By: Bridgette Walker
There have been and will continue to be various types of service and working dogs in educational environments like McMaster University and out in the world at large. I’m Bridgette and I have a dog guide named Estelle.
Please don’t freak out! Properly trained dogs are more effective, efficient and reliable than technology for a lot of physical and mental health conditions. These dogs truly do save lives.
Estelle plays many important roles in my life including going to McMaster University with me. She does many things including listening for certain sounds — especially my snack alarms — and knows where all the really important places are. Aside from deafness, I have anxiety, autism and chronic migraines. Estelle keeps me in check mentally and emotionally.
When meeting service dogs, there are some ground rules: ask first, establish what’s helpful and what are the limits. There are some things Estelle really shouldn’t do for her own sake, and a few things that would actually cause problems for me. Meeting other service dogs is cool too, as long as they're all well-behaved and ready to get right back to work.
Anyway, I don’t appreciate people randomly trying to pet or play with Estelle while I’m walking between classes. In general, all dog guides need to pay attention to where they’re going, and to their person. We're on the move, but she’s still listening for what sounds are in the area, how I am doing and so forth.
Please respect my space. I don’t like being “crowded in” and neither does Estelle. She may be a dog, but she’s also regarded as a medical device — same as a wheelchair or other medical apparatus.
And yes, you can take a picture of us as part of the scenery going by, but don’t stop us to pose for snaps; if we did this every time, I'd be late for everything.
Enough with distracting the dogs themselves! This can be dangerous for other people with more serious conditions when their service dogs are being distracted and hindered from alerting them to potentially harmful or even fatal issues that can crop up at any time. I’m blessed that this isn’t the case for me, so far.
Then there are people with phobias. I don’t know whatever trauma you have endured in the past but we really don’t mean you any harm! Please, stop screaming and whining. It’s not good for Estelle's ears, not good for my anxiety and certainly not good for your throat or mental health.
Don’t project your personal problem onto us like that. You are an adult in university and entering the working world. If you’re going to be like that every time you see Estelle or another kind of service dog on campus or out in the world, you’re not going to live as good a quality life as you deserve. Everyone should be able to enjoy or at least tolerate seeing these dogs on duty — they’re really good at heart!
The secret is that if she weren’t on duty, she'd like to try being your friend! Estelle also likes visiting babies, kittens and even pet chickens. Anyway, since she can’t try comforting you in her doggy-way, try refocusing your perspective of the dog with: “It’s a special animal. It’s somebody’s lifeline.”
From Estelle and me, see you around campus!
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By: Rosemarie O’Shea
For many users, the birth control pill’s side effects pose problems beyond spotting and migraines. The pill’s effects on the mental health of women are now being more widely discussed than ever. More women are opening up about their birth control experiences and how it has taken a toll on their mental wellbeing.
A quick YouTube search results in various videos titled along the lines of “Why I quit the pill”, where one video is even titled and thoroughly capitalized “THE PILL IS MAKING ME CRAZY. I QUIT”. Despite all this discussion in the social sphere, the medical research in comparison appears to be lacking.
Upon being made available to Canadians since 1960, the pill quickly became the country’s most popular form of reversible contraception. Now, more than 100 million women worldwide use the oral contraceptive pill to prevent pregnancy or control their menstruation.
Birth control pills contain varying levels of the hormones estrogen and progestin, the synthetic version of progesterone, a natural sex hormone. They prevent the release of the egg to stop ovulation from occurring, whilst also thickening the cervical mucus so that sperm cells are unable to enter the fallopian tubes. Both tactics minimize the chances of the egg meets sperm fertilization fairy tale. Provided it is taken correctly, the pill’s efficiency rate is stated to be 99 per cent effective.
Of course, almost every medication comes with its own set of side effects. The most commonly reported repercussions of the pill include intermenstrual spotting, nausea, breast tenderness and migraines. Slotted amongst these physical reactions, the ever-ominous sounding ‘mood changes’ is also listed.
These ‘mood changes’ are reflected in the most common reason for women to stop taking or change the pill they are using – its ramifications on their mental health.
