THE MEDICAL RECORD: WHAT IS THE IDEAL AGE TO RETIRE FOR YOUR HEALTH?

Jane Brown is filling in for Libby Znaimer today. She is joined by Dr. Alisa Naiman, family physician and the founder and medical director of The Medical Station in Toronto, and Dr. Malcolm Moore, a medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Dr. Amol Verma, a staff physician in General Internal Medicine at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

Today: we start things off with a discussion about the ideal retirement age for your health. After that, we discuss National Caregiver Day which happened yesterday but still deserves to be talked about today. According to the Ontario Caregivers website, their role became more strained and, “31% of caregivers provide more than 10 hours of care per week, up from 26% before the pandemic. 50% of caregivers are in desperate need of a break but have difficulties finding additional support or time for themselves.” Finally, we get into the role that ChatGPT and AI technologies are playing in the healthcare industry. And, are the advancements in AI outpacing the ethical planning we should take to make sure we use such tools in a safe way?

FOOD BANK IN TORONTO SEES USAGE REACH FORTY YEAR HIGH

Jane Brown is now joined by Neil Hetherington, Toronto Daily Bread Food Bank.

It’s not the kind of news you want to hear: the CEO of the largest food bank in Toronto is calling on the province to take urgent action and provide emergency assistance to those on social assistance as usage of the food bank reaches a forty year high (as many as 270,000 visits across its programs and partners in March). That’s four times higher than before the pandemic. So, how did we get here? And, when will the government really get the reality that food is a right and one that needs to be a priority when it comes to helping those in need.