Centre for Health Promotion
University of Toronto
The Banting Institute
100 College Street, Rm 207
Toronto, ON
M5G 1L5
Tel: 416-978-1809
Fax: 416-971-1365
centre.healthpromotion@utoronto.ca

   E-info Update Fall 2004

Contents

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Director’s Remarks

Over the past six months, there have been some national and international events that indicate health promotion is alive and thriving.

There was an International Union for Health Promotion & Education (IUHPE) conference in Melbourne, Australia at the end of April 2004. About 3,000 people attended the conference and there was a level of excitement about health promotion around the globe. Fran Perkins and I were there from CHP. Canada will be hosting the next international conference in 2007, and Health Canada has invested $500,000 in support of this event with expectations that Canada will be demonstrating successful health promotion results in 2007.

The IUHPE Global Effectiveness Project with regard to health promotion continues, and there were updates presented at the Melbourne conference from several of the regions. I sit on the North American Regional Office (NARO) committee that is reviewing North American and Caribbean literature on the effectiveness of community interventions. This project has some support from Health Canada and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

Planning for the 6th World Health Organization (WHO) Conference on Health Promotion in Bangkok in 2005 has started. The CHP will be working on one of the background papers.

Nationally, there were three summer schools in health promotion offered in Canada this past summer, our big one in June, one in Brandon, Manitoba and one in PEI in August. I continue to be part of a Health Canada project with the Canadian Consortium for Health Promotion Research to develop an evaluation tool for the community intervention component of Health Canada’s national strategies (e.g. CAPC, Diabetes).

The creation of a health promotion affiliate of the Canadian Health Network (CHN) and the way in which health promotion is being integrated as a key component of all of the CHN affiliates is very exciting. The CHP and Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse (OPC) are co-leaders of the CHN HP affiliate. We have adjusted our work plan to acknowledge the need to spend more time now working with the other affiliates to build up and clarify their health promotion collections.

I would like to take a few moments to thank those who have made a special contribution to the Centre over the last six months. Over the summer we were happy to have two MHSc students, Paola Ardiles, working on a mental health promotion guide for practitioners with CAMH and Michelle Asham, working with me on an evaluation of the Positive Possibilities program for teen moms in north Toronto. Dr. Weizhen Dong, a post-doctoral fellow, is finishing up her year with us in December. We were joined at the beginning of September by Dr. Frank Stark who is working on a career transition award from Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) with Dianne Patychuk of Toronto Public Health and me. This Fall we also welcomed Grace Lee on a nursing practicum with the Centre. She is conducting some key informant consultations related to the mental health promotion guide that Paola was developing over the summer.

I would like to thank Barbara Ronson who continues as a volunteer to co-chair the Healthy Schools Coalition and chaired the general stream planning committee for the Health Promotion Summer School 2004, Dorothy Goldin-Rosenberg, who chairs the Cancer Prevention Working Group, and Shelley Young, who has volunteered to chair a new working group on urban health promotion. Lisa Weintraub continues to be the bilingual coordinator for our Summer Schools and Nora Sellers and Barry MacDonald continue to provide excellent administrative and financial support.

-- Suzanne F. Jackson, Director

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News from the Centre

Healthy U of T Award 2004 – Call for Nominations

The Centre is now accepting nominations for the annual Healthy U of T Award. The Award was established as a way of recognizing an individual, department or organization within the University of Toronto (student, student group, staff or faculty) that has made a substantial and lasting contribution to the health and well-being of campus life and/or the broader community.

The deadline for nominations is THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2004.

Last year, the 2003 Healthy U of T group award recognized the Sexual Education and Peer Counselling Centre (SEC), a student-run, non-profit organization that promotes sexual and relationship health through its many services and partnerships. The 2003 individual Healthy U of T Award recognized Dr. Luigi Girolametto, of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology, for whom we received glowing testimonials as to the difference he has made in the health and well being of many lives.

For nomination forms and additional information, please contact the Centre at (416) 978-2182 or visit our website at www.utoronto.ca/chp/.

The Centre for Health Promotion Annual Meeting 2004

When: Thursday, December 2, 2004 at 4:00 p.m.
Where: Croft Chapter House, University College, 15 King’s College Circle, UofT
Who can come: Fellows and members of the CHP, friends, colleagues, everyone interested in health promotion
Guest Speaker: Paulette Schatz, Canadian Society for International Health on "Health Promotion and Youth in Ukraine -- national, regional and local action"
RSVP: Nora Sellers, (416) 978-2182 or at nora.sellers@utoronto.ca.

