Otter Raft
This is an alt account used for scheduling posts ahead of time. While I check notifications periodically, please contact me at @otter@lemmy.ca for a faster response.
- 310 Posts
- 27 Comments
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Psychosis rates climb among young people in Ontario, researchers findEnglish
3·6 days agoFixed, sorry about that
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian doctors say they’re losing 20 million hours a year to unnecessary paperworkEnglish
4·12 days agoHere is the report: https://digitallibrary.cma.ca/media/Digital_Library_PDF/2026 Losing doctors to desk work EN.pdf
See “Appendix B: Provincial/territorial estimates of physician administrative burden and full-time equivalent gain” on page 37.

For BC specifically, there was this recent article:
Family doctors in B.C. are calling on the province to cut digital red tape, saying outdated systems and unnecessary paperwork are slowing patient care and increasing wait times.
It comes as a new national study shows doctors across the province are spending three million hours per year handling administrative work.
The latest report, released by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the Canadian Medical Association, released as part of the Red Tape Awareness Week, found that doctors in B.C. spend nearly 10 hours a week on administrative work.
It estimates that eliminating unnecessary paperwork in B.C. could free up an equivalent of more than 1,400 full-time doctors.
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Maya, 17, got mental health records by FOI, then killed herself. Her mom wants reform | Politics | thecanadianpressnews.caEnglish
151·2 months agoSince doctors/staff communicate to each other in a shorthand, and it would be very difficult to make all that internal communication written in an accessible way. We would likely need a separate team of people transcribing and adding context to all the notes.
What might be a good first step is freeing up healthcare capacity to respond to patient’s inquiries. After that, if we can set up some way of communicating the available resources to the person who FOI’s the medical records, they can get in touch if they have questions.
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Public Health@mander.xyz•There may not be a safe off-ramp for some taking GLP-1 drugs, study suggests - Ars TechnicaEnglish
4·2 months agoI appreciate the comment, these are important points that I did not include in the post and I didn’t mean to imply otherwise when posting this.
I thought this article was worth sharing because some people promoting these products still say/imply that they can be used temporarily. Some people may start treatment without fully understanding the details:
Some studies have found that about half of people who start taking a GLP-1 drug for weight loss stop taking it within a year—for various reasons—and many people think they can stop taking anti-obesity drugs once they’ve reached a desired weight, Oczypok and Anderson write. But that’s not in line with the data.
This part was also interesting. If there IS a way to stop taking the drugs after a while, or safer ways to wean patients off the drugs if they can no longer continue, then that is worth investigating:
Data gaps and potential off-ramps
On the other hand, there were 54 participants of the 308 (17.5 percent) who didn’t regain a significant amount of weight (less than 25 percent.) This group saw some of their health metrics worsen on withdrawal of the drug, but not all—blood pressure increased a bit, but cholesterol didn’t go up significantly overall. About a dozen participants (4 percent of the 308) continued to lose weight after stopping the drug.
The researchers couldn’t figure out why these 54 participants fared so well; there were “no apparent differences” in demographic or clinical characteristics, they reported. It’s clear the topic requires further study.
Oczypok and Anderson highlight that the study involved an abrupt withdrawal from the drug. In contrast, many patients may be interested in slowly weaning off the drugs, stepping down dosage levels over time. So far, data on this strategy and the protocols to pull it off have little data behind them. It also might not be an option for patients who abruptly lose access to or insurance coverage for the drugs. Other strategies for weaning off the drugs could involve ramping up physical activity or calorie restriction in anticipation of dropping the drugs, the experts note.
In addition to more data on potential GLP-1 off-ramps, the pair calls for more data on the effects of weight fluctuations from people going on and off the treatment. At least one study has found that the regained weight after intentional weight loss may end up being proportionally higher in fat mass, which could be harmful.
For now, Oczypok and Anderson say doctors should be cautious about talking with patients about these drugs and what the future could hold. “These results add to the body of evidence that clinicians and patients should approach starting [anti-obesity medications] as long-term therapies, just as they would medications for other chronic diseases.”
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•What are some physical items that should be available at libraries for people to borrow?English
1·4 months agoDefinitely, mine has been sitting around for the majority of the time but I still need it every now and then.
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•The Royal Canadian Mint recently released the "Canadian Symbol: The Beaver – Fine Silver Coin"English
7·4 months agoFor those that might not have clicked through:
Be on the lookout for any colourful toonies in your change — you could add Canada’s newest circulation coin to your collection.
The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled its latest $2 commemorative circulation coin honouring the work of Indigenous artist Daphne Odjig on Thursday.


