Introduction
Reading list
The Justice Emmett Hall Memorial Foundation is a charitable foundation that works to celebrate health services and policy research in Canada. One of our current priorities is to support health policy and health systems teaching in Canada. The materials on this site are intended to serve as a resource for faculty, students, and interested members of the public.
Acknowledgement
This reading list was originally co-created by scholars across Canada through an informal community of practice, drawn together by a shared interest in health policy research, teaching, and practice. The Hall Foundation offers this community our thanks for sharing their work and expertise, and wishes to acknowledge 2019 Hall Laureate Dr. Steve Morgan, University of British Columbia, for his leadership in this initiative.
Disclaimer
These materials are not a comprehensive or fully representative selection, and inclusion on this list does not necessarily reflect endorsement by the Hall Foundation.
Invitation
This collection of resources will be renewed on an ongoing basis, and suggestions for future updates are welcome. Feel free to contact us here.
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Deber, R. B. (2018). Treating health care: How the Canadian system works and how it could work better. University of Toronto Press.
Fierlbeck, K. (2011). Health care in Canada: a citizen's guide to policy and politics. University of Toronto Press.
Lazar, H., Lavis, J.N., Forest, P-G., and Church, J. (2013). Paradigm Freeze: Why Is It so Hard to Reform Health-Care Policy in Canada? McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bpm9hh
Pal, L.A., G. Auld, and A. Mallett. (2020) Beyond Policy Analysis: Public Issue Management in Turbulent Times (6th ed.). Toronto: Nelson.
Roberts, M. J., Hsiao, W., Berman, P., & Reich, M. R. (2003). Getting health reform right: a guide to improving performance and equity. Oxford University Press.
Stone, D. A. (2012). Policy paradox: the art of political decision making (3rd Eds). W.W. Norton & Company.
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First Nations Health Authority. (n.d.). Our History Our Health. https://www.fnha.ca/wellness/our-history-our-health
Marchildon, G. P., Allin, S., and Merkur, S. (2020). Canada: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 22 (3). World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/336311
Martin, D., Miller, A. P., Quesnel-Vallée, A., Caron, N. R., Vissandjée, B., & Marchildon, G. P. (2018). Canada's universal health-care system: achieving its potential. The Lancet, 391(10131), 1718-1735. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30181-8
Picard, A. (2013). The path to health care reform: Policy and politics. Conference Board of Canada. https://www.conferenceboard.ca/product/the-path-to-health-care-reform-policy-and-politics-the-2012-cibc-scholar-in-residence-lecture/
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Canada Health Act, RSC 1985, c C-6. https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/pdf/C-6.pdf
Romanow, R. J., & QC, C. (2002). Building on values: the future of health care in Canada : final report / Roy J. Romanow, Commissioner. Saskatoon - Saskatchewan : Privy Council. http://publications.gc.ca/pub?id=9.686360&sl=0
Royal Commission on Health Services. (1964). Royal Commission on Health Services: Volume 1. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer. https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.818794/publication.html
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. (1996). People to people, nation to nation: Highlights from the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa: Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. http://publications.gc.ca/pub?id=9.831366&sl=0
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De Leeuw, E., Clavier, C., & Breton, E. (2014). Health policy–why research it and how: health political science. Health research policy and systems, 12, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4505-12-55
Gauvin, F. P. (2014). Understanding policy developments and choices through the “3-i” framework: interests, ideas and institutions. Montréal: National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy. https://ccnpps-ncchpp.ca/docs/2014_ProcPP_3iFramework_EN.pdf
Hunter, D. J. (2015). Role of politics in understanding complex, messy health systems: an essay by David J Hunter. Bmj, 350. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.h1214
Shearer, J. C., Abelson, J., Kouyaté, B., Lavis, J. N., & Walt, G. (2016). Why do policies change? Institutions, interests, ideas and networks in three cases of policy reform. Health policy and planning, 31(9), 1200-1211. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapol/czw052
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Carbone, S., & Allin, S. (2020). Advancing direct payment reforms in Ontario and Scotland. Health Reform Observer–Observatoire des Réformes de Santé, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.13162/hro-ors.v8i1.4154
Camillo, C. A. (2017). Comparative Health Policies. In Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3127-1.