In the 1970s, women protested for more information to be made available about the side effects of the pill as there were increasing reports of women suffering from heart conditions in connection to it. Eventually, the Food and Drug Administration required manufacturers to include inserts, within its packaging, listing the pill’s side effects and risks.
The FDA also required that the pill’s formula contain a significantly less amount of estrogen which has resulted in a lower risk of cardiovascular events and emergence of cancers. However, the connection between usage and increased risk of experiencing mental health issues weren’t legitimately addressed.
Recent studies have determined a link between the changes in hormone levels and the extent of anxiety and depression prevalent such as in premenstrual syndrome. Furthermore, the progesterone hormone has been shown to induce depression while its synthetic version, progestin, has been discovered to result in the decreased production of serotonin which is the hormone responsible for feelings of wellbeing.
Finding an ethical method of proving the cause and effect relationship between the pill and deteriorating mental health has stunted research in the field as the distribution of placebo pills to study subjects would result in unwanted pregnancies. Though, a study involving celibate subjects would face no ethical deliberation.
The issue remains that the advancement of medical technology concerning all categories that the pill’s side effect falls into: mental health, contraceptive technology and women’s health. Funding for such research is simply inefficient in times where it is most needed and expected by many.
Moreover, there is a consistency in the medical community’s reluctance to connect the pill with mental health issues, despite the large quantity of claims that have supported the correlation. Such reluctance possibly stems from the pill’s profit and value as a commodity.
It also seems to be the most accessible form of contraception to many and, so, slandering its brand so to speak may appear as a brash move.
With so many women experiencing heightened mental health issues in connection to their usage of the pill, this is an issue that needs addressing within the medical community. While the government are pushing more funding into mental health awareness, this problem continues to grow without being adequately addressed by research.
It’s time to shift the focus from dealing with the issues at hand after they conspire to looking at preventative measures that will protect users. The pill and its implications need to be more well researched and users must be informed. It’s time for the medical community to listen to women’s experiences, as neglecting their health and wellbeing is not an option.
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"Carrying over 50 personal health and care products, these touch-screen vending machines have been placed in Mary Keyes Residence and the Commons Building."
Read the full article here: https://www.thesil.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/TheMcMasterSilhouette/videos/10155798478250987/
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By: Kaiwen Song
MCAT? Thank God that’s done! Autobiographical sketch? Just needs another look. Supplementary essays? Completed and edited! Now I just pray that my reference letters arrive on time.
This September, many of my peers and I applied to medical school through the Ontario Medical Schools Application System. In addition to the full application, OMSAS requires that three physical copies of completed reference letters be received by Oct. 1 — not sent by, not postmarked on, but received. Although many medical schools understand the variability of mail delivery times and use Oct. 1 as a flexible deadline, certain schools don’t. The University of Toronto medical school this year is notable for declaring on its FAQ page that if a reference letter arrives at OMSAS even just one day after the deadline, the corresponding application will not proceed to file review.
As you can imagine, the weeks leading up to the deadline were a very stressful time. In addition to taking the MCAT, completing our autobiographical sketch, and writing our supplementary essays, we also had to take all the necessary steps to ensure that our reference letters arrive on time. Unfortunately, as students, we can only do so much. We begin by asking our potential referees early to provide them with plenty of time to write it, as well as for the letters to arrive at OMSAS safely before Oct. 1 through the postal system.
As the deadline approaches, we start to send carefully worded reminders to our referees — forceful enough to express the reference letter’s importance, but restrained enough to not offend. Although we understand that our referees lead busy professional and personal lives and require time to complete the letter, we can’t help but feel uneasy since our entire applications are on the line. At the time, it felt supremely unnerving and frustrating – all of our hard work can be undone by something outside of our control.
Upon further reflection, I am surprised to say that I actually believe that the University of Toronto medical school’s strict deadline is fair. If the deadline was flexible, up to what point should reference letters to accepted? One week after the deadline? One month? There must be a clear deadline to ensure that all applications are processed in a timely manner, and Oct. 1 seems perfectly reasonable.
