THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! - May 19, 2009 I expect that politics, like life, will 'have its moments'; May 12th evening was one of the moments I will treasure. I'd like to thank my hard-working team, including my supportive family and friends, and above all the voters who put their trust in me. I truly appreciate all of you who took the time to vote, whatever your choice might be; it is a privilege that other countries envy, and it is important that we all exercise that right. It was both heart-warming and humbling to be elected to represent Vancouver-Langara, and represent it I will, to the best of my abilities and on behalf of every Langara resident.
As a province, we face challenges in these tenuous economic times, but I am confident that the trust our electorate has placed in Premier Campbell and the BC Liberals to continue delivering strong, competent and experienced leadership will prove justified, and together we will come through these challenges stronger than ever.
Thanks again...Dr. Moira Stilwell
Decisions are Made by the Ones Who Show Up - May 11, 2009 Sir Winston Churchill famously quipped: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." In that spirit, I am urging you to exercise your franchise on May 12 and get out and vote.
It's often said that we get the government we deserve, but if we are not part of the process, we are not getting what we deserve, we are getting what everybody who voted said they wanted. By getting to the poll and marking your ballot, you are expressing your opinion and that, in itself, is the most important part of the process. Regardless of the outcome, it is the people who vote who decide - for themselves and for those who do not cast a ballot.
The Difference Between ‘Worried’ and ‘Cautious’ – May 7, 2009 As I write this, BC Centre for Disease Control laboratories have confirmed that 22 individuals in British Columbia have tested positive for the H1N1 or “Swine Flu’ virus that began in Mexico, and has now caused illness in nine countries to date. All of the BC residents have experienced relatively minor illness. Across Canada, the number currently stands at 85.
These are low numbers for any flu outbreak, but still of concern to public health officials and epidemiologists. What’s different about this flu from the annual flu that we face each year is that those affected have tended to be young, similar to the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic, and in contrast to those most susceptible to the annual risk of flu today.
As a physician, I applaud the vigilance of these public health experts; as an individual, a wife and mother, I am grateful for their level of readiness to monitor and deal with this situation as it evolves. However, we need to keep this outbreak in context, and not to overreact. While it’s good to be vigilant and rigorous, it’s also important to take a measured approach. This is what world public health leaders are doing, even as the media may be perceived as ‘hyping’ the story to some extent.
What can YOU do, to keep yourself and your family safe? Mother knew best...wash your hands thoroughly and often, and practise good ‘sneeze etiquette.’ Stay home for several days if you have flu-like symptoms (fever, sore throat, aches and pains), especially if you, or someone with whom you’ve had contact, has recently travelled to Mexico. While visits to their local ER by the ‘worried well’ can quickly overburden the system, a significant fever probably does warrant medical attention. If you find yourself in this situation, I advise that you call ahead, so your health care professional is ready to receive you without potentially exposing someone else to your illness.
Happiness, as we all know, is the latest topic of discussion. Everybody wants to know how to get happy and how to stay happy. University faculties are built around the question and new books fill the self-help and psychology shelves explaining how to get the “flow” that will lead to your happiness.
I think being sensible probably helps to get you where you need to go.
Sandra Day O’Connor, a U.S. Supreme Court judge was never one of my favourite people, but she was in the news and everybody remembers when it was publicized that her husband (who has Alzheimer’s) reportedly had developed a romance with a female patient who was living in the same assisted living centre. Sandra Day O’Connor, I thought, showed herself to be a sensible, happy, and terrific partner. Not only did she seem not to be jealous, she thought it was nice that her husband had someone to hold his hand and keep him company. Recently, in an interview in the Sunday New York Times magazine, she was asked if she called herself a feminist. She said she didn’t. She said that she didn’t go march in the streets but when she was in the Arizona legislature, she sat down and examined every single statute in the state of Arizona to pick out the ones that discriminated against women and to get them changed. She calls herself a fair judge and a hard worker—which is fair. She ascribed her perspective to her ranch upbringing, which taught her that if something is broken, you repair it yourself and you don’t care if it’s beautiful, you just care that it works. The lesson I take from this is that being pragmatic can be one path to happiness…so if you are up against a challenge, with your health or in any other aspect of your life, I suggest you look for the straightest path to a pragmatic solution. While on that journey, you may well come across your happy place!
