We hope to see many of you online Thursday November 19th, 2020 from 12:00pm to 1:30pm for our Annual General Meeting. Join us via Zoom to learn what our association has been doing this past year and in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and what our plans are for the upcoming year. Whether you are new to the association or one of our long-standing members, please consider joining us to keep up to date on what PHABC does, what we are advocating for, and how you can get involved.
The AGM is free to access and open to all members, please join us on the 19th by following the link below:
The AGM will run until 1:00pm and immediately after we are pleased to announce that we will be hosting the opening stage of “The Gallery of Memories.” This project has been spearheaded by the Capacity Building Committee Co-chairs and will support the collecting of stories, art, and experiences of Public Health Professionals working under colliding pandemics. We are excited to welcome the following storytellers as they talk about the impact that COVID-19 has had on their professional and personal lives:
Trevor Hancock, Morris dancer and Professor & Senior Scholar (Retired), School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria
Lara Frederick, Public Health Program Lead, Northeast Division, Northern Health
Mariah Robinson, Administrator, Whe-la-la-U Area Council Society and Member of ‘NAMGIS First Nation
Paola Ardiles, Faculty Teaching Fellow & Lecturer, Social Innovation and Community Partnerships, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
We encourage you to stay and listen to their experiences, this is meant to be the start of an engaging project to celebrate public health professionals across the province. Maybe we will tell your story next!
Make Public Health a Provincial Election Priority This Fall! Join us on PlaceSpeak
This October 24, 2020 BC voters will be returning to the election polls to decide their next provincial government. Given the ongoing pandemic and its impact on the public health system, this election represents a crucial opportunity for public health supporters to advocate for increased resources and supportive policies and legislation that will improve the health of all British Columbians.
“Public Health in the BC Election: More than an Ounce of Prevention” is a topic on PlaceSpeak, an online location-based community engagement platform, created by the Public Health Association of BC for British Columbians to ask questions surrounding the state of public health in BC and in their individual communities. We encourage all of our members to join the community and share the topic with your colleagues, friends and family.
Candidates from all 87 provincial ridings have also been invited to engage with their constituents via this topic and all political parties who have candidates running on the ballot in BC this year have been requested to complete our all-party survey on prominent public health issues. Their responses will be released on the topic in advance of the election date.
Resources have been provided on several important public health issues aimed to help the undecided voter choose the party that best reflects their values and links to all of the political party platforms are also available. The topic will be monitored by non-partisan public health professionals to ensure accurate, fact-based information is provided.
To join the community, follow the link below to create a free account and help PHABC put the “Public” back in Public Health!
Donate to Support a Universal School-Food Program in BC
Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, food security has become a prominent public health issue and the BC Chapter for the Coalition of Healthy School Food is dedicated to making it a key election priority. But they need your help!
By donating to Nourish Kids Now you will support the coalition’s capacity to focus on this important opportunity to make a universal school food program a key issue in the upcoming election. With your support they could make 2020 the last year any child in British Columbia goes without a healthy lunch at school!
In the last year, individuals and organizational members and endorsers of the Coalition, such as Fresh Roots and the BCGEU, have contributed a total of $15,000 toward the Coalition’ work. Will you chip in today?
To support the coalition’s work and donate today please follow the link below. If you are not in a position to donate right now, please consider sharing this campaign broadly with your networks.
Postponement of PHABC’s Conference and Annual General Meeting due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic
As you are all aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended almost every aspect of public health in BC and put a strain on our public health system. As the public health workforce in this province we can only imagine how hard you all have been working to keep British Columbians calm, safe and healthy through these unprecedented times. The Public Health Association of BC would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to every one of you for your sacrifice and determination through the past 6 months.
Each fall, PHABC hosts its annual conference and AGM, where public health professionals from across the province meet, mingle, and share the latest research and data available in public health. Given the success of transitioning the summer institute online, we convened with the Scientific Planning Committee (SPC) co-chairs to discuss transitioning the conference to an online format. It was during that conversation that the SPC co-chairs raised several concerns related to hosting the conference this fall. On the advice of the SPC co-chairs, the co-chairs of the Capacity Building Committee undertook an analysis of the pros and cons of postponing the conference and have summarized some of the concerns raised below:
Several conferences and other events cancelled in the spring and summer have been rescheduled to online events this fall, including the CPHA’s annual conference in mid-October,
The proposed dates for the fall conference are in the middle of what is expected to be the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and flu season. Many of PHABC employees and board members may be redeployed to COVID response again and be unable to commit to a multi-day online conference,
Most of the participants who will be attending are public health professionals who may also be redeployed to COVID response and unable to submit an abstract for consideration or attend a multi-day online conference,
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and overdose epidemic it is anticipated most abstracts will be unrelated to the chosen topic theme of public health and the Anthropocene; resulting in the rejection of a number of high quality abstracts due to the current scoring criteria.
