COVID-19 has changed our daily lives in ways big and small. But it hasn’t changed everything.
Our relationship with our family physician or nurse practitioner is still a relationship of trust. Not just because of their expertise — we trust them because he or she knows us, sees the pressures we face, celebrates our victories, asks about our family, understands our values.
That relationship is at the centre of a healthy life. This trusting relationship will be critical in helping Ontarians feel confident and safe in getting the COVID-19 vaccine once it’s available for them, and it will continue to be more important than ever with the pandemic’s complex and unanticipated impacts on health and wellbeing for years to come.
Ontarians today have innumerable points of access to our health system — their family physician or nurse practitioner, their primary care team, walk-in clinic, pharmacy, hospital, physiotherapist, specialist, to say nothing of the amount of information, and disinformation, they can access online. Navigating the health system and evaluating complex medical information can be bewildering. ....