Happiness is the journey and sometimes not the destination… Dr. Moira Stilwell
How to Complain and Make People Listen - April 30, 2009
The health care system is a human system. Sometimes things go wrong and sometimes those things go wrong for you. As a patient in the system it’s important to know how to complain so people will listen. It’s more rewarding for you to have your concerns heard and it helps the system improve.
The main thing to remember is that a properly-framed complaint or criticism is simply feedback to help another person do a better job. Health care is filled with altruistic people who care very much about their job. They really do want to know what you think. That said, in my opinion complaining works best if you follow these steps:
1. Don’t sit and simmer. The best time to complain is when something is happening or has just happened. You may want to take a deep breath so you can express yourself clearly and coolly, but it’s less helpful if you go home before you make your views known.
2. Start as close to the source of the problem or error as you can. If you want to give a person feedback about your experience, tell them that’s what you want to do, and ask if they have time to listen to you now or if you need to come back later. When you do talk, make sure you’re in a private place—nobody likes to be criticized in front of other people.
3. The next point is true about all negotiations—and this is, of course, what a complaint is: you can’t get what you want if you don’t know what you want. So, if you want an apology, say so. If you’re looking for recompense, say so. If you want to make sure the process is changed so that it doesn’t happen to another person, say so.
4. Tell the person what happened and what the impact was on you. Did you suffer excessive pain? Were you embarrassed? Did you lose money? For example, were you promised the appointment would last half an hour but it lasted 2 hours and you got a parking ticket?
Ascertain early that the person you’re talking with has the power to give you what you want. If it’s an apology you want, consider whether the person who caused you grief is capable of apologizing, or whether you need to seek the apology from someone else. If you want somebody to pay your bus fare, you need to ask them if they are in fact the person you need to talk to, to make this happen. If you are not speaking to the person who is able to do what you want, ask who the person who is able to help you and repeat steps 1 to 4.
In general, you’ll find this approach more helpful than writing a letter to someone in a remote office who then has to go dig backwards to try and reconstruct the situation. The best actors to resolve the situation are you and the person you interacted with.
Proper complaining goes a long way! … Dr. Moira Stilwell
Every Day Should be Earth Day – April 28, 2009
Recently the Globe and Mail highlighted the future of garbage in British Columbia as one of their cover stories. While Metro Vancouver is promoting a zero waste campaign, the reality is that it will take a long time to accomplish anything near that goal. Currently, we are looking at the same old possible solutions for our garbage – we burn it, recycle it, or bury it. Each of those processes is complicated, has highly technical aspects, and has costs associated with it. Like everything else in life, there’s something to know about garbage: there’s no free ride. This is one area where we really do reap what we sow. And like everything else, we can participate half-heartedly, as I do on those weekends when I seem to spend most of my time circulating around the family room gathering up half-consumed cans of pop and beer – or we can actually reduce our impact on the environment, choosing products that are produced using ‘green’ technology and aren’t over-packaged, recycling every possible shred of our waste, and encouraging investment in new technology, such as plasma torches, that hold promise to turn trash into treasure…or at least, into usable energy.
Let’s practice Earth Day everyday…Dr. Moira Stilwell
Physician - Wash Thyself! – April 24, 2009 It is a daunting fact that some health care providers do not wash their hands regularly nor well enough to meet optimal hygiene standards in health care facilities. In fact, studies show that as many as 70% of physicians and their assistants do not wash between contact with different patients.
Interestingly, very few confess to it and everyone thinks it’s “the other guys.” The most often quoted reason for not washing hands effectively and often enough is lack of time.
Vancouver Coastal Health recently conducted an audit of three hospitals to measure hand hygiene compliance among health care workers. The level of compliance was described as “disappointingly low.”
Spreading infection from patient to patient via health care workers is an important problem that has a direct impact on patient safety. If you have a family member in hospital, one of the best things you can do for that person’s health is to insist that a health care provider wash their hands in front of you. Even if the provider says they have just washed their hands, it’s a good idea to politely say you’d like to see them do it again. No one should be insulted and you could be doing your friend or relative a great favour.