In light of all the concerns raised during the analysis and the time commitment necessary to host an online conference, a recommendation was brought to executive to postpone the 2020 annual conference. Executive agreed with the recommendation as a risk management strategy and therefore the 2020 conference will be rescheduled until the fall of 2021 when we can meet together face to face and celebrate. The theme of the conference will be an expansion of the theme of our annual summer institute, public health in the Anthropocene, which took place in July of this year through the online platform Zoom.
In consideration of the cancellation of this event, we have decided to release the recordings of our summer institute along with our think piece and post-summer institute resource package for public viewing at any time. To access the recordings and documents, you can follow the link below. It can also be found under presentations in the resources tab on our main menu.
As a member-driver organization, we will still be hosting our annual general meeting online on November 19th, 2020. An agenda and connection instructions will be made available in the coming weeks for anyone interested in an update on PHABC’s operations over the past year.
Given the current pandemic much of the board’s mandated duties were postponed or cancelled to allow our volunteer board to focus on COVID response in their respective professions. Because of this, a decision was reached to extend all board appointments by one year and cancel the election of new board members for 2020. This will allow the current board to complete their mandated duties in the modified timeline while also considering the extenuating circumstances brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated public health emergencies arising. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to our board for their extended service and commitment to public health in BC.
Thank you again for all your support of the Public Health Association of BC and we hope that you all stay safe and healthy while working together to keep British Columbia’s public health system operational and responsive to anything that may arise through the upcoming year. Together we can ensure all British Columbians weather the storm, no matter which boat they find themselves in.
This Thursday and Friday we will be convening together online for our 11th annual Public Health Summer Institute, “Think Globally, Act Locally: Public Health and the Anthropocene,” have you registered yet? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s only $60 +GST ($50+GST for students/seniors) for 23 speakers, 25 breakout sessions (live and recorded) and 4 plenary sessions over 2 days! Plus, if you register from BC, the Yukon, Saskatchewan or Manitoba you will receive a complimentary 1-year membership for your region’s public health association! Talk about an awesome deal!
Want to know more about it before you sign up? We have released our draft information package, think piece, speaker biographies, agenda, and plenary and breakout session descriptions on our website to help you decide. To access all of it follow the link below, everything is located under the Summer Institute tab on our main menu.
Trying to choose which breakout sessions to join live and which to check out later? We can help with that! We have launched our YouTube channel where we are adding breakout session introduction videos everyday until the summer institute, check them out by following the link below!
Be sure to join the summer institute live on Friday July 10th, from 1:30-2:30pm PDT where the break out sessions will be divided by participant’s region and your discussions will focus on how to take everything you have learned over the last two days and create change in your local communities! We will also release a post-summer institute resource package to help registrants move from planning to taking action in creating healthy, sustainable, just and local solutions to pressing public, population, and environmental health concerns in their communities.
We can’t wait to welcome you online later this week! Keep an eye on our social media channels for speakers features over the next couple days and be sure to share them with your friends! The summer institute is open to anyone who is interested in the theme, no matter their location!
Keep your eyes out for our call for abstracts for the PHABC annual fall conference, happening this November (likely online this year due to COVID-19). We will be releasing the call soon after the summer institute and encourage members to consider submitting an abstract for consideration. We will be expanding on our theme of public health and the Anthropocene and are excited to see all the excellent abstracts from our dedicated public health and related professionals!
