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Toronto Sun
5 days ago
- Health
- Toronto Sun
STEPHENSON: Canada's women are carrying the load. Our health system should carry its share
We use smartphones to manage nearly every part of our lives, but we still access health care through a system built for a different era Amii Stephenson is a Vice President at Maple, leading health system partnerships to improve health-care accessibility for Canadians. SUBMITTED/TORONTO SUN As a member of the sandwich generation, I'm raising young children while caring for aging family members. I live in the gap between what the health system promises and what it delivers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Even with a strong support network, I'm the one scheduling referrals, booking appointments and coordinating care for my family, often at the expense of my own health. The load is constant and I'm far from alone. Maple's 2025 Women's Health Report found that 76% of women experienced worsening symptoms while waiting for care. For women who act as caregivers, 31% said they've delayed their own care because they were prioritizing someone else's. For younger women, the impact is especially stark. Sixty-two per cent of women aged 18 to 34 reported delaying or skipping care last year. These are not outliers. They're symptoms of a system struggling to meet the demands of modern life. The problem isn't just operational. It's structural. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Canada Health Act, passed in 1984, enshrined publicly funded, physician-delivered, hospital-based care as the foundation of our system. That vision made sense at the time. But in 1984, the most advanced technology in most homes was a landline. Today, we use smartphones to manage nearly every part of our lives, but we still access health care through a system built for a different era. This outdated framework no longer serves women who are balancing multiple responsibilities in a digital, fast-paced world. Some governments are taking steps to modernize how care is delivered, and those efforts deserve recognition. Virtual care is a proven solution, but it's still the exception, not the norm. In most provinces, there is no structured approach to publicly covered virtual care. Yet when integrated into the public system, it can reduce pressure on emergency departments and improve timely access. In Nova Scotia, where virtual care is embedded in the provincial model, emergency room visits dropped by 10% following the launch of VirtualCareNS. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Still, a gap remains between the care people need and the care they can access. Women are more likely to live with chronic conditions, coordinate care for others and juggle health responsibilities alongside paid work. Yet they face long wait times, misdiagnoses and dismissal. More than half — 55% — say their health concerns have been dismissed. The rates are even higher for Indigenous and racialized women, according to research from Women's College Hospital and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. In the meantime, employers have stepped in. More than 10 million Canadians now rely on employer-provided health services to access timely care, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Virtual care does not replace in-person medicine. It complements it. For women managing complex schedules, caregiving demands and their own health needs, it can be a lifeline. Whether it's a postpartum check-in, a consultation about perimenopause or a late-night concern about a child's symptoms, virtual care offers earlier access and proactive support for women and those they care for. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Canada's health-care principles of equity and universality remain foundational. But how we deliver care must evolve to match the realities of Canadians' lives. That means updating outdated policies, investing in new care models and designing systems that work for patients, not just providers. We can't continue to expect women to hold the system together while being underserved by it. Closing the women's health gap isn't just a moral imperative. It's a practical one. When women have timely, appropriate access to care, families, communities and economies all benefit. It's time for a health-care system that works for everyone. — Amii Stephenson is a Vice President at Maple, leading health system partnerships to improve health-care accessibility for Canadians. Toronto Raptors Toronto Raptors Music Sunshine Girls Canada
The Star
20-06-2025
- The Star
One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet
LONDON: "Have you seen the cats?' That's a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they're free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost. If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don't return as expected. If you're worried about your furry friend's whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them. How pet tech works Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home WiFi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app. There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter. An Apple Air Tag and a Chipolo Bluetooth tracker are seen on a keyring next to a cat in London. — AP Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity. Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they're pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters. Phone signals Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it. They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive's executive vice president for North America. That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America "unless you're in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,' Bleiman said. What it costs Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than US$100 (RM425). However, keep in mind you'll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function. While that could cost US$100 or more a year, for some pet owners it's worth the "peace of mind,' Bleiman said. Battery life The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions. One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to WiFi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone. Other features Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis. But be aware, a tracker is "not going to keep your pet in the backyard," Bleiman said. It will only "alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.' How to use it This One TechTip was inspired by Maple, who once went AWOL for days. It turned out he was hanging out in a backyard 10 doors down the street. We only found out after the residents got hold of a pet microchip scanner to look up our contact details to let us know so we could retrieve him. A screenshot of the Tractive pet tracking app shows the path that a cat has taken in a London neighborhood in London, on May 29, 2025. — AP Tractive provided a loaner device to try. Using the included breakaway collar, we put it on Maple, who clearly didn't like it at first. He dashed out the back door and jumped through a hole in the fence. Over the next day, I used the Tractive app to monitor his movements. It showed his travels back and forth onto various neighbouring properties. He came back to rest for a few hours around midnight, went out to prowl again around 3am, then came back after an hour to nap some more. It was fascinating to see where he was spending his time. According to the app's "heatmap," one of Maple's favourite spots was the same backyard where we had to retrieve him previously. Losing track About 24 hours after I attached the Tractive collar on Maple, I noticed he was no longer wearing it. It had somehow come off. If you can't find your pet's exact location, or the device gets lost, Tractive has a "radar' feature to pinpoint it with your phone's Bluetooth. Other brands have similar features. On the app's map, I could see it was in a nearby backyard and that I was getting closer because the circle was getting bigger. But I couldn't figure out where it was and, not wanting to disturb the neighbours, I gave up. Bleiman recommends using a harness for cats that don't like collars, but I'm not convinced. Microchips It's common for cats and dogs to be implanted with microchips, with the details added to a database. That makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost dogs and cats, even if they've strayed hundreds of miles away or gone missing for years. Pet microchips, about the size of a grain of rice implanted just below the skin, are legally required in some European countries. There's no federal law in the US, though some places like Hawaii now require them, so check with state or local authorities. But there's some confusion about what microchips can do. Because they don't have a power supply, they can't be tracked in real time. Whoever finds your pet would need to take it to a vet or a shelter to can scan the device for contact details. Air Tags and similar devices are another option Many pet owners use Bluetooth trackers like Apple's Air Tags, Samsung's SmartTags or similar devices from Tile, Cube and Chipolo, which rely on low-power signals relayed by passing smartphones. Bluetooth trackers have a range of 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters), depending on the model. The batteries last for months if not longer, and there's no need to pay for a subscription. However, they're not specifically marketed for pets. That hasn't stopped pet owners, judging from many recommendations they've posted in online forums. Chipolo advises that its round plastic trackers are only for "in-house pets like house-trained cats and smaller dogs' and warns against using them on "larger dog breeds and outdoor cats". Still, they can be a solution for some pet owners. "Bluetooth is a totally reasonable solution if you're in a downtown urban core,' Bleiman said. "But pets move fast. And if you're in a wooded park, or you're in a suburban area – let alone a more rural or wilderness area – it's pretty unlikely your pet is going to be close to a Bluetooth device." – AP
Arab Times
19-06-2025
- Arab Times
No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to yrack your pet
LONDON, June 19, (AP): "Have you seen the cats?' That's a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they're free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost. If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don't return as expected. If you're worried about your furry friend's whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them. How pet tech works Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home Wi-Fi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app. There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter. Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity. Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they're pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters. Phone signals Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it. They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive's executive vice president for North America. That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America "unless you're in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,' Bleiman said. What it costs Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than $100. However, keep in mind you'll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function. While that could cost $100 or more a year, for some pet owners it's worth the "peace of mind,' Bleiman said. Battery life The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions. One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to Wi-Fi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone. Other features Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis. But be aware, a tracker is "not going to keep your pet in the backyard," Bleiman said. It will only "alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.'
