Doctor's at the door
The almost-abandoned house call remains both the most compassionate and efficient means of looking after the homebound elderly patient - medically and economically (An Old-Fashioned Remedy For Costly Care - Nov. 9). It reduces hospital stays, medication costs and the costly overuse of nursing homes and hospital emergency rooms.
The main reason the house call has almost disappeared is not hard to discover - it takes time and effort, which are inadequately compensated in most fee schedules. If other provinces followed B.C.'s lead in increasing the incentive for house calls, we could see a resurrection of a service that is both better for the patient and cost-effective for the taxpayer.
K.W. Greaves, MD, Hamilton, Ont.
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Perhaps we could add a verse to Everything Old is New Again and have public health nurses once again make regular home visits to selected members of the community. I remember visiting elderly clients weekly to check on medications, nutrition and general status. For many, it was a welcome contact with the outside world that often eliminated a difficult trek to their doctor's office.
Barb Sullivan, Burlington, Ont.
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Statistics Canada tells us mental illness is the third leading driver of public spending on health care, yet near-sighted governments continue to freeze funding for the inexpensive children's mental-health services needed by the one in five kids who face mental-health challenges. By spending a bit more when their problems first appear, governments would enable those children to avoid a lifetime of chronic illness that taxes emergency rooms, physicians' offices and provincial drug plans (to say nothing of social assistance programs and our prison system). Shifting from a "sickness" system, with its extraordinarily high costs, to a health system that intervenes early at relatively low cost, will be the key to taming Canada's unsustainable health budgets, for both our physical and mental well-being.
Gordon Floyd, CEO, Children's Mental Health Ontario
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Letter writer Nonie Carter (Health-Care Dare - Nov. 8) thinks anybody who pays for surgery is helping the rest of us. The problem is, when patients jump the queue to go to a private clinic, they see a doctor who probably left the public system to be there.
It's not nice to get a letter from your family doctor telling you he is quitting his practice to go to a private clinic, and that there are no other family doctors he can refer you to as none of them are accepting new patients.
Dave Shore, Richmond, B.C.
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Face up to security
Brenda Gibson (The Israeli Way - letters, Nov. 9) wonders why older passengers like her should be victimized by thorough airport searches in the bid to spot terrorists. How do airports know that she and her husband are not, in fact, young people wearing latex masks (Chinese Media Would Put Masked Man At Risk, Lawyer Argues - Nov. 9)?
Eric Monkman, Oakville, Ont.
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Canada can do better
The United States needs to remember its beginnings (NATO Allies Rethink Mission After Big Push From White House - Nov. 9). Its own citizens rose up, expelled the British overlords and established a democracy. Afghanistan will be free only when its people have the will and courage to act in a similar manner.
It is truly Canada's time to lead. We should lead the way out of this futile war, and start focusing our attention on problems at home. As long as we allow our neighbours to the south to dictate our foreign policy, we risk following them into military defeat, as well as monetary collapse. Canada can do better.
Carolyn Tytler, St. Catharines, Ont.
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I was very happy to read The Globe's fine editorial The Job Is Not Yet Done (Nov. 9) and then dismayed by the letters to the editor (2011, And Then - Nov. 9) and other pieces supporting a complete withdrawal, lock, stock and smoking barrels, from Afghanistan.
It serves as an example of why foreign policy is not made on the street, and reminded me of a university prof who explained that in a democracy, when we speak of "public contribution," we mean contributions from the part of the public who know what they're talking about.
Sometimes, you've got to put a bullet where your principles are when the other side is putting them where their hate is. If you don't, you've got nothing.
Gregory T.S. Riddoch, Quebec City
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Learning's costs
It seems somewhat absurd to throw money at foreign students when they are more than willing to pay to study in Canada (Cost Of McGuinty's Foreign Scholarships Sparks A Row - Nov. 9). Foreign students bring millions of dollars into our economy and return to their home countries after completing their studies as ambassadors for doing business with Canada. We don't need to attract them with scholarships. The thing that will attract these students is reducing the great barrier of student visa restrictions.
Irwin Diamond, Downsview, Ont.
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The academic leaders of the graduate programs of Ontario universities applaud Premier Dalton McGuinty's creation of 75 Trillium Doctoral Scholarships for international PhD students. Ontario needs enhanced innovation capacity to successfully compete in the world and advanced degree holders are a fundamental driver of that capacity. We have the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program to support 2,910 domestic students, but the demand for graduates of master's and doctoral programs to enter academia, government and business is greater than domestic demographics and interest can produce.
Joan E. Norris, chair, Ontario Council on Graduate Studies
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Service, below par
Among the nuisance tipping expectations is that made of the golfer who, after a round at a resort or U.S. public course, is confronted by someone with a filthy towel - supposedly to clean the players' clubs (Tipping: An Insider's Guide - Life, Nov. 9). The "cleaning" amounts to nothing more than quickly wiping the irons with a dirty towel, ignoring clubs protected with head covers. Elapsed time: less than two minutes and the hand is almost "out," awaiting the obligatory two bucks. I hand the carrier of the filthy towel $10 and specify that he's not to touch my clubs. That he may not be on duty the next day doesn't concern me. Word spreads to leave "that man's clubs alone." I leave annoyed, but am not bothered after future rounds.
It's not the money, it's the fact the clubs aren't cleaned but a tip is expected. Some U.S. courses won't permit you to drive a power cart into the parking lot to unload your clubs into your car. You're boxed in and the bearer of that dirty towel has you at his mercy.
Geoffrey Perkins, Wellington, Ont.
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Which is it?
Your headline reads Overheating Caused By Laptop Use Could Harm Male Fertility (Life - Nov. 9), yet the article states "No studies have yet researched how laptops affect male fertility and there is no strong evidence that it would."
Which is it? Upstanding Canadian men want to know.
Michael M. J. McGrath, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Queen's University