Canada: A land of missed opportunity for addressing the social determinants of health

“Never mind the logic, give me the numbers”: Former Australian health ministers' perspectives on the social determinants of health

“…Ministers who held office in the 1980s noted that redistributive policies had become progressively less favoured since that time. The lack of supportive environments for a SDH agenda in the face of neo-liberal ideologies has been noted previously in Canada (Bryant et al, 2010), the US (Navarro, 2002) and Australia (Nutbeam & Boxall, 2008).…”

“…Baum, 2008;Blackman et al, 2010;Bryant et al, 2010;Carter et al, 2009) also argue that biomedical, individualised views of health excessively influence health policy and detract from actions to improve population health. Taken together, the long history of evidence on SDH and the failure to reduce health inequities clearly points to the need for research that asks why there have been so many political and policy failures in relation to action on SDH.…”

Is the minimum enough? Affordability of a nutritious diet for minimum wage earners in Nova Scotia (2002–2012)

“…These findings are particularly concerning given the accumulating evidence of the negative effects of income inequities for society. 34,35 While interventions focused on wage and income supplement increases and supports for expenses, such as housing and transportation, are essential in the short-term and the longer term, these findings and other analyses 31,35 raise questions about the efficacy of minimum wage as the pivotal intervention with respect to health equity. Across Canada and the United States, and even globally (i.e., United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand), 36 a living wage is being tested, in some cases, as an alternative to minimum wage.…”

Social Determinants of Children’s Health in Canada: Analysis and Implications

“…The growing numbers of food bank users across Canada -of which 40% of them are children -is said to underestimate the percentage of families experiencing food insecurity. Similarly, the percentage of Canadians experiencing inadequate housing is also striking (Bryant, Raphael, Schrecker, & Labonte, 2011). The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation estimates that 26% percent of urban families with children are in core housing need, either paying more than 30% of their incomes on housing, living in crowded housing, or living in substandard housing (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2012).…”