This past year has been chock full of activities for the Centre for Health Promotion. Join us at our Annual General Meeting to learn more about these activities, to hear about the Centre’s future plans, and to meet and talk with colleagues and friends.

For more information on the event, please contact Nora (see above for contact information).

See you there!

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Ontario Health Promotion Summer School (HPSS)

HPSS 2004

The Ontario Health Promotion Summer School in June 2004 was held from June 21st – 24th (Pre-school, June 20th) at the Bank of Montreal Institute for Learning in Toronto. Participants from many parts of Ontario and even outside of Ontario participated in HPSS 2004, and represented an important variety of professions, groups and organizations. A total of 127 attended the Summer School, with 81 attending the Pre-School.

Each year, the HPSS covers two key strategies of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion. At HPSS 2004 the themes selected by the planning committees were Developing Personal Skills («le développement d’habilités personnelles») and Reorienting Health Services («La réorientation des services de santé»).

A choice of four concurrent sessions, designed to run simultaneously throughout the Summer School, were developed, two within each of these two themes, Developing Personal Skills (Aboriginal and General option) and Reorienting Health Services (Francophone and General option). Integration between participants attending workshops related to different themes was facilitated through opening and closing plenary sessions, which focused was on the global concerns regarding health promotion.

In addition to the larger concurrent sessions, 18 toolbox sessions were offered and were open to all but francophone participants. These workshops provided an opportunity for participants to learn practical tools and programs on a range of specific health promotion topics. Although the toolboxes, in general, were not tied to one of the concurrent themes, the Aboriginal committee organized at least one workshop corresponding to each point of the Medicine Wheel (spiritual, physical, mental and emotional aspects).

Participants were also able to attend three small group sessions, within one of the four following categories: francophone, Aboriginal, rural, or urban/working with culturally diverse communities. These sessions were designed to assist the participants in discussing and finding ways to apply the ideas generated in the concurrent and plenary sessions to their own work situations.

HPSS 2004 was very well received, as evidenced in the completed evaluation which concluded “…the Health Promotion Summer School is considered by participants to be a high quality, well-rounded learning experience held in a good conference facility with friendly staff.”

HPSS 2005

Plans are already underway for HPSS 2005, and we’re very pleased to say that Lisa Weintraub has agreed to take on the role as Coordinator once again.

The areas of focus at HPSS 2004 will be:

  • Strengthening Community Action, with workshops on, among others, working with vulnerable populations, models for community change, and building community capacity AND
  • Creating a Supportive Organizational Environment featuring workshops on understanding organizational change, putting health promotion on the agenda, intersectoral collaboration, and more.

Dates and location are still being finalized. Stay tuned to the Summer School’s website at www.utoronto.ca/chp/hpss/ for information and ongoing updates.

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News from The Health Communication Unit (THCU)

THCU Events

The first THCU provincial workshop of 2004-2005 was held at the International Conference Centre, Ryerson University in May. An Overview of Health Communications, a two-day event providing an overview of the steps necessary to develop a communication campaign, was presented by Larry Hershfield and Nancy Dubois. Two more provincial workshops are scheduled for October and November and are now fully booked. A Special Topics workshop is being planned for the last week in February. The topic will be working with multicultural populations. Watch THCU’s website at www.thuc.ca or the OHPE Bulletin for details.

THCU consultants conducted a number of shorter workshops and presentations during the spring as well as participated in the Health Promotion Summer School in June.

The Workplace Project

THCU’s workplace project concluded last June with a successful conference, Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion: Supporting Local Efforts in Ontario – “Bringing Resources, Networks and Insights Together”. The conference brought together over 160 public health intermediaries and other supporting organizations to network, collaborate, and share information to find solutions to current workplace health challenges. The Bank of Montreal (BMO) facility provided a terrific venue and appropriate learning environment for the conference. The conference included inspiring keynote speeches from Dr. Graham Lowe, President of the Graham Lowe Group Inc., and Dr. Julian Barling, Associate Dean School of Business, Queen’s University. Local initiatives from public health units across the province were highlighted, as well as presentations by supporting organizations such as Work Place Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and National Quality Institute (NQI).

