It's harder than ever to see our family practitioners in a timely manner and seeing a specialist can take months. It is essential to go into appointments prepared. Being proactive and assertive can make the difference between rapid care and undue pain and suffering... and even death. This is a comprehensive guide to better communication and faster access to care.

Primary Care Practitioners – which now includes Nurse Practitioners – are the hub for all referrals and the keepers of our health history. No matter if we see them once every five years, once a year for our physicals, or every week if we have chronic conditions, they are the most vital person in our health care team. But about a million of us don’t have one.

This is a short guide to how to find a primary care practitioner.

Printable PDF available

Emergency Departments are the funnel for admissions to all areas of the healthcare system. There is no other area that is feeling the massive stress and overwork of our healthcare crisis.

If you must go the ED, pack your patience, a go-bag, and wherever possible a second set of eyes and ears and your best communication skills.

Being admitted to a hospital can seem like you’ve landed on a completely different planet. This isn’t health care; this is ‘crisis care.’ As a care partner, you need to learn a new language overnight. This is an introduction to how to navigate this overwhelming new world.

When you or a loved one is seriously ill or injured, you will find yourself pushed into the deep end of the healthcare system. It is knowing who is who will help you to survive and thrive. Find out who the key healthcare professionals are on the hospital unit where your loved one is receiving care as quickly as possible.

There is an assumption that public home care services are free and they will be adequate, allowing the adult to live at home as long as possible. It comes as a major shock to most families how much pubic-subsidized home care costs and how little is provided. Private home care is much more comprehensive but costs can be astronomical. This is comprehensive education article addresses the continuum of home care, both public-susidized and private-pay, from hospital or when need arises at home.

Of all the areas in healthcare that we’re failing at, residential care is at the top of the list. Massive chasms were exposed in the early days of the COVID pandemic and virtually none of that has been addressed. We have a critical crisis of lack of staffing. Now the Baby Boomer wave is just starting to hit this system without any substantial change to infrastructure in decades.

For adults and their loved-one’s face this is one of the most stressful parts of their lives.

This is a very comprehensive education article on the continuum of care, assisted living and residential care.

If you are aging or have a loved-one who will need residential care, understand your options and plan ahead.

Printable PDF available

This article provides extensive palliative care and hospice resources for those living throughout British Columbia. All of hospice care is palliative care… but not all palliative care is hospice. Palliative care focuses on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of living with a serious, life-threatening or life-ending diagnosis with the goal of improving the patient's quality of life for the time that is left. It is ongoing until the end of life. Hospice is end-of-life care at home or in a hospice facility and is restricted to comfort care and symptom management. In-facility care is generally restricted to the last three months of life.

There is likely no other diagnosis that instills such fear as hearing the words, “You have cancer”. However, an empowered patient seeks information and support, and understands their own values, beliefs, and preferences for future care. Assertive and ongoing communication with your healthcare team and loved ones throughout your journey is essential. Here’s how to have those conversations, and with whom.

As empowered patients and care partners we should make complaints when we have received inadequate, poor, or wrongful care in hospital or from our practitioners. This is a guide on how to make effective complaints that will receive action.

This is a complete guide to making an official healthcare-related complaint in BC.