Shifting Responsibility for Health and Healthy Lifestyles: Exploring Canadian Trends

Angela Downey, Ali Dastmalchian, Helen M. Kelley, David Sharp and Kristene D’Agnone

Chapter 13 in Ways of Living, 2010, pp 288-309 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Canadians are extremely proud of their universal healthcare system. However, today this system is in trouble. Skyrocketing costs caused by multiple factors including an ageing-population (Baxter, 2002), expensive health technologies (Downey et al., 2007), pressures from a shortage of workers in the healthcare field (Dirnfeld, 2002), and escalation of chronic diseases such as diabetes (Canadian Diabetes Association and Diabète Québec, 2005) are combining with individual demands for services and pharmaceuticals. This phenomenon is being accelerated by increasing amounts of health information and enormous advertising campaigns aimed at influencing individual demand for pharmaceuticals. But at this unique time in the history of healthcare in Canada, there are three growing trends that may curb the cost crisis and reduce demand for healthcare services: a movement in the healthcare system towards prevention of morbidity rather than treatment after onset; the increase in both societal and individual interest in healthier living; and an increasing movement towards employee health promotion in the workplace.

Keywords: Population Health; Healthy Lifestyle; Lifestyle Choice; Workplace Health Promotion; Worksite Health Promotion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-27399-3_13

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DOI: 10.1057/9780230273993_13

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