Let’s all try and keep it clean…Dr. Moira Stilwell
You Can’t Drive Forward Looking in the Rear View Mirror – April 23, 2009 This is a bit of a departure from health, but necessary none the less. With the recent economic downturn on everyone’s mind, people are trying to sort through the best plans for creating a stronger economy in British Columbia while the world recovers from the current economic downturn. While there is general recognition that we didn’t break it and we can’t fix it alone, we do need to look both outwards and inwards for solutions.
Certainly fast-tracking building needed infrastructure like more highways and bridges is important, and it certainly fits into the requirement for “timely, targeted, and temporary stimulus.” But we also know we are going to want to invest in long-term viability that will lead us into a diversified, knowledge-based economy that will last into the future.
The other thing that gets talked about a lot these days are “bailouts”. One of my readings about bailouts that helped shape my views was from Joseph E. Stiglitz, who was Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in the United States from 1995 to 1997. In his view, there had been a slow change from traditional economics to what he called innovation economics. Most importantly he said, “Bailouts, too, are aimed at correcting mistakes of the past, so they are backward looking. We would be much better off spending our money looking forward.”
In other words, he said that if we spent the money that we are going to spend on bailouts on new technology and innovation, we would have a stronger new and real economy. Basically he is saying that we’re focusing on sectors and industries that have been mismanaged, rather than sectors that are our future (quote from New York Times, Sunday, Jan 4, 2009, “Innovation should mean more jobs, not less” by Janet Rae-Tupree). Let’s vote to keep BC strong…Dr. Moira Stilwell
If It Ain’t Baroque, Don’t Fix It! – April 21, 2009 Recently, I met for breakfast with friends who had just enjoyed Vancouver Opera's staging of Rigoletto. We got to talking about diversity in musical tastes. I, for example, learned a lot from my Dad about his two favorite genres, baroque chamber music and Country and Western. That got me thinking (no surprise) about health care – specifically about making space for diversity in approaches to wellness.
We all likely have a friend, lean as a whippet, who runs prodigious distances and never eats anything that once had a heartbeat. If we obsess over how the size of our jeans differs from theirs, we miss a great opportunity to find and maintain our own best way of staying healthy, perhaps involving a regular evening walk and relishing all our favourite foods in moderation.
When it comes to interventions, the necessary range of approaches varies just as greatly - and that's a good thing. Have your mammogram, but inform yourself about dietary changes that may well decrease your chances of breast cancer. If acupuncture helps your migraines, go for it, but monitor yourself so you know right away if what you are experiences isn't 'just a really bad headache', but possibly a stroke, and seek care and advice accordingly.
A nutritionist I know likes to say "all foods fit in a healthy diet", and so too is there a place for an array of approaches, therapies and care. What matters most is to find our own most comfortable path to wellness, to inform ourselves fully, and to build an open and trusting relationship with our physician that allows for frank discussion and mutual understanding of what's best for each of us as individuals. There are often multiple approaches to a single problem – Dr. Moira Stilwell
Tweet if you love Langara! - April 16, 2009 If you have an hour or more of volunteer time to spare, Twitter me and help keep BC strong by working for the election of a BC Liberal majority on May 12th.
The words Tweet and Twitter seem particularly apropos to an endeavour that will have me up with the birds, as well as being a night owl.
To contact and connect with the voters in Vancouver-Langara, my campaign involves 28 days of 24 hours a day on-the-ground action: walking, talking, canvassing, putting up signs, phoning, reaching out to all the voters in Langara who care about the future of BC.
From the drop of the writ on April 14th to the victory party following the election of Premier Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberal government on May 12th, please Twitter me and follow the Campaign to Elect Moira Stilwell.
Forever online…Dr. Moira Stilwell
Everything I know About Waiting lists (or almost) I Learned from Air Canada - April 7, 2009 When you’re campaigning for election, one of your pastimes is parlor parties.That’s when a friend or supporter gathers neighbours or friends in their living room to hear your pitch on why you will be a fine MLA and why they should vote for you on May 12th, 2009.