Online this year due to COVID-19 but just as engaging as ever. Sign-up and attend anywhere you have internet
We are pleased to release our draft information package for the upcoming public health summer institute, “Think Globally, Act Locally: Public Health and the Anthropocene,” happening online on July 9th and 10th, 2020. In it you will find the final agenda for both days, speaker biographies, plenary and breakout sessions descriptions, and more! To read the information package follow the link below:
Registration is on now, join us online this year as we practice social distancing while discussing how we can enact global change through local public and population health initiatives. We have a stellar line up of speakers for the two days including:
Jura Augustinavicius -Assistant Scientist (Research Faculty), Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Jessie Best – Environmental Coordinator, City of Saskatoon
Katie Clow – Assistant Professor, University of Guelph
Andrew Gage – Staff Lawyer, West Coast Environmental Law
Maya Gislason – Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Cora Hallsworth – Senior Associate, One Earth, BCIT EcoCity Centre
Richard Han – Provincial Manager of Farm to School BC, Public Health Association of BC
Trevor Hancock – Professor & Senior Scholar (Retired), School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria
Wii Esdes, Sandra A. Martin Harris – Community Developer & Social Development Advisor, Gitksan Government Commission
Mayor Fred Haynes, PhD – Mayor of Saanich, BC
Thomas Homer-Dixon – Director, Cascade Institute, Royal Road University & University Research Chair, University of Waterloo
Theresa Healy – Adjunct Professor, School of Environmental Planning, University of Northern BC
Rita Koutsodimos – Executive Director, BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society
Wanda Martin – Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan
Pemma Muzumdar – Knowledge Translation Specialist, National Collaborating Centre for the Determinants of Health
Michael Nemeth – Principal, Bright Buildings, Passivhaus & Mechanical Engineering Consulting and Vice-president of SES Solar Co-operative
Margot W. Parkes – Professor School of Health Sciences, Cross-appointed, Northern Medical Program, University of Northern British Columbia
Tim Takaro – Professor, Faculty of Health Science, Simon Fraser University
Rory Tooke – Manager of Sustainability and Asset Management, City of Victoria
Aaren Topley – Provincial Manager of Can You Dig It, Public Health Association of BC
Shannon Turner – Executive Director, Public Health Association of BC
Shannon Waters – Cowichan Valley Medical Health Officer, Island Health
We know that many of you will be joining from other time zones and due to the nature of concurrent breakout sessions you many not be able to attend all of the summer institute live. We encourage you to register to attend anyways as we will be recording the entire summer school to be viewed later at your leisure. Register today using the link below, it’s only $60 plus GST ($50 for students & seniors) for the entire two-day school!
Can’t decide which breakout session to attend? Check out our new YouTube channel to help you decide! In the coming days we will be uploading summary videos on each of the breakout session topics to help you choose which speaker you want to engage with. Follow the link below to our channel and start watching!
We will release the final information package a couple days before the summer school and will be compiling a list of resources related to and developed out the summer institute to release post-event. This resource document will be designed to help stimulate and inspire you as we get set to release our call for abstracts for our 2020 annual conference, potentially online this year due to COVID-19 but just as engaging as ever! Stay tuned for more conference details later this summer!
One month to go until our annual public health summer institute (formally summer school), “Think Globally, Act Locally: Public Health and the Anthropocene,” and we are excited to release our draft agenda and the first round of speakers for our two-day event. Registration is open now for our online event, happening July 9th and 10th, 2020, if you haven’t registered yet what are you waiting for?
We are excited to welcome the following speakers to our summer institute:
Dr. Trevor Hancock – Professor & Senior Scholar (Retired), School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of Victoria
Dr. Maya Gislason – Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Dr. Shannon Waters – Cowichan Valley Medical Health Officer, Island Health
Wii Esdes, Sandra A. Martin Harris – Community Developer & Social Development Advisor, Gitksan Government Commission
Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon – Founder & Director, The Cascade Institute, Royal Roads University
Andrew Gage – Environmental Lawyer, West Coast Environmental Law
Richard Han – Provincial Manager, Farm to School BC, PHABC
Dr. Tim Takaro – Professor, Faculty of Health Science, Simon Fraser University
Michael Nemeth – Passivhaus Consultant & Principal, Bright Buildings
Rita Koutsodimos – Executive Director, BC Alliance for Healthy Living Society
Dr. Theresa Healy – Adjunct Professor, School of Environmental Planning, University of Northern BC
Pemma Muzumdar – Knowledge Translation Specialist, National Collaborating Centre for the Determinants of Health
Aaren Topley – Provincial Manager, Can You Dig It!, PHABC
Dr. Wanda Martin – Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Margot Parkes – Professor, School of Health Sciences, University of Northern BC
Jessie Best – Environmental Coordinator, Sustainability, Utilities & Environment, City of Saskatoon
Our intent is to locate this year’s summer school in this global ecological context, while grounding it in local public health action and linking it to the emerging debate about the need for transformative societal change and a just transition to a sustainable ‘One Planet’ society. Students will be introduced to each half day session topic via a main plenary presentation and then will split into small groups via breakout rooms to engage with the speaker and other students on a subtopic related to the main session.
The draft agenda is now available! Please note that all times are in Pacific Standard Time.
As always, check out our summer school tab for all the latest information on the institute and to register today. We can’t wait to see you online soon!
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