At the mall today there was an elderly ex-service man selling poppies. We see them everywhere at this time of year but it got me thinking about the reason he’s selling poppies.
Our veterans, who fought so hard, often in extremely harsh conditions, and now very elderly, stand on corners and shop doorways every November hoping people will buy a poppy, many of which have been assembled by veterans themselves. The poppy sales help support their fellow veterans in need of assistance.
Buying and wearing a poppy gives us all an opportunity to feel good about supporting our service men and women but it occurred to me we should be doing a better job of looking after these survivors, that they shouldn’t have to do the job themselves. I urge everyone to give generously to the next vet selling poppies.
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women. Show all posts
Friday, November 5, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Women's Health Strategy
I attended Ontario’s first ever Women’s Health Strategy Conference. It was Wow, so empowering and so enlightening. It was hosted by Community Development Halton and ECHO:
Improving Women’s Health in Ontario. Tuesday, June 22, 2010.
Women of Ontario – some facts
Ontario’s women are:
Women of Halton:
Halton population facts:
Women’s health issues are different from men’s…
• For instance, women’s lung cancer is more commonly found in the later stages. Men’s tend to grow in the bronchial tubes; he coughs, brings up blood… an obvious warning sign.
Women’s lung cancer grows in deeper tissue with little warning sign. Knowing this can shift screening methods.
• Chronic care beds have been reduced, impacting on women as most of those moved out of chronic care beds are women, and therefore most of those waiting for, or denied access to, long-term care are women. And for the most part, they are women who cannot afford to privately pay for supplementary care.
Although the Government lists long-term care as one of its programs targeted at women, no evidence can be found that shows women’s particular concerns, or differences among women, are taken into account. This is the case despite research demonstrating dramatic differences in, for example, heart disease, lung cancer and breast cancer not only between women and men but also among women from different ethnic backgrounds.
• More women than men are caregivers. Caregivers are stressed due to a shortage of support systems. For instance, there is no stroke rehab in Milton, caregivers must take the patient to Oakville, adding to stress of the caregiver.
Immigrant women face their own challenges.
These women are our sisters, mothers, daughters, nieces, cousins– they could be us. The Region of Halton and Milton in particular, statistically speaking, is considered a wealthy community but statistics often hide harsh realities.
The hospital situation is under stress. The province is in the unusual guardianship role; the system is under pressure from growth, funding, etc.
LHINs
LHINs are an added cost to service delivery –an extra layer of expensive bureaucracy.
Halton Healthcare CEO John Oliver told me at council Monday, June 28, that they argued for keeping all Halton together in one LHIN but the province put Burlington in with Hamilton, then lumped Milton, Halton Hills and Oakville in with Mississauga. The entire population of the 3 municipalities amounts to a mere 30% of Mississauga’s population. This break -up of the region weakens our case at the regional council table and healthcare IS a responsibility of the Region. That's why we have the Halton Chief Medical Officer.
The Milton Hospital has not increased in size since 1987 when the community was a fraction of the 90,000 now calling Milton home.
Even if Milton taxpayers cough up the money, approval to build must come from the Minister of Health & Long Term care. But, approvals are not going forward despite Milton being the fastest growing municipality with all the associated pressures of growth. I won’t get into the double taxation issue - that’s the topic of another blog: http://janmowbrayblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/milton-hospital-expansion.html
Improving Women’s Health in Ontario. Tuesday, June 22, 2010.
Women of Ontario – some facts
Ontario’s women are:
- Growing (in population, not size)
- Older
- Diverse
- Urban
- More likely to live in lower income groups than men, with the largest group being those 65 and older
Women of Halton:
- Make up 51% of the population (or 225,000 persons).
- In upper management, earn 71% of what men earn even with comparable education, degrees, etc.
- On average, earn 51cents compared to the dollar earned by men.
Halton population facts:
- 25% are immigrants
- 13% are women of colour
- 13.7% are 65 or older
- 82% of lone parent families are female headed
- And 22% of lone parent, female-headed families live in poverty
- 9.1% of all women (or 20,600) in Halton are low income
Women’s health issues are different from men’s…
• For instance, women’s lung cancer is more commonly found in the later stages. Men’s tend to grow in the bronchial tubes; he coughs, brings up blood… an obvious warning sign.
Women’s lung cancer grows in deeper tissue with little warning sign. Knowing this can shift screening methods.
• Chronic care beds have been reduced, impacting on women as most of those moved out of chronic care beds are women, and therefore most of those waiting for, or denied access to, long-term care are women. And for the most part, they are women who cannot afford to privately pay for supplementary care.
Although the Government lists long-term care as one of its programs targeted at women, no evidence can be found that shows women’s particular concerns, or differences among women, are taken into account. This is the case despite research demonstrating dramatic differences in, for example, heart disease, lung cancer and breast cancer not only between women and men but also among women from different ethnic backgrounds.
