Join us for our 2012 NCCPH Summer Institute!

The Centres are pleased to announce that our 2012 Summer Institute will be held from May 15-16, 2012 at the Delta Grand Hotel, in Kelowna, B.C.

This year's theme is : Advancing Health Equity, Building on Experience. This opportunity to help advance health equity will build on our experience in the six priority areas of the NCCPH: environmental health, Aboriginal health, infectious diseases, methods and tools for knowledge translation, healthy public policy, and determinants of health.

The Summer Institute is a great learning and networking opportunity for all public health practitioners, decision makers, reasearchers and students.

The preliminary program is now available, click here to have a look.
Online registration will be available soon.

Sign up for the Summer Institute E-Bulletin to receive the latest news and updates, click here.

Welcome to Nathalie Ross, NCCPH's new strategic coordinator

The NCCs are pleased to welcome Nathalie Ross as our first strategic coordinator. Nathalie starts work today, and comes to the NCC collaborative with extensive experience in social services. Most recently she has been research coordinator with Donald Berman Maimonides, a Montreal geriatric centre and seniors' housing provider, and advisor with Centre Grace Dart, an extended care network. And, has been a part-time lecturer at the National School of Public Administration and the University of Quebec in Montreal. Nathalie brings strong experience in organizational development, strategic planning and positioning, evaluation, and public/government relations. She has worked in several networks comprised of associated, yet independent, organizations.

Come visit us at the
2012 TOPHC Convention

NCCAH National Forum – The Sacred Space of Womanhood: Mothering Across the Generations

Rarely are the sacred spaces of Indigenous mothering and womanhood celebrated. Concentrated upon. Learned from. Linked to broader and pressing issues like the health and well-being of communities, the transmission of knowledge, and the dissemination of strengths accumulated through generations of knowing and being. For two days in the early new year (January 24-25) however, the NCCAH did precisely this. And Inuit, Métis and First Nations women, from coast to coast to coast, joined together in Ottawa and raised their voices – their words, their stories – and were heard.

Keynote speakers Maria Campbell and Jeanette Corbiere-Laval spoke of winter stories, of humour, and the ways that values are transmitted through generations. Three panels (mother/daughter panel, young women and a grandmother's panel) offered powerful insights. With over 160 participants, the NCCAH's The Sacred Space of Womanhood: Mothering Across the Generations created both a unique opportunity and a foundation for future research and policy action. 

Proceedings of the gathering and a DVD will be available this summer.

NCCAH National Forum –
The Sacred Space of Womanhood: Mothering Across the Generations

Indigenous Peoples, Health, and Place

The NCCAH has joined forces with the University of British Columbia (Okanagan Campus) to publish a unique edition of LAKE: A Journal of Arts and Environment.  Guests include award winning author Warren Cariou and renowned Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, while a creative essay originally prepared for submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission links healing from the colonial violence of residential schools with connection to place and the natural environment.

"This edition injects the question of health and Indigeneity into the equation of art and environment," said guest editor Dr. Sarah de Leeuw, a Research Associate with the NCCAH. "There is a solid evidence base that creative expression and art can lead to good health. Certainly for Indigenous people, a strong sense of cultural resiliency and identity rooted in place is integral to health - and creative and artistic expression is a vital way to express that relationship," she said.

The LAKE special issue will be available March 2012.
Learn more.

Indigenous Peoples, Health, and Place
LAKE Journal special edition

The Role of Inuit Knowledge in the Care of Children: A Fact Sheet Series

The NCCAH has released a series of fact sheets that make significant contributions to an understanding of Inuit worldviews at the heart of Inuit well-being. Inuit knowledge, or Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, is a dynamic and living knowledge system. As series author and educator Shirley Tagalik notes, it is key not only to a 'cultural health' approach to the well-being of Inuit children, families and communities in Canada - but also to survival of Inuit in a changing contemporary context.

The series looks at:

• Inunnguiniq: Caring for children the Inuit way (also in Inuktitut)

• Inutsiaqpagutit: That which enables you to have a good life - Supporting Inuit early life health (also in Inuktitut)

• Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: The role of Indigenous knowledge in supporting wellness in Inuit communities in Nunavut (also in Inuktitut).

 After more than a decade of regular meetings across the region, Inuit Elders from Nunavut have now documented Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit cultural knowledge and identified a framework for 'IQ' that can be applied in Inuit society. "The Elders consider that this is something that needs to be shared for all Inuit; and it is knowledge that is resonating with groups from across the circumpolar region." Tagalik said.

The Role of Inuit Knowledge in the Care of Children: A Fact Sheet Series

NCCDH launched a new website: healthequityclicks

The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH) is pleased to announce Health Equity Clicks, a new website that profiles organizations taking action on the social determinants of health. Visitors to healthequityclicks.ca can choose to view organizations by region, or by the role they take in advancing health equity.

