Prioritized determinants of health in Northern Ontario

This blog post will discuss the prioritized determinants of health in Ontario. If you're not a resident of Ontario, please use to comment option below to engage in a discussion to discuss the differences between our provinces. As a resident of Northern Ontario, I will concentrate on the social determinants prioritized in this region as we're facing very different issues from Southern Ontario. If you're from Southern Ontario, please comment to discuss the differences within the same province. First, it's important to note what the social determinants are for Canada. The 12 determinants are determined by the Government of Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html, 2022) :

1. Income and social status

2. Employment and working conditions

3. Education and literacy

4. Childhood experiences

5. Physical environments

6. Social support and coping skills

7. Healthy behaviours

8. Access to health services

9. Biology and genetic endowment

10. Gender 

11. Culture

12. Race / Racism

Now let's get back to Northern Ontario. For those unfamiliar with the region, the Northern region of Ontario is 80% of Ontario's land mass but it only has 5% of Ontario's population (https://www.hqontario.ca/Portals/0/documents/health-quality/health-equity-strategy-report-en.pdf, 2018). They are 106 First Nation communities and 23% of Francophone people in the Northeast and 3.4% of Francophone people in the Northwest. The climate and demographics are very different from Southern Ontario. We're facing numerous healthcare challenges and inequities within the system. Health Quality Ontario developed a Health Equity Strategy in 2018 to face these inequities. According to this guide, a few social determinants should be prioritized. First, Income and Social Status can be quite challenging in the North. The unemployment rate for Northern Ontario was 6.5% in 2017 compared to 5.6% for the rest of Ontario (https://www.hqontario.ca/Portals/0/documents/health-quality/health-equity-strategy-report-en.pdf, 2018). Education also needs to be prioritized as fewer residents have a post secondary education. To obtain a post-secondary education while being a resident of Northern Ontario, it is almost essential to relocate. The expenses attached to the relocation can be challenging for students who would like to pursue their education. Access to health services can also be quite challenging in the North. Many services have a lack of access to services ''such as dialysis, rehabilitation services, and addiction services [...] pregnancy and birthing services'' to name a few of the restrictions. Racism is also an issue with the indigenous population as well as the francophone population. Often, both of these different cultures are not able to receive health care in their native language. These challenges are specific to the region but some of them may be repeated in different regions or provinces. Again, please comment below to engage in a discussion to compare the health determinants.

References

N.A. (May 14, 2022). Social determinants of health and health inequalities. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/health-promotion/population-health/what-determines-health.html

N.A. (2018). Northern Ontario Health Equity Strategy A plan for achieving health equity in the North, by the North, for the North. Health Quality Ontario. https://www.hqontario.ca/Portals/0/documents/health-quality/health-equity-strategy-report-en.pdf