Support for Underserved Communities

Across Canada’s healthcare sector, there are challenges with providing adequate healthcare support to marginalized and remote communities. This too often leads to inequitable service and poorer health outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted how vulnerable underserved populations truly are (Turnbull 2020).

Recognizing the need to address inequities in health services, many Canadian health systems and organizations are working to address the concerns of their local populations with targeted inventions. Healthcare Quarterly is privileged to publish two examples in this issue: a case study describing a hospital-initiated program to address food insecurity (Wiens et al. 2022) and a feature article profiling work done by Healthcare Excellence Canada to support the health and wellness of Indigenous communities (Maar et al. 2022).

The journal’s editors plan to continue this focus in a series profiling interventions that have addressed inequitable service to specific populations. We are primarily interested in the following types of manuscripts:

• reflective papers discussing evidence-informed ideas and approaches
• case studies of successful programs or strategies from diverse practice settings

We invite authors to submit a 200-word abstract that summarizes the proposed submissions. The abstract must also address the question of what readers will take away from the proposed paper and be able to apply to their own organizations.

Abstract submissions must be submitted by e-mail to Dianne Foster Kent by September 2, 2022, at dkent@longwoods.com. Authors of abstracts will be notified whether they are invited to submit a full article to be considered for publication.

References

Maar, M., E. Connors, C. Fancott, W. (Bill) Mussell, and D. Papadopoulos. 2022. Developing Relationships on a Shared Path to Reconciliation: The Core of Health Transformation and Safe Care for Indigenous People. Healthcare Quarterly 25(2): 16–24. doi:10.12927/hcq.2022.26894.

Turnbull, J. 2020. Caring for Vulnerable Populations during the Pandemic [Vimeo video]. CFPC Media. Retrieved June 16, 2022. <https://vimeo.com/showcase/5685262/video/423697809>.

Wiens, K. M. O’Neill, R.J. Redelmeier, S. Wali, A. Chagpar, S. Dube et al. 2022. Can the Healthcare System Improve Food Security? A Need for Collaborative Community Partnerships. Healthcare Quarterly 25(2): 26–33. doi:10.12927/hcq.2022.26892.