November 2008 - Hot Topic

OPHA Welcomes the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS)

Tools and Resources are available, through OPHA, to assist you in implementing a significant portion of the standards effectively

OPHA is pleased to join the rest of Ontario’s public health community in welcoming the highly anticipated Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS) that were recently transmitted to Ontario’s 36 Boards of Health. The celebratory launch of the standards and training sessions are now being launched. Implementation is set to begin in January 2009. The OPHS and links to the 26 Protocols and other supporting materials can be found on the OPHA website.

OPHA is pleased to have supported the development of the standards and contributed significantly to the process. Our contribution is most concretely reflected in the Foundational Standard which acknowledges the contributions made by our Access, Equity, and Social Justice Workgroup (AESJ).

As public health practitioners across the province begin to implement the standards, OPHA is pleased to be able to offer a selection of tools and resources that will make the challenge of implementing the standards an enjoyable journey towards excellence in public health practice. Specifically, AESJ has created a Diversity and Inclusion Learning Outline [PDF] that complements the Foundational Standard and can expedite in its implementation.

Similarly, OPHA’s Toward Evidence Informed Practice (TEIP) program has created a set of tools for incorporating evidence into practice. You can take a guided online tour of the tools in a comprehensive learning model on their website, or you can access the tools directly.

In addition to this, OPHA has three other resource centres supporting the Chronic Disease Prevention, Family Health, and Prevention of Injury and Substance Misuse standards. The Nutrition Resource Centre (NRC), Heart Health Resource Centre (HHRC), the Alcohol Policy Network (APN)/ Association to Reduce Alcohol Promotion in Ontario (ARAPO), as well as TEIP, have created documents discussing how their programs are mapped to the standards.