Health for All: A Doctor's Prescription for a Healthier Canada

by Jane Philpott

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From one of Canada's most respected and high-profile health professionals (and former federal Minister of Health), a timely, practical, ambitious, and deeply personal call for action on health that sets out the roadmap to our future well-being. Jane Philpott has spent her life learning what makes people sick and what keeps people well. She has witnessed miracles in modern medicine. She has also watched children die of starvation in a world that has plenty of food. With Health for All, she show more sounds a clarion call for a radical disruption in a health care system that is broken-but not beyond repair. The vision is rooted in a deep-seated commitment to health equity. Decades ago, a few visionary Canadian leaders put laws in place to ensure health care insurance for all. But the structures to deliver that care were never fully developed as envisioned. As a result, our health systems are not comprehensive or well-coordinated. In the wake of a pandemic, we risk it all falling apart. More than six million people have no family doctor, nor any other access to primary care. Emergency rooms are routinely closed. Exhausted health workers wonder if it will ever get better. Some say we should hand health care over to the private sector. But to abandon our commitment to publicly funded health care now would only lead to more expensive and less equitable care. Philpott outlines a different solution-an ambitious, once-in-a-generation reset of health systems with universal access to primary care teams. What sets this book apart is that it's more than a prescription for better medical care. Philpott looks at the big picture of health for all. This includes an intimate look at the personal roots of well-being: hope, belonging, meaning, and purpose. Then, through real-life stories, she examines the impact of the social determinants of health. Finally, she explains that none of this will happen without the political will to do the hard work of rebuilding a healthy society. The remedy we await is serious leadership to implement what we already know and to put the well-being of Canadians at the top of the agenda. show less

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1 review
In this book, Jane Philpott, a medical doctor and former federal minister of health, lays out a vision for a healthier country. She talks about health from multiple perspectives: clinical, spiritual, social and political, arguing that we must address all four aspects to achieve best results. Her approach is informed by indigenous perspectives gained from her work indigenous people in Canada, and also the decade she spent working in Africa. Her approach is comprehensive and common sense.

The book is also, to a lesser degree, the story of Dr. Philpott's careers in medicine and politics. She shares lessons learned and how they have helped shaped her ideas. She also tells the stories of people struggling to access the health care system, and show more of the amazing work of former health minister, Monique Begin.

A very interesting and insightful read. I worry, though, that her holistic approach may prevent or delay action on some of the most urgent aspects of health care which is badly needed in Canada.
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1 Work 27 Members

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Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2024
People/Characters
Dr. Jane Philpott; Monique Begin
Important places
Canada; Niger
Dedication
For my mom and dad, who taught me to care
First words
We pull into the town of Bande in three vehicles marked Medecins Sans Frontieres.
Quotations
If it falls to your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music ... Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the... (show all) host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. -- Martin Luther King
We know of course there's really no such thing as the 'voiceless.' There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard. -- Arundhati Roy
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)People are waiting.
Blurbers
Picard, Andre; Henry, Bonnie; Wells, Paul; Liu, Joanne; Martin, Danielle

Classifications

Genres
Politics and Government, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Health & Wellness
DDC/MDS
362.10971Society, government, & cultureSocial problems and social servicesSocial WelfarePeople with physical illnessesHistory, geographic treatment, biographyNorth AmericaCanada
LCC
RA1MedicinePublic aspects of medicinePublic aspects of medicineMedicine and the state
BISAC

Statistics

Members
27
Popularity
1,010,996
Reviews
1
Rating
½ (4.33)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
3
ASINs
2