Two resources were developed for the conference, Introduction to Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion Info-pack and Influencing the Organizational Environment to Create Healthy Workplaces Info-pack. Both of these are available online at THCU’s workplace website. The workplace project Virtual Community was also promoted at the conference and continues to provide a space for intermediaries to share insights, opinions and resources relating to supporting comprehensive workplace health promotion initiatives.

Take a look at the Virtual Community (www.thcu.ca/workplace/vc) or the workplace project website (www.thcu.ca/workplace) to learn about the latest resources and for updates on this year’s workplace project.

Ontario Health Promotion Email Bulletin

The Ontario Health Promotion E-mail Bulletin (OHPE) is a weekly newsletter for people interested in health promotion produced by the Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse and The Health Communication Unit. We provide information on workshops, conferences, job postings, projects, issues and resources.

If you have not already subscribed, we invite you to visit us at www.ohpe.ca: learn about the newsletter, browse or search our complete archive of past issues, read our submission guidelines, and sign up online.

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News from the International Health Promotion Unit

International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) / North American Regional Office (NARO)

The Centre was well represented at the 18th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education. Subtitled, Valuing Diversity, Reshaping Power: Exploring Pathways for Health and Well Being, the conference was held in Melbourne Australia from the 26th to 30th of April 2004. Attending were Suzanne Jackson, Fran Perkins and Michael Goodstadt.

Fran Perkins, as Co-Director for the North American Region, attended incoming and outgoing board meetings of IUHPE. She continues on the Board as the Canadian Co Director for NARO. Suzanne Jackson has also been elected to NARO Board as a Canadian Trustee.

IUHPE has been holding international conferences every three years since the 1950s. The previous one was in Paris, France and was also well attended by NARO/IUHPE members. This last conference was the largest conference in the IUHPE’s 53 year history, with 2,956 delegates from 105 countries taking part. The nearly 250 sessions, including plenaries, sub-plenaries, forums, debates, workshops and oral papers and oral posters, covered every topic from early childhood development to healthy ageing, oral health to skin cancer, the history of health promotion to health futures. The program was so intense and inspiring that I will refer you to the web site at http://www.health2004.com.au/ where a full program listing and abstracts, audio and visuals and speaker presentations are available

NARO hopes to hold its annual meeting in Canada next year so stay posted. Suzanne continues to work with the NARO group examining effectiveness of community interventions as their contribution to the IUHPE Global Project on Health Promotion Effectiveness.

Eastern Europe and Russia

Fran Perkins has completed 14 months work with Croatia as part of a World Bank Project managed by the Canadian Society for International Health (CSIH). This project addressed cardiovascular disease and Fran took the lead on Capacity Building in Health Promotion through training. She continues her work as one of two monitor/evaluators for seven Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) health projects in Russia.

Suzanne Jackson now chairs the Canadian Advisory Committee for the Youth for Health II project in Ukraine, also managed by CSIH. That project has exceeded most of the goals it set for this project and it still has another year to go!

South America and Caribbean

The Cost-effectiveness Guide for Health Promoters has been completed in Spanish and is currently being translated into English. Suzanne has been working closely with Ligia de Salazar in Colombia to prepare this Guide which we hope to pilot in Canada, Colombia and Cuba in 2005.

Suzanne and Brian Hyndman have been invited to run workshops on health promotion planning and evaluation at a Summer School in Santiago Chile in January. Peter and Anne Beaucage will also be going to talk about the Medicine Wheel and participate in an Aboriginal exchange with the Mapuche people at the same Summer School.

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News from the National Projects Unit

Focus Assessment of a Triaged (Coordinated) Approach to Smoking Cessation

In April 2004, the National Office, under the leadership of Rick Wilson, completed cross-Canada consultations as part of a focused assessment of a coordinated approach to smoking cessation. The project was funded by Health Canada.

The objectives met by the project included:

  • Consulting with health professional regarding the feasibility and application of a triaged approach to cessation in Canada;
  • Holding six consultation/field study sessions across Canada, involving over 100 participants between January and March 2004;
  • Analysis of the information generated by the consultation/field study sessions to determine the level of support for the triaged approach;
  • A summary report for each consultation/field study session and a consolidated summary report on the results of the research;
  • Conduct an evaluation of the action research approach as a tool in reviewing implementation issues.

The planned consultation/field study sessions allowed public health nurses, pharmacists, doctors, dentists, tobacco reduction coordinators, Ministries of Health and others an opportunity to provide their input and perspectives on the creation and implementation of a coordinated approach to cessation in Canada.