That being said, I would like to advocate for the change from physical reference letters being mailed in to electronic references sent through email. The biggest source of stress regarding references was the unpredictability of the postal system. Reference writers could send the letter weeks before the due date, but there’s still the chance that it could arrive later than the deadline, especially if the letter is coming from another province or country. If a letter is lost in the mail, students have no way of determining whether that occurred, and there may not be enough time after this discovery to ask for another letter. All of these issues can be addressed by switching to an electronic system, such as the one used by the United States’ undergraduate college application system. Students are asked to input their referees’ email addresses into the system, and their referees will receive a secure link in which to comment on the student’s suitability for their applied program. As soon as the reference letter is submitted, the student will receive notification of its completion.
An electronic system for receiving reference letters will streamline the process, reduce the anxiety of students at a very tumultuous time in their lives, and ensure that all applications can begin to be processed in a timely manner. As anyone can tell you, applying to medical school is hard enough already. Let’s not make it harder than it has to be.
Photo Credit: Ontario Universities' Application Centre
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Happy National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, McMaster! I think it’s time we talk.
You see, eating disorders are an ugly problem especially prevalent among people our age, and we need to change that. One in ten people with anorexia will die due to suicide or medical complications within ten years of diagnosis. We all contribute to perpetuating society’s disordered relationship with food and exercise and we all have the responsibility to fix it.
There’s so much that you can do. You can call people out on b.s. about “clean eating” (which isn’t even based in scientific evidence) and labelling food as good or bad. You can compliment young girls on their ideas rather than how cute they look. You can challenge stigma towards the psychiatric system, recognizing that eating disorders are often connected to depression or anxiety, which may require medication. You can stop assuming that it’s only underweight people that suffer from eating disorders; in fact, people with bulimia tend to be average or overweight.
You can also lobby for important institutional change. We should have at least one dietician in the Student Wellness Centre and ideally a psychologist as well. McMaster should have a policy that athletes with eating disorders are not allowed to compete until they’ve started to work towards recovery. We should have the ability to provide treatment for students that don’t qualify for outpatient because of a low BMI.
The status quo is insufficient. I experienced this when I was diagnosed with an eating disorder but my weight was too low to be accepted into outpatient. The people at the Student Wellness Centre went above and beyond to help me, but eating disorders require expertise and a level of care that the SWC is unable to provide. I am thankful to have survived and thrived thanks to an incredible network of friends and family. But I’m worried.
I’m worried for the students that will come after me. I’m worried that if they don’t have a severe enough case that they won’t receive sufficient help from the SWC because of resource constraints. I’m worried that the cult of perfection at our university will continue to be a catalyst that does not get subjected to criticism. So please be critical of our institution and of yourself and the norms you perpetuate, not just this week, but every week.
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By: Suzy Flader - SHEC
For the next few weeks, the Student Health Education Centre column will be featuring interviews with McMaster staff and faculty who address and support the health and wellness needs of students. This week we are showcasing Hartley Jafine, who teaches courses in applied drama and arts-based research in both the Bachelor of Health Sciences and Arts and Science programs. His thoughtful and creative pedagogical methods have earned him an MSU Teaching Award in 2011-2012.
SHEC: Tell me a bit about yourself – your background, where you went to school, etc.
Hartley: I was born and raised in Toronto. I did my undergraduate degree at Acadia University, and was planning on becoming an actor. In my fourth year, I was introduced to Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, which inspired me to get involved with applied drama. I ended up doing my Masters in Applied Drama overseas in London. While there, I started playing around with how applied drama could be related to healthcare, primarily due to past experience. Before I turned nine, I had lost my mother and three grandparents, and so I had spent a lot of time in hospitals.
We tend to think of hospitals as negative spaces that no one ever elects to be in, and so I wondered if applied theatre could be used to make them less scary and frightening. I started thinking – if medicine is a performance, how it is performed? How do patients and doctors perform? How can theatre aid this performance? This got me thinking about healthcare training and the idea that theatre skills are life skills. After my Master’s, I moved to Hamilton and got involved in the BHSc program, where I have been teaching ever since.
SHEC: At SHEC we are dedicated to events and discussions surrounding mental health. How does your work in applied drama fit into this spectrum?
