Exposing Privatization: Women and Health Care Reform in Canada

This book exposes the many faces of health care privatization and its impact on women. It begins with the international context for health care reform and then moves from coast to coast, setting out what is known about the reforms that are underway and about their impact on women. The complexity of the task is obvious; home care, for example, means one thing in Manitoba and another in Ontario. Who pays for it? Who delivers it? Who gets to use it and under what conditions? are questions with different answers in each province - although the two provinces face similar pressures and often get similar advice. Moreover, reforms are significantly changing home care in both provinces and doing so at a rapid pace. Yet it is not easy to find out the precise nature and extent of these reforms, let alone what they mean in practice, especially for women.

Just as there are considerable differences across the country in terms of reforms, there are considerable differences among women in terms of how they connect to health care. This book shows the consequences that reforms have for women as providers and patients, and the impact of these reforms on women's participation in the decision-making process. At the same time, the text never loses sight of the significant differences between women related to their physical, social, economic, cultural/racial, locations and their age and sexual orientation. Which women are affected, in what ways, by which reforms are the central questions in Exposing Privatization, a book that will not only inform but spur action in health care policy and practice.

Introduction

Part One: The Context for Health Care Reform in Canada - Pat Armstrong & Hugh Armstrong

1. Introduction
2. The Aftermath of War
3. After the Welfare State
4. Canadian Reforms
5. Conclusion

Part Two: Health Restructuring and Privatization from Women's Perspective in Newfoundland and Labrador - Ingrid Botting

1. Introduction
2. Restructuring of the Health Care System
3. Privatizing Medical Services
4. The Impact of Privatization on Women as Care Providers
5. Shifting from Long-term Institutional to Home and Community-based Care

Part Three: Health Reform, Privatization and Women in Nova Scotia - Barbara Clow

1. Introduction
2. Overview of Health Care Reform in Nova Scotia
3. Privatization Trends in Health Care Reform
4. Women and Health Care Reform
5. Women, Health Care and Privatization
6. Conclusion

Part Four: What Price Have Women Paid for Health Care Reform? The Situation in Quebec - Jocelyne Bernier & Marlene Dallaire

1. Introduction
2. Health Care Reform
3. The Price of Health Care Reform for Women in Quebec
4. Conclusion

Part Five: Women, Privatization and Health Care Reform: The Ontario Case - Pat Armstrong & Hugh Armstrong

1. Introduction
2. Hospitals
3. Long-term Care in the Community
4. Long-term Residential Care
5. Primary Care
6. Mental Health
7. Rehabilitation Services
8. Targeted Programs for Women
9. Health Information Technology
10. Conclusion

Part Six: Missing Links: The Effect of Health Care Privatization on Women in Manitoba and Saskatchewan - Kay Willson & Jennifer Howard

1. Introduction
2. Privatization
3. The Impact of Privatization on Women
4. Conclusion

Part Seven: The Differential Impact of Health Care Privatization on Women in Alberta - C.M. Scott, T. Horne & W.E. Thurston

1. Introduction
2. Gender-based Analysis in Alberta
3. The Evolution of Alberta Health and Social Policy
4. Public Participation
5. Privatization of Health Care in Alberta
6. Conclusion

Part Eight: The Information Gap: The Impact of Health Care Reform on British Columbia Women - Colleen Fuller

1. The BC Process of Health Care Reform
2. Health Care Governance
3. Health Care Jobs
4. Nursing: The Burden of Care
5. Health Care Reform and Privatization
6. Hospital Reform
7. The Information Gap

Conclusion

About the Authors

Pat Armstrong is a Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a professor in the Department of Sociology at York University.

Carol Amartunga holds the University of Ottawa Chair in Women's Health. She is also a former member from the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health.

Jocelyne Bernier is coordinator of a Chair in 'Community Approaches and Health Inequalities' at the University of Montreal. She has a BA in Sociology and an MA in Health Administration.

Kay Willson is a program coordinator for the Prairie Women's Health Centre of Excellence. She also teaches as a sessional lecturer in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Saskatchewan.

Karen Grant works in the Department of Sociology at the University of Manitoba. She is also a member of the National Network on Environments and Women's Health.

Ann Pederson is a member of the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health.