CAPC / CPNP Deliberative Dialogue: Healthy Living and Ten Years Later…What Had Been Learned and What Can Be Shared

The Centre for Health Promotion is currently undertaking a project for Health Canada’s Community Action Plan for Children (CAPC) and Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP). Entitled CAPC / CPNP Deliberative Dialogue: Healthy Living and Ten Years Later … What Had Been Learned and What Can Be Shared, the project is designed to build on what has been learned both from community experience and from research on priority children’s health issues.

The objectives and general approach to this project are highly innovative and consistent with the intermediary role that the Centre plays in relation to the community and academic environments. The Deliberative Dialogue is a cost-effective approach to a national event that will provide meaningful, focused activities with defined products and dissemination plans.

The project looks at two questions:

1. Healthy Living

The health of children and families is a primary concern of all CAPC and CPNP projects and the Deliberative Dialogue project is intended to acknowledge and highlight the work of CAPC and CPNP initiatives in promoting healthy living. There are many ways in which CAPC and CPNP projects are currently addressing healthy living, including the promotion of healthy prenatal nutrition, healthy birth weights, breastfeeding, nutritious snacks for children, food preparation and community kitchens in supportive environments, to name just a few. The Deliberative Dialogue will also provide the opportunity to explore emerging issues in child health and the latest research information on different aspects in health promotion for healthy families and children and strategies will be shared among all participants. This will enable projects to build upon and enhance comprehensive healthy living frameworks for implementation in their local communities through ongoing collaboration with key regional and community stakeholders. A final report will serve as a resource to all CAPC and CPNP projects for enhancing healthy living for children and their families, as well as for policy makers and stakeholders. The Deliberative Dialogue will also serve as an opportunity to profile and let others know of the work of CAPC and CPNP projects.

2. Ten Years Later … What has been Learned and What can be Shared?
(Benefits of CAPC/CPNP Programs)

Are CAPC/CPNP projects effective program models in reaching and engaging pregnant women, infants, children and families living in vulnerable circumstances and whose health and development are at risk? The guiding principles for the development of the projects/programs were founded on health promotion theory and concepts and include flexibility, community-based, equity and accessibility, strengthening and supporting families, and partnerships. In the ten years since the programs were founded, there have been new developments and strategies by other stakeholders and partners which focus on early child development and population health. It is timely for critical reflection on the projects, together with experts and stakeholders in health and within health promotion, and to share project perspectives and lessons learned around health promotion theory. The Deliberate Dialogue will address questions such as what are the lessons learned within the projects; how has the CAPC/CPNP experience influenced recent developments in the communities or has it; what can projects contribute to the theory and concepts to share with others; and what else can be learned.

-- Rick Wilson

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Update on the Special Interest Groups

Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition

The past six months have been busy ones for the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition. In addition to our ongoing activities around raising awareness of the benefits and need for healthy schools, two major events took place.

On June 7th, we hosted our third annual Forum and Strategic Planning Day at Croft Chapter House, University College. Presentations ranged from Angus Warner of Hospital for Sick Children speaking on a diversity training program for schools, to Carol MacDougall talking on Common Elements of Healthy School Models, to Terri McDonald, president of the Catholic Principals Council of Ontario, addressing political advocacy and government relations. Planning groups focused on (1) developing a Healthy Schools kit for school councils, principals and school community stakeholders; (2) planning regional education sessions on Healthy Schools; (3) developing school health policies; and (4) compiling relevant evaluation findings.

This month, October, the Ontario Teachers Federation and the Ontario Teachers’ Insurance Plan collaborated with us on a “Healthy Schools – Healthy Minds” Symposium, held at Victoria College. Leaders from most of the teacher unions and school board associations were in attendance, along with leaders in public health and government. The keynote speaker was Bill Wilkerson of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health. Peter Fonseca, M.P.P. and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health, brought greetings from the Government of Ontario. Barbara Ronson and Carol MacDougall presented a slide show on Healthy School Models from around the world; and Giselle Brett spoke about a Sudbury Workplace Health Promotion Pilot Project involving the French catholic school board. Many good suggestions were made by participants for actions to move forward with a Healthy Schools agenda for our province.