Hartley: In several ways! Firstly, it provides a space for students to play. Nowadays, in our culture, we think of play as a negative word, or one that represents a frivolous waste of time. But play can be serious. The act allows people to have fun and form a community. We can temporarily live in a world without rights or wrongs, and put our feelings into that playful space. Secondly, theatre gives us the tools to critique and challenge our cultural norms and examine alternative ways of being. Thirdly, I have had some students create verbatim theatre pieces, where they turn the stories of people struggling with mental health into a theatre production. These shows were designed to reduce stigma and encourage reflection and dialogue.
SHEC: Tell me about your work with healthcare professionals. How have you found it to be effective?
Hartley: The work that I do with healthcare professionals revolves around skill development (e.g. communication, empathy, etc.) as well as the health of the healer. Traditionally, healthcare workers are trained in a very black-or-white manner, thereby producing a discomfort with ambiguity. But ambiguity is where health often lives. My work brings healthcare professionals or teams together and focuses on skill development and play, thereby getting them to work and interact in new ways. Healthcare workers function in extremely stressful environments, so taking them off the wards to play creatively for an hour can have a major positive impact on their overall wellness.
SHEC: Have you looked at pre-med culture at all, especially the stress associated with it?
Hartley: The pre-med pressure to be perfect often continues into professional programs, and students can use the methods and strategies learned from applied theatre in their undergraduate years to respond to the stressful experiences in future professional/clinical environments. Early exposure to Applied Theatre and play responds to this pre-med culture by offering a space where there are no rights and wrongs, and no requirement to be perfect – this makes it very freeing. In my research, I am hoping to study the long-term implications of teaching applied drama in an undergraduate context.
Sarah Yuan
The Silhouette
The topic of two-tier healthcare systems has been a frequent subject of discussion since Dr. Jacques Chaoulli’s win against the Attorney General of Quebec and the Attorney General of Canada. Though the arguments for the privatization of healthcare are sensible, there are many underlining factors that must also be considered. Canada has the second most expensive health system in the world in terms of GDP, but we don’t have the second-best health outcomes in the world. Our beyond-expensive system offers us just mediocre outcomes. It is true that our capabilities should be much higher but moving towards the establishment of a two-tier healthcare system is not the answer.
Contrary to belief, having more private funding will not improve the sustainability of our healthcare system. Countries in which private spending is high actually spend more in total on healthcare. The U.S., for example, spends more public dollars per person than Canada does and yet 48 million Americans remain uninsured. It seems that Americans are not getting much more after paying all these extra expenses, but they do pay much higher prices for what we as Canadians take for granted.
On top of that, private clinics often “cherry-pick” the healthiest patients with minor or acute care needs (people who are the most profitable). More complicated and chronic patients are often denied services because they require more time and care, resulting in a decline of the clinic’s profit.
If Canadian physicians were permitted to give private care to patients, an equitable portion of people who make a reasonable living will be able to choose to spend a few hundred dollars to see a good physician or maybe even a couple thousand to have some cataract surgery done immediately. Sounds like a good plan, right?
Although a loan might be required for surgery, your medical expenses should be deductible from your taxes in April. This would satisfy almost everyone who is employed except the millions of poor people, pensioners, immigrants, people with disabilities, and people with large families who don’t have sufficient resources to experience such luxury.
Moreover in countries that have two-tier systems, typically only the wealthiest can afford such service. In the U.K. for example, only 11.4 per cent of the population holds a subscription to private health insurance. In other words, a majority of Canadians would not actually benefit from being able to purchase private health insurance as they will either not qualify for it, or they won’t be able to afford the premiums.
Ultimately it’s no secret that there isn’t really an equality of access in the Canadian medical system, as those with better education and better connections can more effectively find a way to receiving prompt treatment. A study that appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that wealthier patients were 50 percent more likely to be taken on as new patients by doctors than welfare recipients.
It is worrisome to find a conspicuous bias against poor patients within our healthcare system. Not only do they have fewer resources than wealthier patients, but they also face many more barriers to good health and are the ones who will benefit the most from the access to a physician.
Allowing the establishment of a two-tiered healthcare system is to allow the drawing of a thick and definitive border between the rich and the poor. Access to healthcare should be based on an individual’s need and not their ability to pay. If available resources are restricted we should revisit what is and is not essential. Healthcare should never turn into a competition for those earning the greatest profit. Is this what you would want for the country we’ve all lived in and loved?
