One of my colleagues mentioned that most screen-eligible women—50 and up and 40 in Ontario if you talk to a primary care provider—can't get screened. We have women who are not only looking after their grandchildren, but looking after their great-grandchildren. They're trying to put food on the table. They're trying to keep a roof over their heads. Getting screened is the last thing they're thinking about because these are the issues they contend with every day.
We have communities that are struggling to make ends meet. Where does any kind of screening or any type of self-care come into place? We have high rates of diabetes, as one of my colleagues mentioned. We have heart disease. When it comes to health issues, we have them all. It would probably be easier to identify the ones we don't have than the ones we have.
How do you prioritize health care and self-care when you are dealing with these day-to-day struggles of trying to feed your family, look after the grandkids, look after the great-grandkids or deal with a family member who may have taken a path that leads to unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as drug abuse or alcohol abuse? These are the realities in communities.