Canadians Express High Levels of Concern About Access to Children’s Health Services in New Poll
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December 5, 2023 – Vancouver – New polling commissioned by Children’s Healthcare Canada and conducted by Abacus Data reveals measurable concern among Canadians regarding the capacity of Canada’s health systems to meet the needs of a growing population of children and youth. Without urgent and transformative investments, Canada’s kids are at risk of suffering long term consequences associated with lengthy delays to essential healthcare services.
Emily Gruenwoldt, President, and CEO of Children’s Healthcare Canada, shared “This poll confirms what parents intuitively know or have experienced firsthand, that demands on children’s healthcare systems are increasing, and the system simply doesn’t have the capacity to deliver care in a timely fashion.” Ms. Gruenwoldt adds “Children’s Healthcare Canada is on a mission to right-size health systems serving children, youth and their families.”
The poll reveals that a striking 94% of Canadians agree that Canada’s healthcare system needs to be improved to better serve the needs of children and youth, with 57% strongly agreeing that urgent action is required – a noticeable increase from 47% in January of 2023. This sentiment is consistent across the country and among both parents and non-parents.
Right-sizing our children’s health systems will require a shared commitment from provincial, territorial and federal governments. The poll data shows that 93% of Canadians state that they would like to see governments at all levels work together in unprecedented ways to achieve this vision. In addition to the price children and youth are paying for delays in access to health services, parents are also feeling the brunt, navigating complex and fragmented healthcare systems to access services for their kids.
83% of Canadians express concern about long delays in accessing time-sensitive healthcare services for children and youth; simultaneously, confidence in the system is also waning. Only 59% of Canadian parents feel confident in their ability to access necessary healthcare services for their children at present.
Furthermore, half of the Canadian population is aware of the negative impacts caused by delays in healthcare services, with 8% of parents having experienced these challenges personally. Among parents of toddlers, this figure rises to 24%.
Finally, despite high levels of concern and personal challenges navigating children’s healthcare systems, nearly all respondents perceive the health and wellbeing of Canada’s children and youth to be better than it is.
Only 8% of those polled correctly scored Canada “at the back of the pack” when measured in comparison to other wealthy countries (UNICEF Report Card 16 measured Canada 30th of 38 OECD countries related to children’s physical health outcomes; 31st of 38 countries with respect to mental health and wellbeing.)
The discrepancy between the perceived and actual state of Canada's healthcare system and children’s health outcomes is a call to action.
Children’s Healthcare Canada calls on the federal government to take immediate action to make children’s health a priority. Together, if we improve the health of children, we improve the health of Canada.
About the Poll: This poll was conducted by Abacus data, between November 9 and 12, 2023. The sample size was 2,000 adult Canadians, and the data was weighed by age, gender, education and region.
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Contact Information:
Marjolaine Provost
Senior Communications Advisor
mprovost@childrenshealthcarecanada.ca
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