Health reports
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Researchers, policy makers, and urban planners require tools to better understand the complex relationship between gentrification and health. The Gentrification, Urban Interventions and Equity (GENUINE) tool is an open-access, map-based tool that allows users to explore measures of gentrification for Canadian cities and incorporate them into their work. ⋯ With attention on healthy cities only expanding, GENUINE provides pan-Canadian indicators of gentrification, which can be an integral part of solution-oriented research and advancing cities toward designing healthy and equitable communities.
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Food insecurity has been linked to adverse mental health outcomes. This study assessed the association between household food insecurity and self-perceived mental health status and anxiety symptoms among Canadians in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ In the early period of the COVID-19 epidemic in Canada, household food insecurity was independently associated with poorer mental health outcomes. Monitoring both food insecurity and mental health will be important as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
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While the physical health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic are regularly publicly available, the mental health toll on Canadians is unknown. This article examines the self-perceived mental health of Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores associations with various concerns after accounting for socioeconomic and health factors. ⋯ These findings point to particular risks for lower perceived mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results highlight various concerns of Canadians which may be associated with mental health, in particular, family stress in the home.
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Health and safety legislation is designed to protect workers from hazards, including excessive noise. However, some workers are not required to use hearing protection when exposed to loud noise and may be vulnerable to adverse outcomes, including hearing difficulties and tinnitus. ⋯ A large percentage of workers exposed to noisy workplaces were vulnerable because hearing protection was neither required nor routinely used. Further work is required to assess whether this reflects gaps in health and safety legislation or its implementation.
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The aging of the Canadian population has increased attention on the future need for nursing home beds. Although current projections rely primarily on age and sex, other factors also contribute to the need for long-term care. This study seeks to identify additional factors to age and sex that contribute to Canadians transitioning from living at home to living in a seniors' residence or nursing home. ⋯ Although age is strongly associated with living in a nursing home or seniors' residence, other demographic and health factors affect the likelihood of an individual transitioning to an institutional dwelling. Such factors could be considered when planning for the future housing and care needs of the Canadian population.