Learn more about organisations that are taking action on social determinants of health
Visit healthequityclicks.ca

New series of webinars

In collaboration with CHNET-Works! the NCCDH is offering a series of webinars in February and March. Visit www.chnet-works.ca to register:

1. In from the Margins: Moving from recommendations to action

Offered in English on February 17 at 1pm EST

2. At the Crossroads of Research and Action on Health Equity: Empower the Community: New Brunswick's Approach to Poverty Reduction

Offered in English on February 23 at 1pm EST and in French on March 1 at 12pm EST

3. At the Crossroads of Research and Action on Health Equity: Building Leadership Competency for public Health Practice

Offered in French on March 21 at 1pm EST

NCCDH with CHNET-Works! is offereing a new series of webinars,
to learn more, click here

Effectiveness of Alternative Antimicrobial Agents for Disinfection of Hard Surfaces

This document is intended for public health inspectors and reviews the effectiveness, disinfection potential, and pertinent issues of major types of alternative agents that claim to have antimicrobial properties. Alternative agents that are reviewed include: tea tree oil, thyme oil, electrolyzed water, ozonated water, silver-based products, vinegar (acetic acid), lemon juice (citric acid), baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), and microfibre cloths.

Effectiveness of Alternative Antimicrobial Agents for Disinfection of Hard Surfaces

Reducing Residential Indoor Exposure to Pesticides: a Toolkit for Practitioners

This toolkit intends to help public health inspectors and medical health officers inform the public about strategies to reduce non-agricultural residential pesticide exposure indoors. It focuses on the following exposure reduction strategies: prevention and alternatives; safe use of pesticides; minimizing take-home and track-in; and cleaning the home.

Reducing Residential Indoor Exposure to Pesticides: a Toolkit for Practitioners

One Health: A Primer (University of Guelph Master of Public Health Program)

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Citizen Participation

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) currently represents one of the most structured practices available to public health actors for promoting the adoption of healthy public policies. It is applied to policies developed by sectors other than that of health that can significantly affect health determinants. The following documents focus on one of the methodological aspects of implementing health impact assessments, namely the role that can be assigned to citizen participation.

The first document explores the four main arguments favouring citizen participation in HIA. The second one looks at five categories of factors that can explain the significant gap between the participatory rhetoric attached to HIA, and actual practices.

Citizen Participation in Health Impact Assessment (HIA): An Overview of the Principal Arguments Supporting It

Click here to read more.

Click here to download the document. 
PDF 547 K


Citizen Participation in Health Impact Assessment (HIA): An Overview of the Risks and Obstacles

Click here to read more.

Click here to download the document. 
PDF 548 K

Citizen Participation in Health Impact Assessment (HIA): An Overview of the Principal Arguments Supporting It

Citizen Participation in Health Impact Assessment (HIA): An Overview of the Risks and Obstacles 

New team members at NCCID

There have been several staff changes at NCCID. We would like to introduce Shelley Stopera as our new Program Director. Shelley comes to us from Manitoba Health and brings with her a strong STBBI background, which will be a great asset to NCCID.  Second, a special thank you and goodbye to Renee Barclay, who did an amazing job as NCCID Communications Coordinator. This gives NCCID the opportunity to introduce and welcome Stacie Ross as our new Communications Coordinator. Some of you may already know Stacie as the NCCID project officer.

Purple Paper: focus on HPV Vaccination

Don't miss NCCID's December 2011 issue of the Purple Paper, HPV Vaccination:  Understanding the Impact on HPV Disease. The paper discusses the burden of HPV associated diseases and the potential to significantly reduce the incidence of pre-cancerous lesions and cancer with the HPV vaccine. You are also able to read previous editions of the Purple Paper at nccid.ca.

Purple Paper: focus on
HPV Vaccination
PDF 227 K

Purple Paper: focus on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

AMR was also the theme for our November 2011 Purple Paper entitled “The W-5 of NDM-1: The Pinnacle of Antimicrobial Resistance”. Dr. John Conly, et al. explores the globalization of the public health threat surrounding NDM-1.

Purple Paper: focus on
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
PDF 88 K

Communication Strategies for
the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1)
Pandemic
PDF 344 K

New year brings new leadership to NCCMT

NCCMT is pleased to welcome Dr. Maureen Dobbins to the position of scientific director. Maureen has extensive expertise in knowledge translation and evidence-informed decision making in public health. She is also an associate professor in McMaster University's School of Nursing.

Welcome to Maureen Dobbins, NCCMT's new Scientific Director

Changing roles: Donna Ciliska steps down as scientific lead

Donna Ciliska has been at the helm of the NCCMT since its inception. Donna began as co-scientific director with Helen Thomas in 2006 and has been the primary lead since 2008.

Although Donna is stepping down as scientific lead, she will continue to share her expertise and enthusiasm for knowledge translation to ongoing NCCMT projects.

Many thanks to
Donna Ciliska

New webinar series: “Spotlight on Knowledge Translation Methods & Tools”

In January 2012, we launched a new webinar series in collaboration with CHNET-Works! fireside chats to highlight some popular resources housed in NCCMT's Registry of Methods and Tools. The webinars provide an opportunity for participants to learn about the resources in more depth from the developers themselves and to hear real-world examples of how the resource has been used.

For information on upcoming webinars in the series, click here or contact NCCMT.

New webinar series: “Spotlight on Knowledge Translation Methods & Tools''

Evaluating the NCCMT - feedback welcome

NCCMT is committed to developing products and services that meet the needs of our audience. Over the next few months we will be conducting a formal evaluation of several of our initiatives. You may be contacted by our evaluators asking for your feedback, either by survey or key informant interview. To minimize interruptions to our target audience, we are trying to coordinate our outreach efforts (and hope you will excuse us if you are inadvertently contacted more than once).  We look forward to your participation and appreciate any feedback you can provide.

Of course, even if you don't receive a formal request, we always value your feedback. You are invited to contact us or fill out an online feedback form any time.