March 2011 - Hot Topic

Ontario Public Health Units Address the Social Determinants of Health

by Megan Williams, Senior Planner - External Relations, Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion

Under the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS), health units are required to achieve a number of broad outcomes that are informed by evidence and data. The Foundational Standard particularly speaks to the need for population health assessment, surveillance, research, and program evaluation. To help health units meet the requirements under this Standard, the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (OAHPP), in consultation with public health stakeholders, has developed a new program to support the following functions:

  • Applied Research and Program Evaluation: Applied research and program evaluation in the area of public health.
  • Education and Professional Development: Continuing education for health professionals and leadership in undergraduate, graduate and continuing professional education of future public health professionals.
  • Knowledge Exchange: The synthesis, dissemination and diffusion of knowledge about public health.

The new program comprises five elements and their associated services, each of which are described below.

1. Library Services

Access to scientific resources and the best available evidence is essential to guide evidence-based decision-making and interventions. Library services play a key role in advancing knowledge transfer. Health information professionals are the bridge between people, information and technology. Access to tools such as databases and journals is equally important in advancing knowledge transfer. Building on and complementing the existing public health library infrastructure, a variety of library services will be made available to public health units including:

  • Shared library services partnership;
  • Expansion of Virtual Library;
  • Single point of access to electronic journals;
  • Training and awareness;
  • Cataloguing Public Health Research, Education and Development (PHRED) program documents.

2.  Knowledge Exchange Support

Knowledge exchange is providing the right information to the right people in the right format at the right time. Through knowledge exchange services, support will be provided to help health units and public health associations make available, access, understand and use the best available evidence on current and emerging public health issues and priorities. This will assist health units to make evidence-informed decisions at the policy, program and practice levels and to meet the OPHS. It will also allow health units and associations to collaborate and stay abreast and informed of various public health activities and projects. Supports for this service will include:

  • Public health web-based platform;
  • Sharing best practices;
  • Knowledge Exchange Specialist.

3. Locally Driven Collaborative Projects

This stream will help health units meet the Foundational Standard by facilitating participation, engagement and uptake of research and program evaluation. The designated funding for this stream will allow public health units, associations, community partners, and researchers to work together to explore a topic, intervention, or program related to an identified critical public health issue. Support for this service stream will include:

  • Collaboration opportunities;
  • Collaboration facilitation;
  • Collaborative project funding;
  • Project facilitation.

4. Ethics Support

Public health encompasses a wide range of activities spanning research, surveillance, program evaluation, and quality improvement among others. It is sometimes unclear what level of ethical oversight is needed for these activities. Ethics support services are being developed to assist public health practitioners with such questions, as well as with ethics reviews. The services include:

  • Community of practice;
  • Ethics education;
  • Forms and tools;
  • Ethics review board;
  • Consultation services.

5. Student Education and Preceptor Support

Supporting students and preceptors is an important component of nurturing the next generation of public health professionals and ongoing staff development. Student placement coordinators and preceptors play a large role in ensuring that students have a productive and rewarding experience during their student placements and are exposed to public health practice. Support for this service will include:

  • Information and networking activities;
  • Student education and preceptor liaison.

In Conclusion

Implementation of these services has started and will continue in a phased approach throughout the year. There are opportunities for public health professionals to get involved in planning and implementation activities, including:

  • Identifying public health library resources, services, needs and gaps through an environmental scan to take place in March.;
  • Identifying needs, priorities and resources for the web-based public health exchange as part of an upcoming needs assessment, conducted in partnership with the Ontario Public Health Association (OPHA) and the Association for Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) in March;
  • Attending a session at the Ontario Public Health Convention (TOPHC) on April 5th to brainstorm ideas for locally driven collaborative projects and to identify opportunities for collaboration. We are looking for a minimum of one representative per health unit and will cover travel costs to participate;
  • New positions are being posted and we are always welcoming of secondments from health units.

For more information about the new program and/or to find out how to get involved, please visit the OAHPP website or contact us at feedback [at] oahpp.ca.