-- Barbara Ronson and Carol McDougall

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Update on Centre's Special Projects

Literacy and Health Research Project

Several things have happened related to the National Literacy and Health Research Project since the last newsletter. One was the release of Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion by the U.S Institute of Medicine in April, 2004. This report was the result of two years of work by a committee on which I was privileged to be a member, partly because of the work carried on under the National Literacy and Health Research Project. This report has already had a significant impact in the United States, with National Institute of Health (NIH) establishing a special competition to follow up on some of the recommendations regarding needed research. Dyanne Affonso, Dean of Nursing at the University of Toronto, and I have also done our best to promote the work of the committee in Canada. Dyanne, who was the other member of the committee from Canada, will be a keynote speaker on the topic of Culture and Literacy at the Second National Conference on Literacy and Health in Ottawa on October 17 and I will be on a panel discussing the implications of the report for Canada. I also organized a workshop on the report at the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) Annual Conference in June and have written several articles discussing it for Canadian professional journals (ARC Canada, CPHA Digest, Education Canada). The National Literacy and Health Project also organized a workshop for graduate students on literacy and health research prior to the National Literacy and Health Conference as well as a workshop during the conference on the future of the National Literacy and Health Program which has resulted from the (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) sponsored project. The funding for the project itself ends in February 2005, but we hope that resources will be found to continue the work that has been started.

-- Irving Rootman

Visiting Scholar Weizhen Dong

Since coming to the Centre in September 2003, Dr. Weizhen Dong has been working on the following two projects:

Non-Standard Employment Studies and the Policy Responses in Canada explores whether non-standard employment studies have made any difference at the policy level, and to examine whether a research-policy bridge exists. Scholarly work has studied policy options for non-standard employment, improving working conditions and the overall well-being of the workers concerned. Have these studies made any impact on any public policy change? Preliminary study shows that research-policy translation is a dynamic process and research dissemination strategies matter; and there is a need to create a more direct channel for the academia-policymaker dialogue.

Beyond SARS: Health Care in a Highly Diversified Society - A Case Study of Toronto explores ethnic community organizations’ role in the public health arena, as well as the cultural competence issue in the health care system. Preliminary study shows that ethnic community organizations can make a difference at times of public health crisis. For example, Chinese community organizations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) arranged various activities to assist the GTA public, especially local Chinese Canadians, to fight against SARS and its side affects, including providing supporting telephone lines to offer SARS-related information and moral support. They also organized activities to help ethnic businesses overcome setbacks, and a Tribute Walkathon to pay tribute to frontline health workers and to generate funding for SARS related research, etc. Preliminary study also shows that there are health care access obstacles among ethnic Chinese. Language and cultural understanding are the main issues. It is not uncommon for Chinese Canadians to return to their hometown (e.g. Hong Kong or Taipei) to get treated when illnesses were serious.

It should be noted that this project received strong support from the Chinese community in the GTA, especially the Community Coalition Concerned about SARS, I Love Toronto Campaign and the Buddha’s Light International Association of Toronto.

-- Weitzhen Dong

MHSc Student Practicums in Health Promotion

From late Spring to Summer 2004, three MHSc students from the Health Promotion program at the University of Toronto, completed their assigned practicum course requirements.

Michelle Ashem, based at the Centre, worked on a number of initiatives, including assisting with the Centre’s Health Promotion Summer School 2004, working on a Safe Schools Act group survey, and an evaluation of the Positive Possibilities program for teen moms in North Toronto.

Paola Ardiles worked on revising a Mental Health Promotion Checklist / tool for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Centre for Health Promotion. The goal of the project is to provide mental health promotion practitioners with a set of guiding principles in mental health promotion, as well as a practical tool which can give them examples of good mental health promotion practices, across the lifespan. Special attention will be paid to children and youth programs, due to the gap in the literature on mental health promotion of children 7-12 years old.

Fatima Jorge assisted in the evaluation (including the coordination, implementation and collection/analysis of baseline data and staff/management and participant feedback) of children’s outcome and systems integration within the Ontario Early Years services of East York/East Toronto Family Resources.

This Fall, the Centre welcomed Grace Lee. Grace is the Centre’s first practicum student from the Faculty of Nursing and will be here from September to December 2004 to complete the Primary Health Care: Nursing Perspectives: Capacity Building course. Grace is collecting and processing feedback from mental health consultants and managers in Toronto Public Health and CAMH on the Mental Health Promotion Checklist (completed by Paola Ardiles), in preparation for a pilot test of the resource.

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Centre E-info Update
Centre for Health Promotion
University of Toronto
100 College Street, Suite 207
Toronto, ON M5G 1L5
http://www.utoronto.ca/chp

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