Why you need to talk about money with your doctor

Does your doctor know how much money you make? Because they probably should. You’ve no doubt heard about studies linking poverty to poor health. And even if you hadn’t, it should make sense to you that the two would be naturally related.

So if that’s the case, why don’t we treat poverty as the medical issue it clearly is? Today we’ll meet a doctor who is trying to change that-by asking uncomfortable questions and listening to the answers. And then trying to implement that approach throughout a profession with education and policy goals. What if it turns out that the most efficient way to lessen the burden of poverty-both on people and on our overtaxed health care system-is to just give people enough money to live healthier lives? If the numbers show that, would we listen to them?

GUEST: Dr. Gary Bloch, family physician, St Michael’s Hospital; associate professor, University of Toronto faculty of medicine

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