Ehlke, D. (2011). The political abuse of international health system comparisons. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 16(3), 187-189. https://doi.org/10.1258/jhsrp.2010.010141
Hacker, J. S. (1998). The historical logic of national health insurance: Structure and sequence in the development of British, Canadian, and US medical policy. Studies in American Political Development, 12(1), 57-130. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0898588X98001308
Jordan, J. (2009). Federalism and health care cost containment in comparative perspective. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 39(1), 164-186. https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjn022
Manson-Singer, C., & Allin, S. (2020). Understanding the policy context and conditions necessary for the establishment of supervised consumption sites in Canada: A comparative analysis of Alberta and Manitoba. Health Reform Observer–Observatoire des Réformes de Santé, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.13162/hro-ors.v8i2.4114
Marmor, T. R. (2017). Comparative studies and the drawing of policy lessons: describing, explaining, evaluating, and predicting. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 19(4), 313-326. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2017.1279439
Marmor, T., Freeman, R., & Okma, K. (2005). Comparative perspectives and policy learning in the world of health care. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: research and practice, 7(4), 331-348. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876980500319253
Philippon, D. J., Marchildon, G. P., Ludlow, K., Boyling, C., & Braithwaite, J. (2018). The comparative performance of the Canadian and Australian health systems. Healthcare Management Forum, 31(6), 239-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470418788378
Schneider, E. C., Sarnak, D. O., Squires, D., Shah, A., & Doty, M. M. (2017). Mirror, Mirror 2017: International comparison reflects flaws and opportunities for better US health care. New York: Commonwealth Fund. http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101712671
Tenbensel, T., Miller, F., Breton, M., Couturier, Y., Morton-Chang, F., Ashton, T., ... & Wodchis, W. (2017). How do policy and institutional settings shape opportunities for community-based primary health care? A comparison of Ontario, Québec and New Zealand. International Journal of Integrated Care, 17(2). http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.2514
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Böhm, K., Schmid, A., Götze, R., Landwehr, C., & Rothgang, H. (2013). Five types of OECD healthcare systems: empirical results of a deductive classification. Health policy, 113(3), 258-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2013.09.003
Burau, V., & Blank, R. H. (2006). Comparing health policy: an assessment of typologies of health systems. Journal of comparative policy analysis, 8(01), 63-76. https://doi.org/10.1080/13876980500513558
Camillo, C. A. (2017). Comparative healthcare systems. In Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3128-1
Evans, R. G. (2009). The iron chancellor and the fabian. Healthcare Policy, 5(1), 16. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2732651/
Greer, S. L., & Mätzke, M. (2015). Health policy in the european union. In The Palgrave International Handbook of Healthcare Policy and Governance (pp. 254-269). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/307939/Strengthening-health-systemgovernance-better-policies-stronger-performance.pdf
Wagstaff, A. (2009). Social health insurance vs. tax-financed health systems-evidence from the OECD. World Bank policy research working paper, (4821). https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Social-health-insurance-vs.-tax-financed-health-the-Wagstaff/1fa684b3e05cabeeba59256a2cae2012687613fe
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Berwick, D., & Fox, D. M. (2016). “Evaluating the quality of medical care”: Donabedian's classic article 50 years later. The Milbank Quarterly, 94(2), 237. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911723/
Kruk, M. E., & Freedman, L. P. (2008). Assessing health system performance in developing countries: a review of the literature. Health policy, 85(3), 263-276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2007.09.003
Papanicolas, I., & Smith, P. (2013). Health system performance comparison: an agenda for policy, information and research: an agenda for policy, information and research. McGraw-Hill Education. http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/244836/Health-System-Performance-Comparison.pdf
Philippon, D. J., Marchildon, G. P., Ludlow, K., Boyling, C., & Braithwaite, J. (2018). The comparative performance of the Canadian and Australian health systems. Healthcare Management Forum, 31(6), 239-244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470418788378
Roberts, M. J., Hsiao, W., Berman, P., & Reich, M. R. (2004). Section 2.2.1. In Getting health reform right: a guide to improving performance and equity (pp. 30–32). Oxford University Press.
