Centre for Health
Promotion |
E-Info Update Spring
2007
To subscribe to the email version, contact us at centre.healthpromotion@utoronto.ca. Spring 2007 and health promotion is a busy field! As you can see from this newsletter, a lot is happening connected to the Centre for Health Promotion and we continue to play a role locally in Ontario, Canada and internationally. In my remarks, I would like to talk about some of the items that are not covered in the rest of the newsletter. I was invited to assist the “Kids in Cardiff” project (near Bancroft, Ontario) with a participatory data analysis process like I did with the “Count Us In” and the “Marginalized Women and Stroke” projects in Toronto. I am trying to write up this process for publication and it was presented as a poster at the Community-Campus Partnerships conference here in Toronto in April. This is a process to engage all members of a research team in all steps of the data analysis process, including community members who have been trained to become “Inclusion Researchers.” I have been very involved with colleagues from the Community Health Centre sector (AOHC and CACHCA) in preparing a proposal to study primary health systems in Canada and the mix of models that best fit with different community contexts. This multidisciplinary team includes investigators from University of Montreal (Paul Lamarche and others), University of Ottawa (Rose-Ann Devlin), and University of Toronto (Jan Barnsley and me) as well as decision-makers/policy-makers from various jurisdictions in Canada. The proposal was submitted to Canadian Health Services Research Foundation on April 20. This project to look at the fit between interventions, context and outcomes in primary health services is one piece in a series of studies related to exploring the evaluation issues of multi-level and multi-strategy interventions. I was also invited to be part of a writing team by Nancy Edwards to explore this issue at a forum in Ottawa in early February. This is the year of Summer Schools! In addition to the Centre’s exciting annual Ontario Health Promotion Summer School on Mental Health Promotion in June, I am working with a team in the Yukon to run a Spring School on health promotion/chronic disease prevention for First Nations communities there at the end of May, and another school for Serbian and Bosnian practitioners in July. The Spring School in the Yukon is part of my work as a Co-Investigator on Kue Young’s CIHR Team grant on Circumpolar Health. The other major activity is the work of the Centre as a focus for international health promotion. We submitted our renewal application for WHO Collaborating Centre status in January and we continue to build our relationships with PAHO and WHO-Geneva. We have been invited to discuss with Dr. Etienne in PAHO how to “mainstream” health promotion in that organization. We continue to play a role in the IUHPE, especially this year because of the international conference in Vancouver in June. I’m sure you are also engaged and excited by the health promotion possibilities in your area of action. --Suzanne F. Jackson, Director Reza Shidfar from Iran is continuing to study the experience of Iranian immigrants to Canada from a health promotion perspective; and Abdul Fattah continues to develop projects in Bangladesh
and Ontario, and volunteer at the Centre. Most recently, he
worked on a successful CIHR grant application with Reg Warren-National
Project Unit Co-ordinator that will examine the payback of early clinical
or basic cardiovascular research. Two Masters students, Kristin Haefner and Nicole Siegmund from University of Magdeburg, Germany also arrived at the beginning of April as part of the CEIHPAL Exchange program. They will each be working on projects with the Centre into the summer. -- Suzanne F. Jackson, Director
News from The Health Communication Unit (THCU) THCU in cooperation with the Middlesex-London Health Unit presented the Introduction to Evaluating Health Promotion Programs workshop on November 21 and 22, 2006. Over 60 people attended the event which was held at the Grosvenor Club in London, Ontario. Robb MacDonald was the facilitator for the two day event. The Introduction to Health Promotion Program Planning workshop was held at Oakham House in Toronto, January 30 and 31, 2007. Larry Hershfield and Heather Graham facilitated the workshop with 48 participants. THCU offered two online webinar events during March:
In addition, THCU facilitated 7 regional (upon request) workshops in various locations across the province. Developing Health Promotion Policy/Media Advocacy Media Skills Overview of Health Communications Logic Models Introduction to Evaluating Health Promotion Programs Social Marketing Strengthening Personal Presentations New Resources THCU’s 12 Step Communication Model
Implementing THCU’s Six Step Health Promotion Planning Model
Implementing THCU’s 10 Step Evaluation Model
Three of our regular website features were updated with much new information for health promoters:
We have new and updated workshop materials from two of our popular health communication offerings: An updated workbook for “Strengthening Personal Presentations” and a new presentation and “At-a-Glance Summary” for Making the Case. Ontario Health Promotion Email Bulletin (OHPE)
THCU's Workplace Project Ontario Healthy Workplace Coalition E-learning Resources and Website We have also been working this year to update our resources and website (www.thcu.ca/workplace). Check back soon to see the updated website, as well as new resources, including:
