Doctor aims to roll out poverty screening project to all 76 MDs in the North York Family Health Team

TORONTO | A North York family doctor hopes to expand a poverty screening project to all 76 physicians at the North York Family Health Team.Dr. Kimberly Wintemute has spent a year running the Targeted Poverty Screening Project at her office, which has doctors try to find out which patients might be having trouble making ends meet.The project uses Statistics Canada data on income levels by postal code and cross-checks it against the profiles of patients. According to a CBC story four physicians at Dr. Wintemute's clinic took part in the project. They found that 147 patients live in postal codes with the lowest income brackets. Of the 49 people who agreed to be screened, 12 said they were struggling.The project is based on the poverty screening tool from the Ontario College of Family Physicians, a questionnaire that tries to identify patients living with poverty and link them with community resources that can help. Questions include, “Do you have trouble making ends meet at the end of the month?” A version of the tool has just been released for every province and territory in Canada except Quebec, where a local tool is being used. Dr. Gary Bloch"There is an incredibly large body of evidence demonstrating the link between poverty and poor health, and poverty and most chronic illnesses and acute illnesses. The relationship is so strong," Dr. Gary Bloch told CBC TorontoDr. Bloch is chair of the Ontario College of Family Physicians poverty and health committee and a physician at St. Michael's Hospital, where doctors have been using the poverty screening tool for about three years. "When you have someone who comes in over and over and over again and you're trying to manage something like diabetes and it's just not getting better, you've got to start digging," said Dr. Bloch.Dr. Wintemute says that if doctors know which patients are struggling, they can connect them with services in the community. For example, at Dr. Wintemute’s office, the case worker connects patients with a free tax clinic, as many patients might not know they qualify for certain benefits. Armed with this information, doctors can also advocate for patients. "I have some patients who may need medication on an ongoing basis but they can't afford that medication," Dr. Wintemute said. "So I can call a pharmaceutical company and say, 'Look, I've got a patient who needs this. Can you supply me with a compassionate supply?'"A Statistics Canada study shows income inequality is associated with the premature death of 40,000 Canadians a year. People living in poverty have a higher risk for many conditions, including diabetes, hypertension and mental health issues. In Canada, according to the Statistics Canada low-income cutoff line, 15% of people live in poverty, including one in seven children.For example, if an otherwise low-risk woman presents with chest pain, you may be more aggressive in your investigation because those in the lowest income group experience circulatory conditions at a 17% higher rate than the Canadian average.

Doctor aims to roll out poverty screening project to all 76 MDs in the North York Family Health Team

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