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Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement. (2014). Myth: User fees ensure better use of health services. Journal of Health Services Research & Policy, 19(2), 121-123. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26751463
Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. (2003). A parallel private system would reduce waiting times in the public system. Journal of health services research & policy, 8(1), 62-63. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26749876
Morgan, S., & Cunningham, C. (2011). Population aging and the determinants of healthcare expenditures: the case of hospital, medical and pharmaceutical care in British Columbia, 1996 to 2006. Healthcare Policy, 7(1), 68–79. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3167569/pdf/policy-07-068.pdf
Tuohy, C. H., Flood, C. M., & Stabile, M. (2004). How does private finance affect public health care systems? Marshaling the evidence from OECD nations. Journal of health politics, policy and law, 29(3), 359-396. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15328871/
Williams, G., Cylus, J., Roubal, T., Ong, P., Barber, S., & World Health Organization. (2019). Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth?. Copenhagen (Denmark): European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK550604/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK550604.pdf
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Dutton, D. J., Forest, P. G., Kneebone, R. D., & Zwicker, J. D. (2018). Effect of provincial spending on social services and health care on health outcomes in Canada: an observational longitudinal study. Cmaj, 190(3), E66-E71. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.170132
Wranik, W. D., & Haydt, S. M. (2018). Funding models and medical dominance in interdisciplinary primary care teams: qualitative evidence from three Canadian provinces. Human Resources for Health, 16, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-018-0299-3
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Ahluwalia, M. (2020). “Steps to Determine a Better Physician Compensation Model: An Interview with Dr. Marchildon”. Longwoods Insights. https://www.longwoods.com/content/26316//steps-to-determine-a-better-physician-compensation-model-an-interview-with-dr.-marchildon
Bourgeault, I., Simkin, S., & Chamberland-Rowe, C. (2019). Poor health workforce planning is costly, risky and inequitable. Cmaj, 191(42), E1147-E1148. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.191241
Hurley, J., & Grant, H. (2013). Unhealthy pressure: how physician pay demands put the squeeze on provincial health-care budgets. SPP Research Paper, 6-22. https://doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v6i0.42434
Islam, R., Kralj, B., & Sweetman, A. (2023). Physician workforce planning in Canada: the importance of accounting for population aging and changing physician hours of work. CMAJ, 195(9), E335-E340. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.221239
Jeon, S. H., & Hurley, J. (2010). Physician resource planning in Canada: the need for a stronger behavioural foundation. Canadian Public Policy, 36(3), 359-375. https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.36.3.359
Kitts, J. (2013). Psychological health and safety in Canadian healthcare settings. Healthcare Quarterly, 16(4), 6-9. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2014.23643
Monavvari, A. A., Peters, C., & Feldman, P. (2015). International medical graduates: past, present, and future. Canadian Family Physician, 61(3), 205-208. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25767160/
Rudoler, D., Peterson, S., Stock, D., Taylor, C., Wilton, D., Blackie, D., ... & Lavergne, M. R. (2022). Changes over time in patient visits and continuity of care among graduating cohorts of family physicians in 4 Canadian provinces. CMAJ, 194(48), E1639-E1646. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.220439
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Blackstock, C. (2008). Jordan's principle: Editorial update. Paediatrics & Child Health, 13(7), 589-590. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/13.7.589
Blackstock, C. (2016). Toward the full and proper implementation of Jordan's Principle: An elusive goal to date. Paediatrics & child health, 21(5), 245-246. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/21.5.245
Lavoie, J. G. (2013). Policy silences: why Canada needs a National First Nations, Inuit and Métis health policy. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 72(1), 22690. https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v72i0.22690
Lavoie, J. G. (2018). Medicare and the care of First Nations, Métis and Inuit. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 13(3-4), 280-298. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133117000391
McCallum, M. J. L., & Boyer, Y. (2018). Undertreatment, overtreatment, and coercion into treatment: identifying and documenting anti-indigenous racism in health care in Canada. aboriginal policy studies, 7(1), 190-193. https://doi.org/10.5663/aps.v7i1.29343