Invariably, health care is one of the important topics that come up.Of course, one of the most common questions is about wait lists: wait lists for diagnosis and wait lists for treatments.Wait lists are important for a number of reasons, both because of their direct impact on a patient’s health and also because wait lists are now viewed as a barometer of all sorts of important qualities of the health care system.
Wait lists are important.However, often people’s emotions and anxiety get mixed up in the equation.I like to tell my friends that if you have a cardiac arrest, a wait list of 5 minutes is too long.Sometimes, though, when a friend will ask me about expediting their wait to get in for a diagnostic test or treatment I counsel them by saying “Don’t be in such a hurry to get the wrong kind of care”: it’s worth a bit of a wait to ensure the right consultation, and an appropriate amount of intervention. Not infrequently, I talk them into getting off the list. Why? Because it is important to ensure that the system is delivering the right test or the right treatment for the right patient at the right time.
I always think about it like Air Canada. When I rush to the airport and find myself in a very long lineup with too little time to make my flight, my anxiety creeps higher and higher as I wait for signs that the line is moving.However, once I see a member of the ground crew walk down the line and say, “Anybody on the Sudbury flight at 8:00? Step out of line and come with me,” my anxiety fades.They are managing their wait list! I know that they know that I am here, that they know what I need and when I need it and that I’m going to get exactly that.At that time I realize that they’re going to take care of me, and hey – I still might have time to grab a coffee.
The health care system works the same way – what you want is to be in the right line for the right test or treatment and to be confident that the people who should be taking care of you know you are there.
Dr. Moira Stilwell...
Got engineers? - April 2, 2009 Recently I went to the Consulting Engineers of BC breakfast, a fundraiser for the BC Liberal Party hosted by MLA Ralph Sultan who is, coincidentally, the only MLA who is an engineer. The room was filled to the rafters with the best and the brightest in engineering in this province. Ralph, the Honourable MLA from West Vancouver–Capilano, described his joy of belonging to a such a great group of people who are smart, hardworking, ethical and who worked to build (literally) a better BC.
I thought, “He’s right. Engineers are great.” I should know – I’m married to one. Prior to my husband becoming a heart surgeon, he had pursued a Ph.D. in engineering. As a result, over the years I’ve spent lots of time hanging around with engineers and I’ve learned that they are indeed all of the things that Mr. Sultan appreciates. However, I do notice that they tend to not read a lot of fiction.
This is important because I used to love to read fiction. As a newlywed myself, I read that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton liked to read the same mystery book and then, half way through, challenge each other to guess “whodunit”. Unfortunately, the only books my husband wanted to read with me were classic texts with the words “thermodynamics” in them and books on relativity. Engineers like stories that are told with numbers (so much for Antony and Cleopatra).
So, over the years, my husband and I have had a different reading relationship than Liz and Dick. I switched to non-fiction. Now when I read something like I am currently reading—The Return of Depression Economics by Paul Krugman - Sam will immediately begin to read it too and suggest that I also read the opposing viewpoint such as his current bedside read: Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman. When I read something like Breakthrough by Ted Nordhause and Michael Schellenberger or Heat by George Monbiot, he will begin to read and suggest that I should be reading instead, something like Hard Green (by Peter W. Huber) which offers a diametrically opposed view of environmentalism. Our reading relationship is not a bad thing. It’s not as romantic as Liz and Richard but then again, they got divorced twice. We’re still arguing. It’s great to live with people who are interested in ideas, critical thinking, meaningful analysis, and life by numbers. It’s worked for 30 years of marriage.
Let’s hear it for engineers!...Dr. Moira Stilwell
I've Fallen and I'm Afraid to Get Up! - March 25, 2009 It is estimated that 30% of people over 65 years of age who live in the community (rather than in a nursing home), fall each year. Only one in ten falls results in a fracture, but a full 20% end up requiring medical attention. The cost of fall-related healthcare is astonishing. A recent study from New Zealand described the mean cost of a fall causing injury at $1,600 (based on dollars in the year 2000). Interestingly, hospital costs accounted for 67% of the total cost even though only 4% of the falls creating injuries required hospital admission. The cost of non-hospital healthcare was also substantial.
