Julie Devaney

'Giving the people what they couldn't possibly want': Notes from Ontario's homecare system

rabble staff — Wed, 11 Jan 2017 20:43:03 +0000

Thursday, January 12, 2017

When the two young women from the CCAC (Community Care Access Centre) appeared at my bedside the morning I was being discharged from the hospital I could tell they really wanted to help. The senior of the two was reading my chart as she introduced me to the woman she was training. They both smiled implausibly brightly.

"Sooo..." she said, as she squinted at the nursing notes. "You had an ileostomy before, so you're OK to manage that? But you need wound care?"

The argument for home care was that it was giving the people what they want. So why are patients now being asked to leave their homes to access care after being discharged from hospitals?

Patients need real solutions to a health system in crisis

rabble staff — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 20:27:26 +0000

Monday, February 1, 2016

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On Friday I wrote about my personal and political experiences as a patient activist and my take on the new patient ombudsman position to which Christine Elliot has been appointed. I have a lot more to say about many aspects of this appointment and its implications.

Patients don't want sympathy, we want solidarity. We don't want "reasonable" solutions that disregard the destruction of social services over decades.

Can Ontario's patient ombudsperson cure what ails health care?

rabble staff — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 02:49:15 +0000

Friday, January 29, 2016

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There are many tangled threads and competing demands in the life of a patient activist. Within your body, your ethics, your politics. It's a murky cauldron at the best of times.

The job of Ontario's first Patient Ombudsman will be to hear patient complaints and make recommendations to facilities and the ministry to improve care. Is that enough to help a strained system?

Activists protest 'barbaric cultural practices' hotline at Kellie Leitch's office

rabble staff — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 02:55:46 +0000

Friday, October 9, 2015

On Thursday Oct. 8, women's groups and their supporters gathered outside Minister of the Status of Women Kellie Leitch's office to protest the "barbaric cultural practices" hotline.

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"Say it loud, say it clear, Muslim women welcome here!" was the chant that filled the sidewalk outside of Minister of the Status of Women Kellie Leitch's campaign office in Alliston, Ontario on the afternoon of Thursday October 8.

Ontario home care is a system in crisis

rabble staff — Wed, 27 May 2015 01:16:25 +0000

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Most of us shudder at the idea of being hospitalized or living in a long-term care facility. As people age, it is understandable that their most common goal is to be at home as long as possible. And as people experience health care in inadequately funded hospitals across the country, the prospect of facing deteriorating health in a public institution becomes even more unnerving. It is in this context that the Ontario government released their new plan for home care on May 13, "Patients First: A Roadmap to Strengthen Home and Community Care."

The Ontario government has a new plan for home care that promises increased funding and improvements. But are these enough in a system threatened by privatization, market-modelled care and austerity?

Harper's policies on drugs are embarrassingly backwards

rabble staff — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 18:20:41 +0000

Do the Harper government's drug policies link a national pharmacare plan with harm reduction and safe-injection sites?

This is your prime minister on drugs

rabble staff — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 13:24:28 +0000

Monday, March 30, 2015

Stephen Harper's policies on drugs are embarrassingly backwards. In Canada right now, millions of people are paying out of pocket for medically necessary prescriptions and supplies, or, becoming ill when they can no longer afford to. At the same time, proven life-saving initiatives like Insite, Vancouver's safe-injection site for drug users, are being threatened by new legislation. Canadian communities need a national pharmacare program but instead, on March 23 the Harper government passed the second reading of Bill C-2, the "Respect for Communities Act," to throw up roadblocks in the creation of safe-injection sites.

It may appear that harm reduction and safe-injection sites are peripherally related to the campaign for a national pharmacare plan, but the Harper government's drug policies inextricably link them.

International Women's Day: Reclaiming our bodies, our territories, our communities

rabble staff — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 13:55:43 +0000

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

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March 8 is International Women's Day (IWD). In 1917, women marched for bread and roses. In 2015, in solidarity with the World March of Women, we march to reclaim our bodies, our territories and our communities.

In 1917, women marched for bread and roses. In 2015, in solidarity with the World March of Women, we march to reclaim our bodies, our territories and our communities.

Spreading holiday cheer by debunking health-care myths

rabble staff — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 14:25:02 +0000

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

It's that time of year. The holiday season, when people seem to be divided over embracing the joy of the season or counting down the days until January 2 with clenched teeth. I admit I am in the latter camp. While I accept that many lovely things happen for people at this time of year, my eye is drawn more to the less-spoken-of underbelly -- the slogans of goodwill that obscure the social inequality so many people face.

Does medicare cost too much? Will the "obesity epidemic" be the end of us all? No and no. Just in time for the holidays, Julie Devaney debunks myths about public health care.

How do we stop the off-loading of hospital services onto privately run clinics?

rabble staff — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 01:00:03 +0000

Let's get one thing straight: Private clinics are not the solution to health-care cuts.

Private clinics are not the solution to health-care cuts

rabble staff — Tue, 18 Nov 2014 13:24:05 +0000

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

One in seven private health-care clinics in Ontario have failed provincial safety inspections. Since 2011, Hepatitis C outbreaks at three colonoscopy clinics have caused at least 11 patients to become critically ill.

People concerned with the state of health care in Ontario are asking: how did we get into this situation? And how do we stop the off-loading of hospital services onto privately run clinics?

Ebola panic masks the real threats to our collective health

rabble staff — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 13:07:11 +0000

Friday, October 31, 2014

News on the Ebola outbreak is often overwhelming. With over 4,000 deaths in West Africa and increasing concern in North America, it is tempting to tune out media coverage -- particularly as coverage spans from the outrageously scare-mongering to the intimidatingly technical. But even as the risk of North Americans contracting Ebola remains very small, other issues in health care have become apparent in its wake. More than any threat of Ebola, the politics of racism, care for uninsured people and hospital underfunding pose great risk to the majority of people across Canada and the U.S.

More than any threat of Ebola, the politics of racism, care for uninsured people and hospital underfunding pose great risk to the majority of people across Canada and the U.S.

Supersized sexism on indymedia

rabble archives — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:44:45 +0000

Monday, November 15, 2004

I was taught rather brashly by a series of postings on New York City Indymedia that the most untouchable of heroes is Morgan Spurlock, director and star of the anti-McDonalds flick, <i>Supersize Me</

I thought the sacred principles of the anti-capitalist movement were about fighting oppression. Remember, sexism, racism, homophobia, ableism?