Founded | 2003-2014 |
---|---|
Type | Nonprofit organization |
Focus | Health, Health Care System, Medicare (Canada) |
Location | |
Key people | Council Chair, Dr. Jack Kitts; Health Council of Canada CEO, John G. Abbott; Health Council of Canada COO, Kathryn MacDonald |
Website | healthcouncilcanada |
The Health Council of Canada was a national, independent, public reporting agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Announced as part of the 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal with a mandate to report publicly to Canadians, the Health Council provided a system-wide perspective on health care reform related to the 2003 Accord’s policy and program commitments as well as those contained in the 2004 10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care. In 2010, the Health Council’s mandate was expanded to include the nationwide dissemination of information on best practices and innovation in health care. [1]
Created in 2003, the Health Council of Canada produced more than 60 reports on a variety of health care themes, such as Aboriginal health, access and wait times, health promotion, health system performance, home and community care, pharmaceuticals management, and primary health care. [2]
The work of the Health Council of Canada was funded by Health Canada, overseen by 13 independent councillors and one ex-officio councillor appointed by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments [3] (excluding the Government of Quebec), and supported by a professional secretariat based in Toronto. [4]
In addition to its reports, the Health Council of Canada assessed and highlighted innovations that were contributing to a higher-quality health care system in a searchable database called the Health Innovation Portal. Launched in November 2012, the portal featured practices, policies, programs and services that could be scaled up or adopted elsewhere in Canada, [5] ideally to improve health outcomes in the most cost-effective manner possible. Notable features of the portal included a searchable database with more than 400 innovative practices covering a range of health care themes, a user-friendly search function, and customizable outputs [6] for health policy researchers.
The Health Council also hosted national symposia, roundtables and town halls on critical health care topics such as system sustainability, health human resources, integrated care, patient engagement, and quality improvement. It continually engaged key stakeholders on important health policy issues in its work, online and through its social media channels. The Health Council was also an active contributor to the online Evidence Network for health care journalists and researchers as well as McMaster University’s Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal (EIHR) portal.
In April 2013, the federal government announced that its funding for the Health Council of Canada would end after March 2014. According to the federal government, with the end of the accords in 2014, the Health Council had completed its mandate. [7]
In September 2013, an independent evaluation conducted by KPMG found that "the Health Council is the top [Canadian] organization that comes to mind among its key audiences when it comes to seeking information on both health system performance and innovative practices in health care." [8] The Health Council of Canada’s work will still be available online. Content from the Health Innovation Portal has been transferred to Accreditation Canada’s leading practices database, and the Health Council’s website is archived online.
HCC publications include "Better health, better care, better value for all: Refocusing health care reform in Canada", [9] Progress reports, [10] the Canadian Health Care Matters series, [11] Aboriginal health reports, [12] "Seniors in need, caregivers in distress: What are the home care priorities for seniors in Canada?" [13] and "Innovative Practices Evaluation Framework." [14]
Medicare is an unofficial designation used to refer to the publicly funded, single-payer health care system of Canada. Canada's health care system consists of 13 provincial and territorial health insurance plans that provide universal health care coverage to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and certain temporary residents. These systems are individually administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.
Healthcare in Canada is delivered through the provincial and territorial systems of publicly funded health care, informally called Medicare. It is guided by the provisions of the Canada Health Act of 1984, and is universal. The 2002 Royal Commission, known as the Romanow Report, revealed that Canadians consider universal access to publicly funded health services as a "fundamental value that ensures national health care insurance for everyone wherever they live in the country."
Matthew Mendelsohn is a Canadian public policy expert and public sector executive, best known for leading Prime Minister’s Justin Trudeau’s Results & Delivery Unit and the Government of Canada’s Impact & Innovation Unit from 2016-2020. These followed his role as a chief architect of the Liberals’ 2015 election platform and serving as a member of incoming Prime Minister Trudeau’s transition team, helping with cabinet selection and penning open and public Ministerial mandate letters.
The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, also known as the Romanow Report, is a committee study led by Roy Romanow on the future of health care in Canada. It was delivered in November 2002.
Health human resources (HHR) – also known as human resources for health (HRH) or health workforce – is defined as "all people engaged in actions whose primary intent is to enhance health", according to the World Health Organization's World Health Report 2006. Human resources for health are identified as one of the core building blocks of a health system. They include physicians, nursing professionals, pharmacists, midwives, dentists, allied health professions, community health workers, social health workers and other health care providers, as well as health management and support personnel – those who may not deliver services directly but are essential to effective health system functioning, including health services managers, medical records and health information technicians, health economists, health supply chain managers, medical secretaries and others.
Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long term care is focused on individualized and coordinated services that promote independence, maximize patients' quality of life, and meet patients' needs over a period of time.
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is a statutory authority and the primary agency of the Australian Government responsible for medical and public health research. It is one of the ten largest funders of health research in the world, and NHMRC-funded research is globally recognised for its high quality.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is a government-controlled not-for-profit Crown corporation that provides essential information on Canada's health systems and the health of Canadians. CIHI provides comparable and actionable data and information that are used to accelerate improvements in health care, health system performance and population health across Canada.
Health policy can be defined as the "decisions, plans, and actions that are undertaken to achieve specific healthcare goals within a society". According to the World Health Organization, an explicit health policy can achieve several things: it defines a vision for the future; it outlines priorities and the expected roles of different groups; and it builds consensus and informs people.
Ageing, Disability and Home Care NSW (ADHC) is a division of the Department of Family and Community Services in the Government of New South Wales that is responsible for the provision of services to older people, people with a disability, and their families and carers in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is a national non-profit organization created by the Canadian government in 2007 in response to a senate committee tasked to study mental health, mental illness, and addiction. The committee appointed Michael J. L. Kirby as the first chairperson. The MHCC was endorsed by all the provinces and territories with exception to Quebec. The Commission is funded by Health Canada and has a ten-year mandate enforced through a sunset clause. On 21 April 2015, Minister of Finance Joe Oliver announced that the 2015 federal budget calls for the renewal of the MHCC for another ten-year mandate starting in 2017-2018.
Carers' rights are rights of unpaid carers or caregivers to public recognition and assistance in preventing and alleviating problems arising from caring for relatives or friends with disabilities. The carers' rights movement draws attention to issues of low income, social exclusion, damage to mental and physical health identified by research into unpaid caregiving. In social policy and campaigning the movement distinguishes such people's situation from that of paid careworkers, who in most developed countries have the benefit of legal employment protection and rights at work. With an increasingly ageing population in all developed societies, the role of carer has been increasingly recognized as an important one, both functionally and economically. Many organizations which provide support for persons with disabilities have developed various forms of support for carers/caregivers as well.
The Indian Health Transfer Policy of Canada provides a framework for the assumption of control of health services by Aboriginal Canadians and set forth a developmental approach to transfer centred on the concept of self-determination in health. Through this process, the decision to enter into transfer discussions with Health Canada rests with each community. Once involved in transfer, communities are able to take control of health program responsibilities at a pace determined by their individual circumstances and health management capabilities.
HIV/AIDS was first detected in Canada in 1982. In 2016, there were approximately 63,100 people living with HIV/AIDS in Canada. It was estimated that 9090 persons were living with undiagnosed HIV at the end of 2016. Mortality has decreased due to medical advances against HIV/AIDS, especially highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).
The Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation was an office new to the Obama Administration, created within the White House, to catalyze new and innovative ways of encouraging government to do business differently. Its first director was the economist Sonal Shah. The final director was David Wilkinson.
EvidenceNetwork.ca creates media content on public policy topics for publication in the mainstream media and links journalists with policy experts to provide access to non-partisan, evidence-based information. According to their annual reports, they have published hundreds of original articles in every major media outlet in Canada every year since 2011, reprinted over 3700 times across media outlets All of their content carries a Creative Commons license.
The IveyInternational Centre for Health Innovation is located within the Ivey Business School at Western University. The Centre acts as a catalyst for health system transformation and the adoption of a value-based health care management system in Canada. It aims to prepare health leaders with the skills they need to identify, assess and facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies, systems and processes that health systems need in order to be sustainable.
Chronic disease in Northern Ontario is a population health problem. The population in Northern Ontario experiences worse outcomes on a number of important health indicators, including higher rates of chronic disease compared to the population in the rest of Ontario.
The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) is a non-profit and non-partisan organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that collaborates with governments, policy makers, researchers, front-line clinicians, patients and practice leaders, as well as non-profit and professional organizations to accelerate healthcare improvements and transform Canada's healthcare systems.
The Aboriginal Healing Foundation was established in 1998 as an Indigenous managed, non-profit corporation dedicated to responding to the legacy of residential schools in Canada and the associated community health impacts. Funding for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation ceased in 2014.
Created by the 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal, the Health Council of Canada is an independent national agency that reports on the progress of health care renewal. The Council provides a system wide perspective on health care reform in Canada, and disseminates information on leading practices and innovation across the country. The Councillors are appointed by the participating provincial and territorial governments and the Government of Canada.