• More women than men are caregivers. Caregivers are stressed due to a shortage of support systems. For instance, there is no stroke rehab in Milton, caregivers must take the patient to Oakville, adding to stress of the caregiver.
Immigrant women face their own challenges.
- South Asians are less likely to access cancer screening;
- They are uncomfortable talking about problems;
- They prefer women doctors especially for gynaecological exams
- They believe in a holistic approach to health, that social support, personal health practices and socio-economic factors are the most important factors affecting their health.
- Social circumstances can be a barrier to good health for women: poor housing, low income, lack of childcare, etc. The minimum wage keeps people poor.
- Life circumstances can also impact on health: poverty, housing, education, violence, race, ethnicity, gender, etc. Health is affected by many factors and certain groups of women are at high risk.
These women are our sisters, mothers, daughters, nieces, cousins– they could be us. The Region of Halton and Milton in particular, statistically speaking, is considered a wealthy community but statistics often hide harsh realities.
The hospital situation is under stress. The province is in the unusual guardianship role; the system is under pressure from growth, funding, etc.
LHINs
LHINs are an added cost to service delivery –an extra layer of expensive bureaucracy.
Halton Healthcare CEO John Oliver told me at council Monday, June 28, that they argued for keeping all Halton together in one LHIN but the province put Burlington in with Hamilton, then lumped Milton, Halton Hills and Oakville in with Mississauga. The entire population of the 3 municipalities amounts to a mere 30% of Mississauga’s population. This break -up of the region weakens our case at the regional council table and healthcare IS a responsibility of the Region. That's why we have the Halton Chief Medical Officer.
The Milton Hospital has not increased in size since 1987 when the community was a fraction of the 90,000 now calling Milton home.
Even if Milton taxpayers cough up the money, approval to build must come from the Minister of Health & Long Term care. But, approvals are not going forward despite Milton being the fastest growing municipality with all the associated pressures of growth. I won’t get into the double taxation issue - that’s the topic of another blog: http://janmowbrayblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/milton-hospital-expansion.html
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
More women in politics
At last night's council meeting there was a Notice of Motion around the issue of needing more women in politics to reflect the 50/50 ratio of men to women in our population.
One of the male councillors objected to the clause that said that the town would strive to address barriers that impede women's participation in our communities. He went on to say that he doesn't believe there are any barriers.
Well, that statement raised my hackles. A question raised on my Facebook page speaks to the lack of involvement by the new residents to town - why aren't they getting involved in the community? We're a community so dependent on volunteers that our tax rate would skyrocket without those volunteers.
I asked of this councillor: how about the lack of affordable daycare for many? how about the responsibility of raising children which usually falls on the woman's shoulders? the single parent with children?
I'm not saying that men don't share in that responsibility but it's the woman who physically USUALLY looks after the house, the children, the meals, etc. along with a full time job in a great many instances.
An entreé to politics is via community volunteering - groups, committees, organizations. The members of these groups are participating in the raising of other people's kids - helping in the schools, sports, Guides and Scouts, fundraising groups, and countless other groups. Do those people, who send their kids out to events and activities, realize that the volunteers at these events are just as busy as those other parents?
Somehow, we have to "strive to remove those barriers that are an impediment to women's participation in the community and in politics". We need a balance throughout the community - on committees, on council and in our parliaments.
We can't just sit back and wait. We all have to get involved; help each other, teach and learn from each other.
Winston Churchill said: "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give".
One of the male councillors objected to the clause that said that the town would strive to address barriers that impede women's participation in our communities. He went on to say that he doesn't believe there are any barriers.
Well, that statement raised my hackles. A question raised on my Facebook page speaks to the lack of involvement by the new residents to town - why aren't they getting involved in the community? We're a community so dependent on volunteers that our tax rate would skyrocket without those volunteers.
I asked of this councillor: how about the lack of affordable daycare for many? how about the responsibility of raising children which usually falls on the woman's shoulders? the single parent with children?
I'm not saying that men don't share in that responsibility but it's the woman who physically USUALLY looks after the house, the children, the meals, etc. along with a full time job in a great many instances.
An entreé to politics is via community volunteering - groups, committees, organizations. The members of these groups are participating in the raising of other people's kids - helping in the schools, sports, Guides and Scouts, fundraising groups, and countless other groups. Do those people, who send their kids out to events and activities, realize that the volunteers at these events are just as busy as those other parents?
Somehow, we have to "strive to remove those barriers that are an impediment to women's participation in the community and in politics". We need a balance throughout the community - on committees, on council and in our parliaments.
We can't just sit back and wait. We all have to get involved; help each other, teach and learn from each other.
Winston Churchill said: "We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)