The number of Canadians who provide constant care is expected to increase as the population ages. (CBC)

More than a quarter of Canadians help co-ordinate health care for someone else, and some say they've taken a financial hit in the process, a new survey suggests.

Deloitte's 2009 Canadian health-care consumer survey looked at 2,304 Canadian adults in all provinces but not territories. It covered a range of topics, including caregiving, health-care costs and policy, satisfaction with health care, health information and alternative therapies.

Of those surveyed, 28 per cent said they provide health-care assistance to a family member, friend or someone else.

Among caregivers, 38 per cent said they have been providing constant care for more than two years, and 20 per cent reported a reduced ability to earn income.

The number of Canadians who provide constant care is expected to increase as the population ages.

"With 51 per cent of caregivers between the ages of 25 and 44, and roughly even split between female and male caregivers, this raises concerns about caregiver earning potential," Mark Fam, a senior manager at Deloitte in Toronto, and his co-author wrote.

"In fact, these findings emphasize the impact of care-giving not only on the health system, but also on broader economic growth."

Caregivers are typically in their prime earning years, Fam said.

Those receiving constant care were eventually split between adults and children.

Seeking online medical records

Another general trend that emerged from the survey was a move toward people viewing themselves as consumers rather than patients.

Canadians continue to trust health-care providers and hospitals. But among adults across age groups who have used the health-care system in the past 12 months, there appeared to be a push toward self-care or taking more responsibility for one's own care with support, Fam said.

A total of 61 per cent of Canadians said they want their physicians, hospitals or the government to provide them with a personal health record or online medical records, and 66 per cent would like to access a family member's records.

Just over half, 51 per cent, of Canadians were interested in gaining access to a secure internet site to:

• Schedule office visits.
• Assess medical records.
• View tests results.
• Order prescription refills.
• Find information about treatment options.
• Check status of bills.

Just under half, 49 per cent, of respondents also wanted to be able to correspond with their physician by email.

Consumers, not patients

There was a clear interest in more convenience and service, as well as tools to navigate the health-care system, Fam said.

The findings reflect a shift among some Canadians toward wanting to play a greater role in their own health care, while 25 per cent said they preferred the traditional authoritarian model of doing what a doctor advises.

It's important to move beyond a paternalistic relationship between doctors and patients into a more egalitarian relationship, so long as the information provided includes the context people need to interpret test results properly, agreed Dr. Joel Lexchin, a professor in York University's faculty of health.

"It has the potential for making health care into a commodity," said Lexchin, who studies prescription drug policy, such as direct to consumer ads. "That's what consumers do."

The danger of viewing patients as consumers is that they may start to believe they can buy their way to the top of queues, like tipping a maître d' to get into a restaurant, he added.