No abstract

Access to community mental health services for children and youths remains a priority. The significant role of aftercare in reducing readmission risk demonstrates the need to improve these services.

is a senior analyst in Health Reports at CIHI in Toronto, Ontario. She is responsible for performing analyses, providing methodological support to projects and writing reports.

As they age, many seniors develop a progressively more complex mix of health conditions. Multiple prescription medications are often required to help manage these conditions and control symptoms, with the goal of maintaining seniors' health for as long as possible. This article explores trends in the number and types of medications used by seniors on public drug programs in Canada. Our findings suggest that a high proportion of Canadian seniors are taking several medications, highlighting the need for medication management systems focusing on this population.

Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada, and the number of new cases is expected to increase as the population ages and grows. This study examined the use of hospital services in the last month of life by adult cancer patients who died in Canadian acute care hospitals in fiscal year 2012-2013. Almost 25,000 Canadian cancer patients-excluding those in Quebec-died in acute care hospitals, representing approximately 45% of the estimated cancer deaths in 2012-2013. The proportion of in-hospital deaths varied across jurisdictions. Twenty-three percent of these patients were admitted to acute care multiple times in their last 28 days of life, with a higher percentage for rural (29%) compared to urban (21%) patients. Relatively few patients used intensive care units or received inpatient chemotherapy in their last 14 days of life.