Hardcopies of Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion: Recommended and Promising Practices for Situational Assessment Tools are available for free from the Workplace Project (in limited numbers)! If you have Workplace Project questions, comments and/or requests for materials, please contact Ali Kilbourn at workplace_admin@thcu.ca. Youth Tobacco Vortal Project Since its inception, the Youth Tobacco Vortal Project has grown to include 43 community-based affiliate sites, 11 of which joined this year. The majority of these new affiliates were Youth Action Alliances (YAA) representing the various regions throughout Ontario. The YTVP supports its affiliate base by assisting them in developing their own regional websites that focus on tobacco control and youth. As of March 31st, 2007 all YAAs are now an affiliate of the project and many of these YAAs worked with the YTVP web development team to create their regional site(s). As part of the YTVP’s promotional campaign the YTVP affiliates all received bookmarks promoting SmokeFX and its network of sites. The YTVP continues to grow and evolve as a result of a partnership that was formed with Smoke Free Ontario’s Stupid.ca (www.stupid.ca) campaign in 2005. Changes were made to both websites over the past year in order to link the sites in a seamless manner. In June 2006, SmokeFX was re-designed to complement the new look of Stupid.ca II. Stupid.ca added links to SmokeFX encouraging visitors to visit SmokeFX’s Blowing Smoke – Local Scene and Homework Help section. SmokeFX profiled Stupid.ca on its homepage. In addition, the Homework Help section has been undergoing a complete re-development. There are some exciting plans for the 2007/08, including further re-development of SmokeFX and growth and expansion of the YTVP affiliate pool. Comments and/or questions about the Youth Tobacco Vortal Project can be directed to Julie Duda (SmokeFX.Julie@thcu.ca). -- Cathy Duerden, Julie Duda, Ali Kilbourn, Noelle Gadon News from the International Health Promotion Unit Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina Youth and Health Project There are very few youth friendly clinics or services available for youth in these countries that are struggling to recover from civil war and economic decline. Youth feel isolated and there is an increase in drug use and suicides that goes along with high youth unemployment. In many parts access to services such as recreation is limited. The BYHP is divided into policy development, improved information
and data bases, improved access to youth friendly services and building
capacity for service providers and youth outreach. All in all, this is a complex project with many different sites and two countries. BiH is also divided into two entities. This means that potentially the project may have three different approaches to addressing youth issues. A big focus is being put on Health Promotion and the CHP will receive 23 participants this summer for a “Youth-Friendly Health Promotion Summer School”. Canadian Office for NARO/IUHPE IUHPE Conference in Vancouver For more information on the 9th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion and Health Education – Vancouver 2007, see www.iuhpeconference.org. Presentation in Chile Mental Health Promotion Symposium in Vancouver Masters Global Health Concentration -- Fran Perkins and Suzanne F. Jackson To Top Youth Engagement in Ontario: Towards a Community of Practice Balkans Youth and Health Project WATI For more information on any of our initiatives please contact Youth Voices project manager, Charlotte Lombardo at 416-978-2201, c.lombardo@utoronto.ca. Checking Out -- Charlotte Lombardo Ontario Health Promotion Summer School 2006 (HPSS) June 25-27, 2007 (Preschool : June 24th) Toronto, Crowne
Plaza Don Valley Hotel Update on Centre's Special Projects Masters Students Julie Atkinson, in collaboration with coordinators of Better Beginnings Now, Building Brighter Futures, and staff of the North Toronto Early Parenting Program, tested a tool to measure maternal self-efficacy. The appropriateness of existing tools for use within immigrant populations has not been established. As part of her research, Julie interviewed mothers with infants under the age of one, who attended the winter 2007 session of these early parenting programs. She hoped to gain a better understanding of how the measurement tool could be utilized in future program evaluations to determine whether or not parenting programs affect maternal self-efficacy. Nilusha Jiwani-Ebrahim completed her placement at the Centre for Health Promotion as part of her Master of Nursing program. During this time, she interviewed practitioners from a variety of organizations working with seniors about the usefulness, relevance, and format of the draft document entitled Mental Health Promotion Best Practice Guidelines for Older Adults 55+. Recommendations to enhance the document were made based on the feedback gathered. This project was a collaboration between the Centre for Health Promotion, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and Toronto Public Health.-- Suzanne F. Jackson National Projects
Update on the Special Interest Groups Cancer Prevention Interest Group
Ground-breaking national cancer prevention conference Cancer: It’s About Prevention, It’s About Time! May 24-27, 2007 This first-of-a-kind national cancer conference will be held at the University of Ottawa from May 24-27, 2007, drawing concerned citizens and leading experts from Canada and the United States to take action to stop cancer before it starts. A significant part of the agenda will focus on detoxifying our homes, schools, workplaces and the environment-at-large. The conference is being organized by the new national coalition called Prevent Cancer Now. For more information and to register: www.preventcancernow.ca Or contact: Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition (OHSC) The OHSC continues to give input to the Ministries of Health Promotion, Health, and Education on Comprehensive School Health/ Health Promoting Schools. In particular, we contributed through OPHA to the consultation process for the draft Ontario Public Health Standards and we participate in meetings of the Healthy Schools Working Table convened by the Ministry of Education. We have hosted two province-wide teleconferences, with 79 attending in February and 63 in April. These meetings are a mixture of presentations of new initiatives and information-sharing. Some attend in person in Toronto, while others link in by phone. The 6th annual forum will be held this year in Kingston on June 1st.
