In this co-authored blog post we’ve worked together to take a birds eye view of the prevalence of a number of vulnerable populations in British Columbia and Alberta.
Co-authors: Amanda Dahl, RDH and Kylie McLean, RD
In Canada, Medicare is the federal system that funds medically necessary hospital and physician services to all Canadian residents with the intention of baseline “universal health care” for all Canadians. However, it is the responsibility of each province and territory to manage, organize, and deliver the health care services to their regional population (Government of Canada, 2016). Canada is a vast and diverse country in many respects, including (to name only a few) economic, geographic and cultural variances between each of the 13 provinces and territories. Since each province is responsible for the administration of health care services, how does each province compare with respect to those at highest risk for adverse health outcomes or health risks; vulnerable populations.
The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (2022) defines vulnerable populations as the following; “... groups and communities at a higher risk for poor health as a result of the barriers they experience to social, economic, political and environmental resources, as well as limitations due to illness or disability”.
Join us in learning from the discussion below on our comparison between our two respective (and neighbouring) provinces when it comes to rates of common vulnerable populations.
The Data
A challenge with this activity is having the available data for a direct comparison between provinces. The rates of prevalence we found and recorded in Table 1 are often reported from different sources and from different years. They may have different methodology to how the data was retrieved, and therefore could be of differing quality. However, regardless of the year Table 1 provides a helpful comparison of the general rates of vulnerable populations within each of our respective provinces. To compare the populations between the provinces; British Columbia reported a population of 5 000 879, Alberta reported 4 262 635 population for 2021 (Statistics Canada, 2022). We included the most prevalent chronic medical conditions. The Office of the Auditor General of Alberta (2014) states “the most common chronic diseases in Alberta include hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, heart failure, coronary artery disease, obesity and depression”(Office of the Auditor General of Alberta, 2014). While researching for similar information on BC’s most common chronic conditions the information was not laid out as clearly. For both provinces the highest population was individuals presenting with obesity (BC 23.1%, AB 28.8%) and high blood pressure (BC 22.8%, AB 20.5%). Comparing these conditions with the national average puts BC below the national average (26.8% of adults age 18 and older) for obesity and Alberta above national average (Statistics Canada, 2019). In regards to hypertension , the national average is 40% for individuals over 25 therefore both Alberta and British Columbia are below the national average (Office of the Auditor General of Alberta, 2014).
Observations: British Columbia & Alberta
Where we found divergence between the two provinces was in the vulnerable group of the elder population (in British Columbia there was 20.3% of individuals 65 years and up, in Alberta the population was 16%). The other area of notable divergence was the child poverty rate, BC had 18.0%,which is a slightly higher child poverty rate than Canada at 17.7%. Alberta had a 16% child poverty rate which is below the national average (2021 BC Child Poverty Report Card, 2021). While looking at the larger picture of the vulnerability of low income we compared the home ownership rates between the two provinces, in BC the rate is 66.8% and in Alberta it is 70.9% we can infer that a higher percentage of Albertans are able to purchase a home (Statistics Canada, 2022). Statistics Canada (2022) reported that the percentage of one parent families was 14.9% for BC and 15.2% for AB, this is a very small provincial difference and may impact the low income family situation in a broad picture.
Additionally the indigenous population varied between provinces, in BC it was reported as 3.76% for 2021. Conversely, in 2021 the indigenous population in Alberta was 6.67% (Statistics Canada, 2022).
Vulnerable population category | British Columbia | source | Alberta | source |
Asthma | 12.1% | (BCCDC, 2015) | 12.4% (2021) | (Alberta Government, 2022) |
COPD | 6.2% | (BCCDC, 2015) | 2.8% (2021) | (Alberta Government, 2022) |
Diabetes | 8% | (BCCDC, 2015) | 8.5% (2021) | (Alberta Government, 2022) |
Heart failure | 2% | (BCCDC, 2015) | 1.56% (2021) | (Alberta Government, 2022) |
High blood pressure | 22.8% | (BCCDC, 2015) | 20.5% (2021) | (Alberta Government, 2022) |
Cancer | 29,795 (new diagnoses)=.59% | (BC Cancer Provincial Health Services Authority, 2019) |
| (Alberta Health Services, Healthier Together, 2018) |
Obesity | 23.1% | (Statistics Canada , 2019) | 28.8% (2018) | Statistics Canada, 2019) |
Low income | 8.9% (2018) | (Statista, 2022) | 9.2% (2021) | Statistics Canada (2021) |
Children living in poverty | 18% (2020) | (2021 BC Child Poverty Report Card, 2021) | 16% (2019) | (2021 BC Child Poverty Report Card, 2021) |
Elder population | 20.3% (2022) | (Statistics Canada, 2022) | 16% (2022) | (Government of Alberta, 2022) |
Indigenous population | 200,000 (3.76%) | (Statistics Canada, 2022) | 6.67% (2021) | (Statistics Canada, 2022) |
With a disability | 14.8% (2012) total, over age 15 | (Statistics Canada, 2013) | 12.5% (2012) total, over age 15 | (Statistics Canada, 2013) |
Mental disorders and suicidal ideation, plans and attempts | 10.08% (2012) | (Palay et al., 2019) | 10.41% (2012) | (Palay et al., 2019) |
Immigrant population | 23% (2021) | (Statistics Canada, 2022) | 23.2% (2021) | (Statistics Canada, 2022) |
Visible minority population | 23% (2016) | (Stats Canada 2016) | 23.5% (2017) | (Statistics Canada, 2019) |
Table 1. Rate of prevalence of various vulnerable populations in B.C. and AB from various sources. The year in brackets beside the percentage indicates the year of the reported rate, if it differed from the year of the published source.