McGibbon, E. (2019). Truth and reconciliation: Healthcare organizational leadership. Healthcare management forum, 32(1), 20–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470418803379
Muise, G. M. (2019). Enabling cultural safety in Indigenous primary healthcare. Healthcare Management Forum, 32(1), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470418794204
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. (2014). Policies, programs and strategies to address anti-indigenous racism: a Canadian perspective. https://www.nccih.ca/docs/determinants/FS-Racism3-Policies-Strategies-EN.pdf
Reading, J., C. Loppie, and J. O’Neil. (2016) Indigenous Health Systems Governance. International Journal of Health Governance, 21(4): 222–228. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHG-08-2016-0044
Tait, C. L., Henry, R., & Walker, R. L. (2013). Child welfare: A social determinant of health for Canadian First Nations and Métis children. Pimatisiwin: A Journal for Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, 11(1), 39-53. https://journalindigenouswellbeing.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/04Tait.pdf
Turpel-Lafond, M. E., & Johnson, H. (2020, November). In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in BC Health Care. BC Ministry of Health. https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/613/2020/11/In-Plain-Sight-Summary-Report.pdf
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Bartram, M., & Lurie, S. (2017). Closing the mental health gap: The long and winding road?. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 36(Special Issue), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2017-021
Kates, N. (2018). Mental health and primary care: contributing to mental health system transformation in Canada. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 36(4), 33-67. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2017-033
Rochefort, D. A. (2020). Making single-payer reform work for behavioral health care: Lessons from Canada and the United States. International Journal of Health Services, 50(3), 334-349. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020731420906746
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Boothe, K. (2012). How the pace of change affects the scope of reform: pharmaceutical insurance in Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 37(5), 779-814. https://doi.org/0.1215/03616878-1672718
Brandt, J., Shearer, B., & Morgan, S. G. (2018). Prescription drug coverage in Canada: a review of the economic, policy and political considerations for universal pharmacare. Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice, 11(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40545-018-0154-x
Canada. (2019). A Prescription for Canada: Achieving Pharmacare for All – Final report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare. Ottawa: Health Canada. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/images/corporate/about-health-canada/public-engagement/external-advisory-bodies/implementation-national-pharmacare/final-report/final-report.pdf
Flood, C. M., Thomas, B., Moten, A. A., & Fafard, P. (2018). Universal pharmacare and federalism: policy options for Canada. Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy. http://irpp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Universal-Pharmacare-and-Federalism-Policy-Options-for-Canada.pdf
Lewis, S. (2020). It won’t be easy: how to make universal pharmacare work in Canada. International journal of health policy and management, 9(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.15171/ijhpm.2019.82
Lexchin, J. (2017). The pharmaceutical industry and the Canadian Government: Folie à Deux. Healthcare Policy, 13(1), 10–16. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcpol.2017.25195
Morgan, S. G., & Boothe, K. (2016, November). Universal prescription drug coverage in Canada: Long-promised yet undelivered. Healthcare management forum, 29(6), 247–254. https://doi.org/10.1177/0840470416658907
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Abelson, J., Bombard, Y., Gauvin, F. P., Simeonov, D., & Boesveld, S. (2013). Assessing the impacts of citizen deliberations on the health technology process. International journal of technology assessment in health care, 29(3), 282-289. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266462313000299
Gauvin, F. P., Abelson, J., Giacomini, M., Eyles, J., & Lavis, J. N. (2010). “It all depends”: conceptualizing public involvement in the context of health technology assessment agencies. Social science & medicine, 70(10), 1518-1526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.01.036
Knaapen, L., & Lehoux, P. (2016). Three conceptual models of patient and public involvement in standard-setting: from abstract principles to complex practice. Science as Culture, 25(2), 239-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/09505431.2015.1125875
Li, K. K., Abelson, J., Giacomini, M., & Contandriopoulos, D. (2015). Conceptualizing the use of public involvement in health policy decision-making. Social Science & Medicine, 138, 14-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.05.023
