In a busy medical clinic in downtown Toronto, a doctor tells a mother whose child has diabetes to adjust her child's diet and give him medication half an hour before meals. What the doctor doesn't realize is that the family is homeless. They can't control what they eat or even when they eat. If the doctor knew that families occupy 40% of shelter beds in the city, would he have asked a few more questions1?
An Aboriginal woman goes into labour in the Northwest Territories and must endure the 110 kilometer drive to the nearest community clinic. She wonders if she will be financially or physically able to make the same trip again as her baby grows, requires immunizations or needs medical attention. She is faced with the sad reality that Aboriginal babies are three times more likely to die in their first year of life2. Is there a way to provide her with hope?
References :
- Dr. Stephen Hwang, (Homeless and Health), Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2001. (http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/164/2/229)
- (Reducing Health Disparities in Canada), Canadian Journal of Public Health, March/April 2005. (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/disparities/dr_policy_1_e.html)
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