The toonie is limited to a mintage of three million coins, of which two million are coloured. It begins circulating on Thursday, Sept. 4, so keep an eye out for it in your change.
The other variant:

Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•‘It costs nothing to dial 911’: Toronto man expresses gratitude to Good SamaritanEnglish
2·4 months agoI accidentally posted this twice and I’m going to delete this one since it has less activity. If you’d like to copy your comment to the other one: https://lemmy.ca/post/52811741
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Montréal’s bike infrastructure hardly takes up any space from cars on city roadsEnglish
4·5 months agoI actually use lemmy-schedule for these posts, which seems to do it in this format. Maybe I can add the other communities to the post body to make discoverability easier :)
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Popular clothing brand [Arc’teryx] blasted for China fireworks stunt [in the Tibetan Plateau]English
4·5 months agoI’ll edit the title further to remove the “Canadian”
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canada’s tariff wall on Chinese electric vehicles is deepening dependence on the U.S.English
1·5 months agoWe do manufacturer some cars
The government justified its “tariff fortress” by pointing to China’s extensive industrial policy, such as subsidies, that artificially lower production costs. The tariffs were claimed to protect domestic producers by offsetting the cost advantage enjoyed by Chinese EV manufacturers.
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Opioid deaths in Canada fell 17% in 2024, but thousands are still dyingEnglish
3·6 months agoPer capita as well but it varies by region, there is an interactive graph on the article
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Hockey@lemmy.ca•Seattle Kraken's mascot was nearly attacked by a bear in frightening video | SportsEnglish
2·6 months agoHere is the xcancel version: https://xcancel.com/i/status/1950981195208204387
I had an error uploading the video to catbox, but I can try somewhere else if the xcancel link doesn’t work
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Ontario health agency informed of cyberattack more than 2 months before telling patients | Globalnews.caEnglish
5·6 months agoIn his letter Friday to Kosseim, Shamji said that nearly one-third of all home-care patients in the province had their data compromised.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/data-breach-ontario-health-at-home-mpp-1.7572411
I couldn’t find specifics, but maybe you’ll be contacted now if you were affected?
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Northern B.C. shows how big resource projects can strain rural health careEnglish
2·7 months agoYup, I think the article is about making sure the healthcare side is accounted for when building, rather than not building
Major infrastructure projects contribute to both local and provincial economies. When managed well, the economic benefits of such projects can positively contribute to community health.
But when not managed properly, the pressures that major infrastructure projects place on local health-care services can be significant. Therefore, we strongly urge governments and businesses to consider their impacts on overburdened and hard-working health-care providers in rural and remote communities.
On site medical attention would help as well:
How well a project manages its health service impacts clearly matters. When project workers resided in well-managed camps supported by competent onsite medical service providers, the pressures on the local system were less than when workforces did not have adequate accommodation and health supports.
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canada needs a national AI literacy strategy to help students navigate AIEnglish
4·7 months agoAI is American hoax to win over China.
What do you mean?
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canada needs a national AI literacy strategy to help students navigate AIEnglish
53·7 months agoLearning about how AI works and what it is/isn’t good at, is a good thing? It will most likely make kids use generative AI less, and be careful about what they use it for
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Shrubs are taking over the Arctic. Will caribou suffer?English
2·8 months agoMy bad, I didn’t proofread it
It’s fixed now, thank you!
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Ban flavoured vapes now, anti-smoking groups urge Carney’s government - National | Globalnews.caEnglish
5·9 months agoWhat do you want to be banned…the smoking or the nicotine?
In this case I saw the news article and I wanted to hear people’s thoughts on it. I learned a lot from the comments, and appreciate you adding your perspective, thank you :)
Otter Raft@lemmy.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•There is a recall for Audi Q5s (2022 2023 2024), see link for full detailsEnglish
1·9 months agoMore of a PSA for the ones that I come across, in case it helps anyone













Oh 😦