19-06-2025
One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet
LONDON -- LONDON (AP) — 'Have you seen the cats?' That's a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they're free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost. If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don't return as expected. If you're worried about your furry friend's whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them. Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home Wi-Fi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app. There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter. Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity. Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they're pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters. Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it. They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive's executive vice president for North America. That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America 'unless you're in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,' Bleiman said. Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than $100. However, keep in mind you'll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function. While that could cost $100 or more a year, for some pet owners it's worth the 'peace of mind,' Bleiman said. The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions. One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to Wi-Fi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone. Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis. But be aware, a tracker is 'not going to keep your pet in the backyard," Bleiman said. It will only "alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.' This One TechTip was inspired by Maple, who once went AWOL for days. It turned out he was hanging out in a backyard 10 doors down the street. We only found out after the residents got hold of a pet microchip scanner to look up our contact details to let us know so we could retrieve him. Tractive provided a loaner device to try. Using the included breakaway collar, we put it on Maple, who clearly didn't like it at first. He dashed out the back door and jumped through a hole in the fence. Over the next day, I used the Tractive app to monitor his movements. It showed his travels back and forth onto various neighboring properties. He came back to rest for a few hours around midnight, went out to prowl again around 3 a.m, then came back after an hour to nap some more. It was fascinating to see where he was spending his time. According to the app's 'heatmap," one of Maple's favorite spots was the same backyard where we had to retrieve him previously. About 24 hours after I attached the Tractive collar on Maple, I noticed he was no longer wearing it. It had somehow come off. If you can't find your pet's exact location, or the device gets lost, Tractive has a 'radar' feature to pinpoint it with your phone's Bluetooth. Other brands have similar features. On the app's map, I could see it was in a nearby backyard and that I was getting closer because the circle was getting bigger. But I couldn't figure out where it was and, not wanting to disturb the neighbors, I gave up. Bleiman recommends using a harness for cats that don't like collars, but I'm not convinced. It's common for cats and dogs to be implanted with microchips, with the details added to a database. That makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost dogs and cats, even if they've strayed hundreds of miles away or gone missing for years. Pet microchips, about the size of a grain of rice implanted just below the skin, are legally required in some European countries. There's no federal law in the U.S., though some places like Hawaii now require them, so check with state or local authorities. But there's some confusion about what microchips can do. Because they don't have a power supply, they can't be tracked in real time. Whoever finds your pet would need to take it to a vet or a shelter to can scan the device for contact details. Many pet owners use Bluetooth trackers like Apple's Air Tags, Samsung's SmartTags or similar devices from Tile, Cube and Chipolo, which rely on low-power signals relayed by passing smartphones. Bluetooth trackers have a range of 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters), depending on the model. The batteries last for months if not longer, and there's no need to pay for a subscription. However, they're not specifically marketed for pets. That hasn't stopped pet owners, judging from many recommendations they've posted in online forums. Chipolo advises that its round plastic trackers are only for 'in-house pets like house-trained cats and smaller dogs' and warns against using them on "larger dog breeds and outdoor cats." Still, they can be a solution for some pet owners. 'Bluetooth is a totally reasonable solution if you're in a downtown urban core,' Bleiman said. 'But pets move fast. And if you're in a wooded park, or you're in a suburban area — let alone a more rural or wilderness area — it's pretty unlikely your pet is going to be close to a Bluetooth device."
Winnipeg Free Press
19-06-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
One Tech Tip: No more lost cats and dogs. Use tech to track your pet
