(Chronicle Herald, Halifax) Our health care system is based on an on-demand model of physicians and hospitals providing acute and episodic care. While this system works well for the vast majority of citizens, it is a poor match for many of those with chronic diseases.
As a nurse and an academic, my particular interest is examining how health and social services can work together to improve people’s lives — and contain costs. In my view, problems arise when circumstances in the world change and conventional wisdom does not; the increasing prevalence of chronic illnesses among the Canadian population is a circumstance to which our health system has not yet adapted.