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Canadian Public Health Association. (2019). Public health in the context of health system renewal in Canada. https://www.cpha.ca/public-health-context-health-system-renewal-canada
Scally, G., Jacobson, B., & Abbasi, K. (2020). The UK’s public health response to covid-19. Bmj, 369. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1932
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Aggarwal, M., & Williams, A. P. (2019). Tinkering at the margins: evaluating the pace and direction of primary care reform in Ontario, Canada. BMC Family Practice, 20, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-019-1014-8
Hutchison, B., Abelson, J., & Lavis, J. (2001). Primary care in Canada: so much innovation, so little change. Health affairs (Project Hope), 20(3), 116–131. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.20.3.116
Hutchison, B., Levesque, J. F., Strumpf, E., & Coyle, N. (2011). Primary health care in Canada: systems in motion. The Milbank Quarterly, 89(2), 256-288. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2011.00628.x
Kreindler, S. A., Metge, C., Struthers, A., Harlos, K., Charette, C., Bapuji, S., ... & Zinnick, S. (2019). Primary care reform in Manitoba, Canada, 2011–15: balancing accountability and acceptability. Health Policy, 123(6), 532-537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2019.03.014
World Health Organization. (1978). Declaration of alma-ata. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/347879
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Fierlbeck, K. (2016). The politics of regionalization. Healthcare Papers, 16(1), 58-62. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcpap.2016.24772
Lavoie, J. G., Kornelsen, D., Boyer, Y., & Wylie, L. (2016). Lost in maps: regionalization and Indigenous health services. HealthcarePapers, 16(1), 63-73. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcpap.2016.24773
Lavoie, J. G., Boulton, A. F., & Gervais, L. (2012). Regionalization as an opportunity for meaningful Indigenous participation in healthcare: Comparing Canada and New Zealand. The International Indigenous Policy Journal, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.18584/iipj.2012.3.1.2
Marchildon, G. P. (2016). Regionalization: what have we learned. Health Pap, 16(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcpap.2016.24766
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Advancing Rural Family Medicine: The Canadian Collaborative Taskforce. (2017). The Rural Road Map for Action – Directions. Mississauga, ON: College of Family Physicians of Canada. https://srpc.ca/resources/Documents/PDFs/Rural_Road_Map_Directions_ENG.pdf
Fleet, R., Archambault, P., Plant, J., & Poitras, J. (2013). Access to emergency care in rural Canada: should we be concerned?. Canadian journal of emergency medicine, 15(4), 191-193. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcpap.2016.24773
Williams, AM & Kulig, JC. (2012) Chapter 1: Health and Place in Rural Canada. Health in Rural Canada. Vancouver: UBC Press.
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Fretheim, A., Munabi-Babigumira, S., Oxman, A. D., Lavis, J. N., & Lewin, S. (2009). SUPPORT tools for evidence-informed policymaking in health 6: Using research evidence to address how an option will be implemented. Health research policy and systems, 7, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-4505-7-S1-S6
Kreindler, S. A. (2010). Policy strategies to reduce waits for elective care: a synthesis of international evidence. British medical bulletin, 95(1), 7-32. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20457662/
Kreindler, S. A. (2017). The three paradoxes of patient flow: an explanatory case study. BMC Health Services Research, 17, 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-017-2416-8
Levesque, J. F., Harris, M. F., & Russell, G. (2013). Patient-centred access to health care: conceptualising access at the interface of health systems and populations. International journal for equity in health, 12, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-9276-12-18
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2008). Fact Sheet No. 31: The Right to Health. https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Factsheet31.pdf
Siplon, P. D. (2014). Once you know, you are responsible: The road from scholar to activist. Journal of health politics, policy and law, 39(2), 483-489. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-2416361
Video Resources
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Flood, C. (2022). The Moonshot: Moderning the Canada Health Act. Hall Foundation. https://www.hallfoundation.ca/2022-dr-colleen-flood
Turnbull, J. (2020). Health Inequity: How Canada’s Health Care System is Failing our Most Disadvantaged. Hall Foundation. https://www.hallfoundation.ca/2020-jeffrey-turnbull
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Hodges, A. (2023, February 9). Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System—the musical. Youtube. https://youtu.be/U_7weVo2qV0.