Psychological services and the future of health care in Canada

The implications of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada's (CFHCC) recommendations extend beyond the necessarily limited scope of its report. This article explores the potential role of psychologists in a restructured public health care system that goes beyond hospital and physician care to home care and a revamped primary care system. Public plans would also benefit from the use of psychological alternatives to prescription drug therapies. Such evidence-based extensions to the existing Canadian model would improve both health and medical outcomes. They could also introduce new cost-savings to provincial health plans that are presently under immense financial strain.