Thursday, 9 January 2025

Healthcare

The social determinants of health in Nova Scotia. Part 1: Poverty makes you sick

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New contributor Alex Kronstein suggests that an election campaign is the perfect time to bug the candidates about the underlying social causes of our healthcare crisis. In part 1 of the series he argues that when it comes to income distribution Nova Scotia could do much better. A living wage, a $15 minimum wage, making it easier for workplaces to unionize, and a guaranteed income are all measures that could make a big difference here.

Weekend video: Women of substance

This weekend we present Women of Substance, a documentary about women and addiction shot by director Nance Ackerman. As everything by Ackerman this short film is full of warmth and telling little details. “Everybody has the ability to stand up and say I am a person, I am not that addiction.”

Residents of long term care facilities are at risk, woman alleges

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This is a story as told to us by Ellen Gaudet, who suggests all is not well with long term care in Nova Scotia. Several years ago Gaudet’s parents both resided in a long term care facility in Halifax. When Gaudet noticed things didn’t seem right she spoke up. Neither the facility nor the government really wanted to hear what she had to say. “I want to encourage other people to not abandon their loved ones,” she concludes.

Weekend video: Connections

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This week we have a wonderful documentary about some of the people who visit Connections, a place in Halifax that supports people who are recovering from mental illness.

Op-ed: Environmental racism is violence

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Dr. Ingrid Waldron explains how environmental racism operates in partnership with other forms of structural violence to disproportionately harm African Nova Scotian communities. In doing so, she provides some much-needed context to the recent reports on violence in the African Nova Scotian community.

Weekend video: Map of me

“I think it’s because my heart is so stressed, you know. From not being seen. Like I actually think it’s kind of broken.” Map of me is a wonderful dramatized documentary about Jamie, a young woman who lives with mental health problems and ends up in jail, and Sarah, her twin sister who tries to understand how it happened and wonders how they drifted apart. Check it out!

I am made to feel like I am a troublemaker. Fighting for your child at the Nova Scotia Hospital

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The recent allegations of abuse against Matthew Meisner, a resident of Emerald Hall at the Nova Scotia Hospital, have been widely reported, including by the NS Advocate. We went back and talked with Matthew’s mother to learn more about the string of incidents that keep her awake at night, and how she finds the strength to continue on when most everybody she deals with just wants her to go away.