New models of care and strategies have the potential to empower patients and transform healthcare services and health outcomes, while improving access to care for those from equity-deserving communities. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Dr. Onil Bhattacharyya and Suzanne Charles Watson to discuss the impacts of implicit bias, and how exploring new models of care has the possibility to revolutionize our healthcare system.  

Not only do women present more often with chronic disease, but they are most likely to have multiple chronic diseases as well as intersecting identities that may further the difficulty of accessing care and managing chronic disease. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Dr. Noah Ivers and Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe of Women’s College Hospital to talk about the impact of chronic disease, self-management, and how clinicians can help their patients meet health goals. 

By 2025, Canada is expected to become a “super-aging” society, with more than 25% of its population over the age of 65, which has unique implications on community and individual health and the healthcare system at large. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Dr. Paula Rochon of Women’s College Hospital’s (WCH) Women’s Age Lab, Lina Jobanputra and Tania Obljubek of WCH to speak about societal health challenges facing older adults, with a focus on how women experience health and ageing differently.  

Substance use disorders are not unique to women – yet many parts of it are. From barriers to access, prevalence, and most importantly, risk, the way women experience substance use disorder is unique and requires a shift in how we approach treatment. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Dr. Jennifer Wyman of Women’s College Hospital to discuss the unique impacts of substance use disorders on women, and how that can inform and change the care they receive.  

Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women, with one in eight women being diagnosed in their lifetime. Having a mutation in the BRCA gene increases this likelihood to 45% to 85%, along with a 10% to 46% chance of developing ovarian cancer. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Dr. Kelly Metcalfe and Dr. Joanne Kotsopoulos of Women’s College Research Institute at Women’s College Hospital to discuss the importance of research into prevention, treatment, and after-care for women’s genetic cancers.  

Stigma and discrimination in the context of healthcare are a central driver of morbidity and mortality for women – especially when it comes to reproductive care. Too many topics surrounding a women’s body and health are taboo – and with that comes important, and often lethal, implications for the health of our communities and the women in them. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Dr. Amanda Selk of Women’s College Hospital to speak about the importance of care, education, and accessibility in vulvovaginal health. 

One in five Canadians experience chronic pain, but our healthcare system’s current approach to pain management is highly fragmented – leading patients to have to see multiple specialists in different locations and face lengthy wait lists, culminating into poor outcomes for patients and healthcare system costs of more than $6 billion each year. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by Céleste Corkery and Dr. Tania Di Renna of Women’s College Hospital’s Toronto Academic Pain Management Insititute to discuss chronic pain and pain management, specifically as experienced by women. 

For years, women experiencing heart attacks were turned away from emergency rooms in Canada for not presenting with the typical symptoms associated with the disease. What research knew, but many physicians didn’t, was that the symptoms of heart attacks in women vary greatly from those in men. And this gap in knowledge left an often-fatal mark on how women access healthcare in Canada. Host Jennifer Bernard is joined by WCH’s Debbie Childerhose on part two of this two-part episode on cardiac health for women.