This is not the only study that has shown these kinds of findings. Studies from Sweden, the United States and the UK have all drawn attention to the huge costs of treatment for fall-related injuries. The costs are related to hospitalization: some, or all of those patients would require surgery, ambulance, and emergency department costs. You can also add non-hospital medical costs, allied health care costs (such as physiotherapy), drug costs, and diagnostic imaging costs. That doesn’t even include your own out-of-pocket expenses related to transport to and from medical appointments and lost wages, if you are away from work. The informal care from family and friends is never added into this equation, but those sacrifices are major.
Projections for the future are equally frightening. In the next 50 years, as Canada and other countries experience an aging population, the impact on the health system due to the increased number of people suffering fall-related injuries will be astronomical. One study projected that prevention strategies (currently not in place) will need to deliver a reduction in falls incidence of approximately 66% just to stay where we are in cost parity in the current healthcare system. While this study was done in Australia, the findings are very believable and likely applicable to us here in British Columbia.
In BC, we have all kinds of people working to reduce the risk of falls and the costs in personal and economic terms. But a meaningful reduction in the risk of falling entails action in many sectors of society, not just in the health care system that can help put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Let’s start talking about what we can do to reduce falls in this province by improving our sidewalks, lighting, snow clearing and crosswalks. Let’s make sure that programs to improve balance and strength are widely available. Let’s make sure that we support our hospital and university-based researchers and clinicians to provide us with the best information and care. And let’s invest in prevention so that young people get enough of the right kinds of exercise and eat well to build strong bones so that they are at lower risk of fracturing should they fall later in life.
Falling is no laughing matter...Dr. Moira Stilwell
Ramp it up! - March 23, 2009 One of the pleasures of running for public office is that you meet many people that you would not normally meet in your day-to-day life. One of those people that I have had the pleasure of meeting is Stephanie Cadieux. Stephanie is the BC Liberal candidate in Surrey-Panorama and she is a wonderful and talented young woman who would be an asset to public service. Stephanie currently works as the Director of Marketing & Development at the BC Paraplegic Association, something she knows a great deal about personally, since she gets around in a wheelchair. During the past year, we have become good friends. When we get together, though, we have to meet in public wheelchair-accessible places because my home has steep stairs at both entrances and is not accessible for Stephanie’s wheelchair.
I have been thinking for a long time (as most people do when they have occasion), that barriers to mobility can keep each of us from people and relationships that are valuable to us. My goal this spring is to either renovate my stairs somehow or purchase an easily manageable ramp so that people with reduced mobility will be able to come to my home and be comfortable when they are there.
The new federal budget extends a tax credit for $1,350.00 for home renovations that could be used for projects like this. I am planning to use this tax credit to make my home accessible for all my friends and I hope that you will too. Join a movement to get ramped up and make sure that, as mobility becomes of increasing concern to all of us, we will be able to maintain the most precious part of our lives--relationships with our friends and families. By hiring a contractor to make your home more accessible, or purchasing a removable ramp, you will create business and business opportunities all across the province and the country.
Public Works for Public Health - March 18, 2009 As I’ve already said in one of my previous blog entries, the snowstorms this winter created some obvious awareness about how important mobility is to all of us. A few inches of snow made captives of many of us in our homes and communities; certainly there were many falls and hospital admissions related to the snow and ice that we are both unaccustomed to and ill-equipped to deal with.
While snow and ice are fairly rare here, another public issue has spurred me to think about this more. With the current economic downturn, it’s generally accepted by governments that infrastructure spending will be a valuable stimulus to the economy by keeping people working. See www.bcliberals.com for more information on what the BC Liberals are doing to help stimulate the economy.
Bridges and roads come to mind immediately. Here in British Columbia, where we are a population separated often by distance and natural phenomena, bridges and roads will always be important to us. But there is another form of shovel-ready public works: those public works projects that can take place in every hamlet, small town, small and large city. That is the repair of sidewalks, curbs, stairs, and porches to ensure that there are fewer barriers and obstacles to mobility for everyone. While it’s true that older people, who experience things like cognitive decline, declining vision, and decreased balance are more likely to trip and fall on uneven surfaces, we have all done it!
