More needed to bring health care to Toronto's vulnerable, end homelessness: doctor

With thousands of people believed to be experiencing homelessness in Toronto at any given time, one local physician says more investment is needed to improve access to health care for the city's most vulnerable, given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Many of us have seen the encampment communities that have developed. More people have been disconnected from social supports than ever before," Dr. Naheed Dosani said during an appearance on CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.

"And so we really need to work together to really end homelessness for good. We need to provide access to housing and, ultimately, that is the solution to this problem."

A palliative care physician, Dosani is the founder of the PEACH program at Inner City Health Associates in Toronto, which started in 2014.

Short for Palliative Education And Care for the Homeless, PEACH provides mobile palliative care across Toronto, bringing services directly to patients whether it's on the street, in shelters or under bridges, so no person dealing with a serious illness falls through the cracks, Dosani says.

In April 2021, the City of Toronto estimated that more than 7,300 people were experiencing homelessness.

"It's so important to meet people where they are at, because many people who experience homelessness have experienced trauma and have difficulty developing trust and relationships with health workers in clinics and hospitals," Dosani said.

"So we go right to them so that they get the care they need when they want, how they want, where they want."

As part of its work, the group offers weekly check-ins, picks up prescriptions, and arranges meals or transportation for clients.

The group also has provided patients with phones so they can connect with health care, food and other services. Team members also offer support for end of life care.

The idea to start a palliative care program for those who are homeless or have unreliable housing, along with a life-limiting illness, began during Dosani's family medicine residency at a Toronto shelter.

After working closely with a man dying of cancer and suffering from mental health and addiction issues, Dosani later learned one morning that his patient had been found dead on the street from an overnight overdose.

He says while brick and mortar buildings such as clinics and hospitals are important, when it comes to funding services more is needed to build systems that meet people where they are at, which for some may be on the street.

"What we really are aiming to do is offer a low threshold, low-barrier approaches, to access to health care, something that's so important when there are so many barriers to accessing health care to begin with," Dosani said.