Adequate shelter, access to nutritious food, and a minimum wage that is consistent with (or above) the cost of living can significantly impact a person’s health. A lack of any – or all – can lead to serious health consequences.
Nurses see the effects of poverty on their clients on a daily basis. That’s because health and poverty are inextricably linked. In fact, poverty has been linked to diabetes, hypertension and even premature death. This is why RNAO has centred a great deal of its advocacy work on helping Ontarians to live their lives uninhibited by the debilitating effects of poverty.
To learn more about the association's advocacy work on this issue, check out the following links:- 25 in 5 Report (RNAO is a member) on the fourth anniversary of Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy (released in 2008)
- RNAO's October 2013 Submission to the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction and Social Inclusion on Ontario's Next Five-Year Poverty Reduction Strategy
- RNAO's October 2013 Submission to the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel: Increase the minimum wage so that work is a pathway out of poverty
- An August open letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne, calling on the Ontario government to accelerate poverty reduction efforts
- RNAO’s October open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, imploring both levels of government to invest in poverty reduction for better health and stronger communities
- An October 2013 letter to the editor, published in the Toronto Star and penned by RNAO President Rhonda Seidman-Carlson, who points to the link between poverty and health and calls for a greater commitment from the provincial government to address poverty.
- An October column, published in St. Catharines Standard and penned by RNAO member Lynn McCleary, an associate professor in the department of nursing at Brock University, describes the impact of poverty on her community of St. Catharines, and what the city is doing to help those who are living below the poverty line.