Summary
In conclusion we observed that the provinces are similar in many ways and divergent in specific vulnerable populations such as prevalence of elderly and children living in poverty. What we were able to compare is how the provinces support these vulnerable areas and quite consistently update population data for most areas we searched for. Since the rates of many vulnerable populations within the two provinces is comparable, further analysis of interest would be to explore how each province supports these vulnerable populations in their administration of provincial healthcare services.
Thanks and appreciation to Amanda for collaborating in retrieving metrics and co-writing this blog post. Check out her ePortfolio at https://amandavdahl05.wixsite.com/amanda-dahl-rdh
- Kylie
References
2021 BC Child Poverty Report Card. (2021). Putting children and youth first. Retrieved November 17, 2021 from https://still1in5.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/First_Call_Report_Card_2021_Nov_23_web.pdf
Alberta Health Services, Healthier Together. (2018). Alberta Community Health Dashboard. Government of Alberta. Retrieved November 3, 2022 from https://www.healthiertogether.ca/prevention-data/alberta-community-health-dashboard/community-cancer-prevention-screening-dashboard/
Alberta Health Services. (n.d.). Chronic Disease Management. https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/info/page11934.aspx#:~:text=Approximately%2030%20per%20cent%20of,years%20of%20age%20or%20older.
BC Cancer Provincial Health Services Authority. (2019). New Cancer Diagnoses, British Columbia. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://bccandataanalytics.shinyapps.io/IncidenceCounts/
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. (2015). BC Community Health Data. Retrieved November 19, 2022, from http://communityhealth.phsa.ca/HealthProfiles/HealthReportComparisonToBC/Hazelton
Employment and Social Development Canada. (2021). Understanding Systems: The 2021 report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/esdc-edsc/documents/programs/poverty-reduction/national-advisory-council/reports/2021-annual/advisory-council-poverty-2021-annual(new).pdf
Government of Alberta. (2022). Interactive Health Data Application. http://www.ahw.gov.ab.ca/IHDA_Retrieval/
Government of Alberta. (2022). Resources to help seniors age in their community. https://www.alberta.ca/seniors-resources.aspx
Government of Canada. (2016, August 22). Canada’s health care system. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-health-care-system.html
National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. (2022). Glossary of Essential Health Equity Terms: Vulnerable Populations. https://nccdh.ca/glossary/entry/vulnerable-populations#:~:text=Vulnerable%20populations%20are%20groups%20and,due%20to%20illness%20or%20disability.
Statista. (2022). Low income population percentage in British Columbia. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/583121/low-income-population-percentage-british-columbia/
Office of the Auditor General of Alberta (2014) Health—Report on Chronic Disease Management. Retrieved November 20, 2022, from https://www.oag.ab.ca/reports/oag-health-report-chronic-disease-management-sept-2014/
Palay, J., Taillieu, T. L., Afifi, T. O., Turner, S., Bolton, J. M., Enns, M. W., Smith, M., Lesage, A., Bakal, J. A., Rush, B., Adair, C. E., Vigod, S. N., Clelland, S., Rittenbach, K., Kurdyak, P., & Sareen, J. (2019). Prevalence of Mental Disorders and Suicidality in Canadian Provinces. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie, 64(11), 761–769. https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743719878987
Statistics Canada (2021). Census of Population. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/index-eng.cfm
Statistics Canada. (2022). 2021 Census of Population key indicators by geography: Canada. Retrieved November 17, 2022 from https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/stats/statgeo2021.cfm?LANG=E
Statistics Canada. (2019, April 10). Focus on Geography Series, 2016 Census. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/fogs-spg/Facts-pr-eng.cfm?Lang=Eng&GK=PR&GC=48&TOPIC=7
Statistics Canada (2022) Older adults and population aging statistics. Retrieved November 17, 2022, from https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects-start/older_adults_and_population_aging
Statistics Canada. (2019). Overweight and obese adults, 2018. Retrieved November 20, 2022 from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00005-eng.htm
Statistics Canada. (2013, December 3). Prevalence of disability for adults by sex and age group, Alberta, 2012. Canadian Survey on Disability 2012. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-654-x/2013001/tbl/tbl1.10-eng.htm
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