Canadian Healthcare System Overview

The principles that guide the Canadian healthcare system, ensuring access to essential healthcare services regardless of income or social status. These principles include universality, portability, comprehensiveness, accessibility, and public administration.

The different types of healthcare services, ranging from preventative measures to acute care and specialized treatments. These levels include: 1. Primary Health Care (e.g., GP visits, community health services), 2. Secondary Health Care (e.g., hospitalization, specialized medical services), 3. Tertiary Health Care (e.g., highly complex and specialized care), 4. Quaternary Health Care (e.g., highly specialized services in research centers), 5. Palliative Care (e.g., comfort care for those with a life-limiting illness).

Factors that hinder access to and the delivery of effective healthcare services. These can include financial constraints, geographic isolation, limited availability of specialists, waiting lists, and systemic issues like discrimination.

An approach to healthcare that combines conventional medical practices with complementary and alternative therapies. It emphasizes holistic wellness by addressing the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of health.

Nurses play a vital role in facilitating and supporting integrative care by providing holistic assessments, educating patients, promoting self-management strategies, and collaborating with other healthcare providers to create individualized treatment plans.

A publicly funded health insurance system in Canada that provides coverage for hospital and medical services. It is a vital part of the Canadian social safety net.

A federal law that sets out five key principles for Canada's healthcare system: public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability, and accessibility.

Healthcare services must be operated on a non-profit basis and managed by public authorities.

The Canada Health Act mandates coverage for all medically necessary services.

Healthcare coverage is available to all Canadians, regardless of their income, status, or background.

Canadians have healthcare coverage wherever they reside in Canada, ensuring seamless transitions.

Healthcare should be accessible to all Canadians, regardless of their ability to pay. This principle aims to eliminate financial barriers.

The federal government sets national healthcare principles (Canada Health Act), provides financial assistance to provinces and territories, and delivers healthcare services to specific groups (e.g., Indigenous people, veterans).

A healthcare approach that combines conventional medicine with complementary therapies, promoting holistic well-being.

A nursing practice that focuses on the whole person (mind, body, spirit) and considers their individual needs and experiences.

An organization dedicated to promoting holistic nursing principles, education, research, and practice.

Integrative therapies that focus on the interconnectedness of the mind, body, and spirit, aiming to promote overall well-being.

Techniques such as yoga, meditation, art therapy, music therapy, and dance therapy aim to reduce stress and improve well-being.

Integrative techniques readily practiced by nurses to help patients manage stress and improve well-being, such as imagery, massage, and therapeutic touch.

Techniques like deep breathing, meditation, and imagery (visualization) that promote relaxation and reduce stress, lowering heart rate and blood pressure.

The body's physiological reaction to stress, involving increased heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension.

Healthcare practices that are used alongside conventional medical treatments to enhance their effectiveness or reduce side effects, such as acupuncture or massage therapy.

Healthcare practices that are used instead of conventional medical treatments, such as herbal remedies or homeopathy.

A view of health that considers the interconnectedness of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, rather than focusing solely on the physical body.

The traditional system of Western medicine, which focuses on treating diseases with pharmaceuticals, surgery, and other medical interventions.

A patient-centered approach to healthcare that prioritizes the relationship between the healthcare provider and the patient, emphasizing the importance of empathy, communication, and trust.

Fundamental changes in the way healthcare is understood and practiced, often driven by new discoveries, evolving societal values, and changing healthcare needs.

The root causes of disease and imbalance in the body, often beyond just the physical symptoms, such as lifestyle factors, stress, or environmental influences.

Meditation helps lower heart rate and blood pressure, decrease muscle tension, and improve perceived well-being. It also aids in managing stress-related illnesses and improving breathing patterns in patients with asthma.

Imagery involves creating visual representations in your mind to control pain, relieve stress, achieve calmness, and visualize the destruction of cancer cells by the immune system.

Biofeedback is a technique that helps you learn to control bodily functions like heart rate, muscle tension, and skin temperature. It involves monitoring your physiological response and using that information to make adjustments.

Therapeutic touch is a hands-on technique that aims to promote healing and wellbeing by directing energy fields in the body. It doesn't involve actual physical touch but rather a gentle, non-invasive energy manipulation.

Nurses collaborate with other healthcare professionals to determine the patient's views on CAM therapies. They provide education and advice, incorporate patient perspectives, and ensure the therapies align with the holistic nursing approach.

A network of organizations, institutions, and individuals that provide healthcare services to a population. It encompasses all aspects of health, from prevention and promotion to diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation.

Professional health organizations regulate their members by setting standards, competencies, codes of ethics, and disciplinary actions. Some are regulated by governments or other regulatory bodies.

A report that aimed to examine and propose solutions to the challenges faced in Canada's healthcare system, focusing on affordability, access, and quality.

A commission that reviewed Canada's healthcare system, emphasizing the importance of primary care, home care, and mental health services.

The creation of regional health authorities responsible for delivering healthcare services within a specific geographical area.

A trend in Canada's healthcare system where the number of regional health authorities is reduced, resulting in a more centralized system.

New advancements in medical technologies that have the potential to improve healthcare delivery, diagnosis, and treatment.

Financial payments from the federal government to provinces and territories to support their healthcare systems.

The foundation of Canada's healthcare system that focuses on prevention, health promotion, and continuity of care.

Primary care focuses on personal health services, including diagnosis, treatment, and management of common illnesses.

Primary health care encompasses primary care along with health education, nutrition, maternal and child health care, family planning, immunizations, and control of endemic diseases.

The four pillars of primary health care are: Teams (integrated healthcare professionals), Access (ease of access to services), Information (reliable health information), and Healthy living (promoting healthy habits).

System-level barriers to IPC include factors related to the overall healthcare system, such as limited funding for interprofessional training and lack of supportive policies for interprofessional collaboration.