care practitioners willing to branch out and work in non-traditional environments, but we need governments to provide grants for these things to happen. Canadians also need incentives to make changes now, because unfortunately I don't think people are going to change their attitudes and behaviours just because it will save their health 20 years down the road. People aren't programmed to think that way, so initiatives need to be put in place to get people to change now. I know NS is offering tax credits for money spent on exercise/sport, which is a good start, but it's certainly not enough. We need governments to invest more in such initiatives.
Yes, prevention is key Mike Smith Posted: 2009-02-27 20:30:23 The American Institute for Cancer Research has produced a major report at http://www.aicr.org/site/News2?abbr=pr_&page=NewsArticle&id=14613&news_iv_ctrl=2461 which explains that one third of cancers could be prevented if we watched our diet and got more exercise. This is based on a study of over 7,000 research reports around the world. The above report makes recommendations as to actions for schools, workplaces and families. Rather than run this blog for 12 months to gather ideas, I would suggest that we start now on the recommendations from the above report. Mike Smith
Prevention ads vs Medication ads Monica Vandenhoven Posted: 2009-02-27 18:14:13 I would like to see numerous ads on TV showing/demonstrating HAPPY CANADIANS WITH BIG SMILES ON THEIR FACES doing various sports/yoga etc., eating healthy food and being kind to and respectful of each other. Hopefully, this would address physical, social and emotional needs. This would be an extension of the Participation ads which used to be advertised by the Canadian government and which focused on the physical. The ads for medications make it seem as if there is a pill for everything. The list of side effects is a mile long. If it looks to be too good to be true, it probably isn't.
Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? Chris McDonald Posted: 2009-02-27 18:10:35 Well, this seems like a no-brainer but how many jurisdictions can say they have actively invested in any prevention strategies or have demonstrated leadership in this regard? After reading the recent ONA website and commentary concerning RN layoffs i.e. cuttingnursescuttingcare.com weare clearly in danger of falling off a cliff with regard to sustainable health care in Canada. It seems governments and institutions are in a race to cut funding and positions based on today's circumstances. This seems not to consider the enormous pressure as yet not exerted on resources by the baby-boomers. To call this short-sighted would be an insult to short-sightedness! What's missing in the equation? Well, for one thing incentive, there is no incentive to aspire to health and wellness. Being a healthy weight for example can see advantages like lower blood pressure, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke exyended life expectancy and last but not least feeling good!
Health Promotion is Where the $$ is at! SD Posted: 2009-02-27 18:07:48 It is frustrating that every peice of scientific literature that has looked at exercise as a powerful prevention and management strategy to EVERY chronic disease, yet proper exercise prescription is absent from primary care. It is long over due that physiotherapistis and exercise therapists work along side family physicians and nurses in primary care practices to address issues of disease prevention and health promtion through exercise. Primary care practicies should be incentivised for such practice set ups as these service delivery models would undoubtedly reduce the burden of disease and promote health.
Easy things done Steve Cooley Posted: 2009-02-27 18:03:07 The biggest bang for the buck have come from providing clean water, sanitation, vaccinations and adequate food and housing. We do have small communities where these services are unavailable today. These communities need to be serviced immediately. Mostly these communities are Indian Reserves (old terminology). The Federal Government saves a few dollars by not getting the job done and the result is many dollars spent in treating people for things that shouldn't happen in our country.
Prevention Jennifer Roy Posted: 2009-02-27 16:14:54 In reviewing health staus reports from the last 40 years, we were making headway during the 1980's when federal and Provincial governments had a Health Promotion branch that focused on prevention. Since the early 1990's with government changes and changes of emphasis, we have created the notion that science has the ability to fix everything and anything, when this is not so. A healthy lifestyle that also includes adding in other wellness technologies that make our home healthier and safer, not only helps us to feel great, but we never know what else we're preventing. Prevention and personal responsibility is relatively inexpensive. What about providing a $500.00/year prevention incentive that can be submitted with income tax for qualifying products that enhance health. This could go towards supportive walking shoes, gym, nutrition supplements etc. Prevention strategies ned to include restrictive tobacco use during all working hours. Since bylaws went into effect to reduce indoor smoking, the particulates, that cling to hair and clothing are still creating allergic reactions for other workers during working hours. Healthy nutrition and food choices. It is possible for a person to eat healthy on$25.00-30.00/week but perhaps meal planning courses are needed to teach people how to do this. I think that it would be benificial for the health planners and medical community to endorse wellness technologies that support a healthy living environment that promotes health and reduces many illnesses and injuries. It's endorsing the concept and allowing people to claim a percent on income tax.