Breaking Canadians

Health Care, Advocacy, and the Toll of COVID-19

Edited by Nili Kaplan-Myrth
Foreword by Brian Goldman
Afterword by Sue Robins
Categories: Health, Social Work & Psychology, Health & Medicine
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Paperback : 9781487548124, 320 pages, March 2024
Ebook (EPUB) : 9781487548131, 320 pages, March 2024
Ebook (PDF) : 9781487548148, 320 pages, March 2024
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Table of contents

Foreword
Dr. Brian Goldman

Introduction: I Can’t. I’m Too Broken
Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth

Part I: In the Community

1. Casualty
Lynda Hurley

2. Pandemic, Alone
Leora Eisen

3. Present Tense
Tania J. Spencer

4. A Community Divided
Anonymous

5. BC: Breaking Cancer
Dr. Jaigris Hodson

6. Learning to Count
Eleanor Ramphal

7. The Spring
Dr. David Keegan

Part II: At the Margins

8. Long-Term Care or Long-Term Crime?
Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos

9. Go Home
Kimiko Shibata

10. Ableism
Kenzie McCurdy

11. Still Here
Reverend Canon Maggie Helwig

12. The Pandemic Changed Nothing (For Worse and Better)
Meagan Gillmore

13. Wild Teens: Youth Mental Health and the Pandemic
Dr. Gail Beck

14. The Pandemic Ends … Then What?
Annie Lin

Part III: The Crumbling Base

15. Resilience Is a Dirty Word
Debra Lefebvre

16. Men Write the Policies, Women Face the Results
Dr. Michelle Cohen

17. #InThisTogether Is Only a Hashtag
Maggie Kerastaci

18. Invisible
Sarah Kaplan

19. The Levee Has Broken
Kim English

Part IV: No Simple Fixes

20. “We’re all in this together”: COVID-19 and Principles of Environmental Justice
Dr. Jane E. McArthur

21. This Ain’t No Flu
Dr. Steve Flindall

22. The Doctor as Advocate
Dr. Joe Vipond

23. Disability Rights and Advocacy
Dr. Christopher Leighton

24. “Truth”
Dr. Imogen Coe

25. I Work in a Hospital. You Are an Internet Troll. We Are Not the Same
Dr. Genevieve Eastabrook

26. How to Be Wrong: Reflections on the (Non)Evolution of Applied Medical Science during Epidemics
Dr. David Fisman

Postscript: Roll Up Your Sleeves
Sue Robins

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on people worldwide. The death tolls, the economic disruptions, the impact on our children’s education, and the extended periods of social and physical distancing have left us feeling demoralized, exhausted, angry, and burned out.

Breaking Canadians brings together health care experts, community advocates, and average citizens from across Canada to offer a unique analysis of the first three years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book explores the fragmentation of Canada’s health care system, the growth of social inequalities, and the impact of colonialism, racism, ableism, and ageism on the well-being of people in this country. It sheds light on the people our health care system undervalues and overlooks, including nurses, social workers, and essential caregivers.

An important collection of stories, insights, cautionary tales, and calls for action, Breaking Canadians is also a harbinger of what is to come if we do not learn, change our trajectory, and fix what is broken.