Health care town halls kick off in Winnipeg

The Canadian Medical Association is looking for input from Canadians on how to make them healthier.

The organization launched a series of public town halls Monday, in an effort to uncover what external factors are causing Canadians to be sick or suffer poor health.

The CMA’s president, Dr. Anna Reid, said the goal of the national dialogue is to figure out a way to make health care equally accessible to all Canadians.

Reid said the organization wants to know about people's experiences with the health-care system and what things may have had an impact on their health, like poverty or childhood upbringing.

There are five town halls planned across the country, with the first scheduled to start in Winnipeg Monday night.

Winnipeg’s will be the only one to focus on aboriginal health.

Kyle Mason, executive director of the North End Family Centre, said he helps 900 people a month at his centre.

His clients are mainly those who struggle to make ends meet.

“We have phones, computers, clothes and laundry facilities,” said Mason.

Mason said he’s seen barriers like racism and poverty get in the way of people in his neighbourhood getting proper health care.

Those are the things the CMA is hoping to hear about at their town hall.

Reid said about 50 per cent of a person’s health comes from genetics and how well they take care of themselves. The other 50 per cent is determined by external factors like poverty, upbringing and education.

“We haven’t actually decided what the solutions are, and so governments haven’t actually made a commitment to dealing with the problems,” said Reid.

Mason said getting more doctors to make more house calls would address medical needs among those living in poverty.

"Having to bundle up your kids and walk them down or try to take a very busy and noisy bus — [with] one, two, three kids — can be a very big task, and it takes a lot of time and energy," he said.

Kathy Mallett of the Community Education Development Association said she often sees young aboriginal families with children who are behind in school. Mallett said she’d like to see programs focused on early development.

“They need to read to them, speak to them, to make sure they develop their language skills so they are ready for school,” said Mallett.

Anyone interested in attending Winnipeg’s town hall can visit the Winnipeg Art Gallery at 7 p.m.