By mobilizing the workforce to do repairs to the homes of the elderly and public sidewalks and curbs, not only do we provide jobs and money for the people who can do these repairs, it signals a community concern both for our own health and the health of those around us. Often the elderly don’t have the capacity or finances to keep their own porches and sidewalks in repair and this contributes to fear of falling and social isolation. By making small works into public works, we will keep people working, decrease our healthcare costs, and build closer communities.
Of course, there are other small public works that don’t necessarily have the allure of the large infrastructure projects we need. Things like bike trails are an important part of any community that is attempting to keep people active, outdoors, and healthy. In the last budget, the BC Government allocated $38 million for more bike paths, greenways and accessibility improvements for people with disabilities in British Columbia. This is a piece of the puzzle that will help us all stay healthy and maintain top health outcomes in Canada, as outlined by the BC Progress Board.
We need places in every community where mothers and their children can safely walk and play near their homes. Well-lit parks with safe sidewalks and public washrooms make it easier for us when we exhort our children to go out and play. Well-lit and well-drained playing fields that are available to athletes and non-athletes alike encourage children, their friends, families, and communities to play together and develop a lifelong appreciation of physical activity in the beautiful outdoors and moderate climate we live in.
Public works are a completely appropriate way of spending money in the years to come. Let’s make sure that our public works also contribute to public health.
Public works make good sense and good health…Dr. Moira Stilwell
Mammograms Work - March 13, 2009 The decision to become involved in politics was easy for me. Sam and I have been treated so well here--living, working and raising our children in BC. At the same time, 30 years in the trenches, as a physician, have allowed me to see the healthcare system from the inside out.
I have seen it while practicing in community hospitals, academic hospitals, and the public and private systems in three provinces. Caring for patients and working with my colleagues has been a privilege, and has armed me to be a strong advocate for system improvement.
Four years as a volunteer for the BC/Yukon chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation have also inspired me to enter the political arena. As Chair of the Breast Cancer Foundation Board, I’ve helped build strong working relationships and partnerships with government, business, and the community. It was exciting to see that when we worked together, we could actually get things done. We successfully advocated for more government funding for health promotion, including encouraging more women to have regular screening mammography.
Screening mammography saves lives: in places where 70% or more of eligible women get regular mammograms, the number of women who die from breast cancer goes down by 30-35%. BC has a great screening program, but currently only about 50% of women aged 40 or older take advantage of it--we need to grow that percentage!
In Victoria, we showed Premier Gordon Campbell how early detection could save the lives of women in British Columbia. And when he asked how much the test cost--and heard it was around $60 dollars--he said “Done!" Just the response I had hoped for. Premier. Campbell listened to our answers to his questions, and the result was increased funding, not just for promotion of screening mammography, but increased funding to the program itself.
As a result of that successful advocacy, I knew I wanted to continue building those relationships, asking the right questions, and getting the right answers. I hope you will support me to have that opportunity in Victoria.
Hip Check - March 11, 2009 Over the winter holidays, it snowed a lot in Vancouver, where I live. Friends and family told me many stories about how the snow affects them and I had a chance to re-examine an important health issue for both women and men—osteoporosis. A dear friend’s 90-something father fell, broke his hip, and spent several days in a hospital waiting for that fracture to be repaired. His story unfolded happily as he was able to return home, and with tremendous support from his family, he has gradually regained his mobility. But he is one of the lucky ones. Hip fracture can be much more detrimental to our health than a lot of people realize. About 24% of people over 50 who fracture their hips will die in the year following their fracture! Not only that, one in five who were ambulatory before their hip fracture will require long-term care afterwards.
Personal stories like this one highlight the need for greater public understanding of the issues surrounding bone health. Osteoporosis is a condition that indicates low bone mass and structural fragility of the bones, which lead to an increased susceptibility to fractures.