As we have so many members that consistently attend meetings and our work is becoming better known, we have decided to re-examine our mission and strategic directions from 2002 to see if they are still relevant today. OHSC is a volunteer-based organization and, by the numbers that attend the teleconferences or respond to requests for information, the coalition is meeting unmet needs for inter-sectoral coordination and communication for Healthy Schools across the Province. The next year will be another exciting and busy one!!! -- Carol MacDougall and Fran Perkins. Co-Chairs, Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition Healthy
U of T Awards Diana helped start the Summer Mentorship Program in 1994 for students of Black and Aboriginal ancestry who are underrepresented in healthcare. Today over 3000 students have completed this program. She founded the Saturday Tutoring Program in 1996 for inner-city high school students at risk of failing or dropping out of school. This has helped the high school students plus over 2000 UofT students who have benefited from mentoring and teaching them. She is the founder of Earthtones and Rhythms and Dance – two annual musical benefit concerts that have raised over $100,000 for international and local aid; founder of “Out of the Cold” programs in two downtown centres, Medlife at the Faculty of Medicine and the list goes on! This is in addition to the support she gives to numerous Faculty of Medicine student clubs and as a member of the Advisory Group for the Transitional Year Program. She has undoubtedly fulfilled her role of making a lasting contribution to the physical, mental, social and spiritual health of student life on campus and of wellbeing in the community at large. Diana is celebrated for her untiring, enthusiastic and passionate work in teaching others about respect, pluralism and altruism. Diana was nominated by Sagar Dugani, an MD/PhD student in the Faculty of Medicine with letters of support from her colleagues and students. SHOP (Student Health Outreach Program) was presented the 2006 Healthy UofT Award in the Group category in recognition of the dedicated group of student volunteers who spend time educating and talking to their peers about health issues. The SHOP program began as a peer-to-peer education pilot project in 1991 and has now grown to 30+ student volunteers who are peer health educators. SHOP has also inspired the formation of Toronto Peer Health Network by collaborating with Ryerson and York universities in training peer health educators. SHOP volunteers are to be recognized for connecting students to campus life and services and helping them establish a foundation for healthy living during their university career and beyond. SHOP Peer health educators provide safe, non-judgmental space for empathy, relationship building and understanding. They create and staff displays, produce a newsletter, deliver presentations to student groups/residences, orientation events, annual Health Fair and partner with other campus initiatives to reach as many students as they can. And they do it all in a fun, entertaining and informative way! The SHOP Program was nominated by Dr. Sara Taman, Physician-in Chief of Health Services and supported by letters from students and colleagues. These Healthy UofT Awards recognize an individual or a group of students, staff, and/or faculty members at the University of Toronto that have made a substantial and long lasting healthy difference to the campus community. The 2006 Committee included representatives from the faculty, staff and student body. The Centre for Health Promotion would like to thank the Healthy UofT Committee Chair, Geraldine (Jody) Macdonald, and committee members Myra Lefkowitz, Glenna Hilborn, Bronwyn Underhill, Uitsile Ndlovu, Shan Mohammed and Mohini Athia. -- Mohini Athia
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