LONDON (AP) — 'Have you seen the cats?' That's a common refrain in my household because our two felines, Maple and Juniper, can venture outside through a flap in the backdoor. Like many other London house cats, they're free to come and go, roaming the surrounding backyards and beyond, equipped with microchips to identify them if they get lost. If your cat likes to prowl outdoors for long stretches, or your dog has a tendency to run off, it can be distressing when they don't return as expected. If you're worried about your furry friend's whereabouts, technology can help you keep tabs on them. How pet tech works Dedicated pet trackers are collar-worn devices that typically use GPS signals to pinpoint the location of the animal wearing them. They use a 4G cellphone signal or your home Wi-Fi connection to relay the position to a smartphone app. There are many products on the market. Tractive, Jiobit and Pawfit are among brands that offer trackers for both dogs and cats. Devices for the latter are generally smaller and lighter. Dog trackers with integrated collars are available from Fi and Whistle. PetTracer is a cat collar that uses both GPS and radio signals from a home base station. FitBark, also for dogs, has an Apple Watch app to monitor location and other activity. Garmin has a range of GPS dog collars that work with handheld devices resembling walkie-talkies, but they're pricey and aimed at outdoors enthusiasts like hunters. Phone signals Most trackers let you designate a safe zone on a map, usually your house and surrounding area, and alert you if your pet has left it. They usually operate on the 4G LTE spectrum commonly used by wireless carriers. It typically has the longest range of any cellular signal, said Andrew Bleiman, Tractive's executive vice president for North America. That means strong connectivity in most of Europe and North America 'unless you're in a really far flung place like the middle of a national park,' Bleiman said. What it costs Exact price depends on brand and model. Most devices sell for less than $100. However, keep in mind you'll also have to pay a subscription fee for the cell service to function. While that could cost $100 or more a year, for some pet owners it's worth the 'peace of mind,' Bleiman said. Battery life The collars usually have a built-in rechargeable battery but battery life varies. Most will be last at least two to three days before they need charging, and a lot longer in ideal conditions. One big factor is signal strength. The battery will drain faster if the device has to work harder to pick up the GPS or connect to Wi-Fi. Some save power by not sending coordinates in the safe zone. Other features Like fitness watches for humans, pet tracking apps offer health and activity monitoring features. You can see how long your cat or dog has spent resting or exercising on a daily or hourly basis. But be aware, a tracker is 'not going to keep your pet in the backyard,' Bleiman said. It will only 'alert you when they leave the virtual fence area that you set up.' How to use it This One TechTip was inspired by Maple, who once went AWOL for days. It turned out he was hanging out in a backyard 10 doors down the street. We only found out after the residents got hold of a pet microchip scanner to look up our contact details to let us know so we could retrieve him. Tractive provided a loaner device to try. Using the included breakaway collar, we put it on Maple, who clearly didn't like it at first. He dashed out the back door and jumped through a hole in the fence. Over the next day, I used the Tractive app to monitor his movements. It showed his travels back and forth onto various neighboring properties. He came back to rest for a few hours around midnight, went out to prowl again around 3 a.m, then came back after an hour to nap some more. It was fascinating to see where he was spending his time. According to the app's 'heatmap,' one of Maple's favorite spots was the same backyard where we had to retrieve him previously. Losing track About 24 hours after I attached the Tractive collar on Maple, I noticed he was no longer wearing it. It had somehow come off. If you can't find your pet's exact location, or the device gets lost, Tractive has a 'radar' feature to pinpoint it with your phone's Bluetooth. Other brands have similar features. On the app's map, I could see it was in a nearby backyard and that I was getting closer because the circle was getting bigger. But I couldn't figure out where it was and, not wanting to disturb the neighbors, I gave up. Bleiman recommends using a harness for cats that don't like collars, but I'm not convinced. Microchips It's common for cats and dogs to be implanted with microchips, with the details added to a database. That makes it much easier to reunite owners with lost dogs and cats, even if they've strayed hundreds of miles away or gone missing for years. Pet microchips, about the size of a grain of rice implanted just below the skin, are legally required in some European countries. There's no federal law in the U.S., though some places like Hawaii now require them, so check with state or local authorities. But there's some confusion about what microchips can do. Because they don't have a power supply, they can't be tracked in real time. Whoever finds your pet would need to take it to a vet or a shelter to can scan the device for contact details. Air Tags and similar devices are another option Many pet owners use Bluetooth trackers like Apple's Air Tags, Samsung's SmartTags or similar devices from Tile, Cube and Chipolo, which rely on low-power signals relayed by passing smartphones. Bluetooth trackers have a range of 100 to 500 feet (30 to 150 meters), depending on the model. The batteries last for months if not longer, and there's no need to pay for a subscription. However, they're not specifically marketed for pets. That hasn't stopped pet owners, judging from many recommendations they've posted in online forums. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Chipolo advises that its round plastic trackers are only for 'in-house pets like house-trained cats and smaller dogs' and warns against using them on 'larger dog breeds and outdoor cats.' Still, they can be a solution for some pet owners. 'Bluetooth is a totally reasonable solution if you're in a downtown urban core,' Bleiman said. 'But pets move fast. And if you're in a wooded park, or you're in a suburban area — let alone a more rural or wilderness area — it's pretty unlikely your pet is going to be close to a Bluetooth device.' ___ Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.