It is often a silent problem for us until we fall and fracture a wrist or rib or hip. Then we are surprised to find that we have osteopososis and need to consider taking medication, how to exercise safely, and whether we need to take additional vitamins and minerals to improve our bone health.
We are fortunate in BC to have researchers and clinicians dedicated to bone health. There is a Hip Health Centre at Vancouver General Hospital that specializes in all aspects of bone health research. There is a specialized program at BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre that provides diagnosis and care to people with osteoporosis and low bone density. And there are community exercise programs all over the province like Osteofit (www.osteofit.org) and Joint Works or Water Works (www.arthritis.ca) that are designed to help keep you fit and to improve your balance, strength and flexibility.
But we also need to pay attention to preventing falls and fractures. I know that during the snow we had in Vancouver that there were some times when it was difficult to walk on the sidewalks in many parts of town because not all of the sidewalks were shoveled. For people who were worried about falling, the snow fall we had kept them indoors instead of out enjoying their neighbourhoods, families and friends.
Let's hope that Spring comes early...Dr. Moira Stilwell
Have a Healthy Heart - March 6, 2009 The BC Heart and Stroke Foundation releases a report card every year with important information focused on a specific aspect of heart disease. Last year, the report card was concerned with women and heart disease. Women often vastly underestimate their risk of dying of heart disease, thinking instead that breast cancer poses the greatest risk. But heart disease is the leading cause of death among women, and in fact, women are 9-10 times more likely to get heart disease and die of it than they are breast cancer.
The report card gave statistics indicating that women are more likely than men to turn down invasive procedures like coronary artery stents or open heart surgery, even when these would be helpful and are recommended by their physician. Why would a woman not accept these procedures when they are likely to make her feel better and may even save her life? I bet that if we asked women why they turn down such procedures that we will find out important things about their lives, the stress in their lives, and how they make decisions to care for their families and neglect their own health.
For example, a woman who lived alone might turn down the procedure because she did not have someone who would be there to take care of her during recovery. Alternatively, a woman who is relied upon by her own grown children for child care might feel that it would be too difficult for her daughter or daughter-in-law to get time off work when she was in the hospital recovering from heart surgery. Perhaps the woman's husband is unable to care for himself due to Alzheimer's disease or some other health issue and the woman who needs the procedure has no one else that she trusts with his care.
The report card on women's heart disease pointed to the need for research specifically focused on heart disease in women: the biology, the pathophysiology, and the epidemiology. Ultimately, for us to be a nation of healthy women, we need to know what's in a woman's heart.
One of the important initiatives that the BC Heart and Stroke Foundation has launched is the Heart Truth campaign , which highlights the need for women and their families to understand the differences in how heart disease affects women and the signs and symptoms that may be different when women experience a heart attack.
Think healthy hearts...Dr. Moira Stilwell
Starting on the Road to Good Health - March 5, 2009 I’ve been thinking about writing a blog for a long time--well, who hasn’t? My desire to blog sprang from staring at the laundry basket in my bedroom--the one I’ve had by my bed for many years, where I put articles and clippings from newspapers, medical journals, and magazines that contain interesting facts, ideas, stories, op-editorials, and opinions that make me think about health, healthcare, my job in healthcare, my health, my family’s health, my friends’ health, and my patients’ health. It’s about things I could have done, should have done, or would have done better if I had known more, thought about it more clearly, worked harder, or advocated louder.
My experiences as a physician and as Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation taught me how I could make a contribution that would make a difference in the lives of others, and that led me to this campaign.
I wanted to write about how, if the system were arranged differently, we could help more people stay healthy, get better when they’re sick, and know the things they need to know to take care of themselves and their loved ones. My blog is meant to help you--and me--navigate through this thing we call the healthcare system. I hope to connect the dots for you so that you can successfully navigate the road to good health.
I will try and explain how our current healthcare systems work and what you can do to make them work better for you. And then I will explore what I think we can do better: how our current systems can be modified to save time, money, lives, and quality of life, and how both individuals and groups can act to help government improve health and healthcare for all of us.
I am also interested in your ideas and learning from you. Together we can discuss issues that you are interested in on the BC Liberal Party Open Platform .
