News

Great news, the 2015 Food Costing in BC report is released!! You can find the full report, the executive summary and other relevant information on the food security page the PHSA Population and Public Health website at www.phsa.ca/populationhealth

I want to thank all of the health authority staff who coordinated, organized and participated in the largest food costing year to date. Close to 200 grocery stores were costed across the health authorities so that we could collect more local level data. This year food costs are provided at the provincial, regional health authority and Health Service Delivery Area (HSDA) levels.

Here is a brief summary of the 2015 food costing report:

• In May and June 2015, the PHSA and RHAs collected pricing information for 67 food items in nearly 200 grocery stores across BC to determine the cost of a nutritionally adequate, balanced diet.
• The average monthly cost of a nutritious food basket (NFB) for a reference family of four in British Columbia in 2015 is $974, which shows a cost increase of $60/month since 2013.
• The cost of a healthy diet can affect individuals and families of all incomes but can have the highest impact among households with the lowest incomes. These are also the households that are most food insecure and face numerous health and social challenges.
• The food costing process expanded in 2015 to gather more local-level data and now includes data at both the RHA and Health Service Delivery Area (HSDA) levels. This information will better support the health authorities with their population health planning.

Evaluation

As many of you know, PHSA PPH conducted an evaluation of the 2015 food costing process in the summer and fall of 2015. The findings from the evaluation are almost complete and will be shared in late March or early April. We are also conducting a short survey and a few key informant interviews about dissemination.

Dietitians of Canada

Some of you are asking whether DC is engaging in food costing this year. Dietitians of Canada (BC) has let us know that they are reviewing the report, preparing a comparison of the 2015 BC food costing with current social assistance rates and seeing how this aligns with national policy directions  http://www.dietitians.ca/Downloads/Public/Food-Insecurity_one-pager_Eng.aspx They will be communicating further with their members.

Thank you for your continued commitment and support. Let’s keep the conversation going about how to best share and use the food costing information.

Melanie Kurrein, MA, RD

Provincial Manager, Food Security

Population and Public Health

Designed for those who work in health or social sciences fields, this program provides an excellent opportunity to revitalize your current career, earn professional development credits* or get started in a rapidly diversifying field. This unique program offers:

• A flexible, fully online format
• A diverse set of analytic courses
• *Applied Pro D training

Apply now for the Professional Specialization Certificate in Population Health Data Analysis or take up to two stand-alone courses listed below for professional development starting May 2016.

Do you want to develop skills in the use of administrative data?
PHDA01: Working with Administrative Data provides an excellent orientation to get you on the right track.

• Learn how admin data is used for research
• Develop a data dictionary for your analytic data set
• Gain basic statistical analysis skills to work with admin data
• Use ‘real-world’ admin health data and practice SAS skills via our remotely-accessed Secure Research Training Lab

Looking to understand the relationship between place and health?
PHDA03: Population Health and GIS is a great place to start!

• Explore the particularities of working with geographic data
• Gain valuable skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for population health research
• Learn analytic techniques for disease mapping, assessing population exposure to environmental pollutants, and measuring population access to health care services
• Practice hands-on skills using  ‘real-world’ data via our remotely- accessed Secure Research Training Lab

*The skills acquired in PHDA 01 and 03 align with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals and are eligible for 10 Professional Development (CPE) credits with CHIMA and CIPHI.

These fully online, non-credit courses are offered as a partnership between Population Data BC, the University of Victoria, Division of Continuing Studies and the Department of Geography.

Apply Today! 

Note: Registration is open until April 22, subject to availability. Please review program eligibility requirements prior to registering.

Is a child-care provider in your life making a difference? Show your appreciation by nominating them for a 2016 Child Care Award of Excellence.

These awards recognize the exceptional service that child-care providers, individuals, organizations and local governments provide to B.C.’s children and families. The Ministry of Children and Family Development will honour these individuals and organizations under five categories:

• Provincial: Recognizes Early Childhood Educators who have an active licence, either individually or as a team. Also recognized in this category are licensed family child-care providers who are currently working in a licensed child-care setting.
• Innovation: Recognizes an individual, facility or organization demonstrating innovation in child-care programming in a traditional or non-traditional setting by linking services to opportunities for child development and growth. This may include a StrongStart BC Centre, recreation centre program, or programs offered by a business.
• Local Government: Honours local governments that demonstrate excellence in supporting or delivering existing child-care initiatives.
• Leadership: These awards honour child-care providers under three categories, including lifetime achievement, business leaders, and emerging leaders who have a minimum of three years’ experience.
• Aboriginal: The Lenora Pritchard Mentorship Award recognizes an Aboriginal nominee working in a licensed child-care setting who demonstrates leadership by acting as a role model and mentor to others.

The 2016 Child Care Awards of Excellence nominations are now open! Submissions will be accepted starting Tuesday, March 1, 2016 until Thursday, March 31, 2016.  To access the nomination and guidelines form, please visit: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/ChildCareAwards_NominationForm.pdf

Do your part to help spread the word and share this letter on your social media channels and with partner organizations.

Thank you.

The Time for Action Is Now!

Overwhelming evidence indicates that regular physical activity is one of the most powerful health promoting practices that physicians and other health care professionals can recommend for patients.

For decades, scientific research has shown that regular physical activity protects against major chronic diseases,
including hypertension, type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, stroke, cognitive decline, selected cancers, and even depression. There is broad consensus within the medical and public health communities that physical activity yields wide-ranging health benefits. Moreover, no other single intervention or treatment is associated with such a diverse array of benefits.

In a recent “call to action” for a National Physical Activity Plan, the American Heart Association highlighted
that a lack of physical activity represents a leading cause of death worldwide.1 Directed at numerous groups, including health care professionals and public health practitioners, the report emphasized that advice from health professionals significantly influences adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors, including regular physical activity, and can increase satisfaction with medical care. Given the overwhelming evidence of benefits from physical activity and the vital role of health professionals in motivating behavior change, the lack of physical
activity counseling in clinical settings represents a lost opportunity to improve the health and well-being of
patients, and with minimal cost. In this Viewpoint, we hope to motivate physicians and other health care
practitioners to include physical activity counseling in patient encounters and provide tools for efficiently
integrating this activity into busy clinical settings with constant time pressures.

The Opportunity
In 2012, there were more than 506 million primary care visits in the United States, most of which were for prevention and treatment of preventable chronic health conditions.4 Yet as few as 34% of adults report
being counseled about physical activity at their last physician visit. Even among adults with pre diabetes and other vascular risk factors, a similarly low proportion (40%) report receiving such counseling. Some of the reasons that clinicians may fail to offer physical activity counseling include time constraints, lack of tools, and skepticism about whether such counseling actually works.

Continue reading the article…. Making Physical Activity Counseling a Priority in Clinical Practice

I am pleased to announce the release of my Report on the State of Public Health in Canada, 2015: Alcohol Consumption in Canada.  My Report was developed through strong collaboration with a variety of partners, experts and stakeholders.

This year’s report on alcohol consumption can be accessed through this link: http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/publications/department-ministere/state-public-health-alcohol-2015-etat-sante-publique-alcool/index-eng.php. Please feel free to share the link widely. Copies are available on-line only rather than through print.

Sincerely,

Gregory Taylor, BSc, MD, CCFP, FRCPC
Chief Public Health Officer

Public Health Agency of Canada

If you work with older adults in long term care, acute care, home care or in the community, this updated 5-week e-learning course will help you acquire the knowledge and skills needed to apply an evidence- based approach to the prevention of falls and fall-related injuries. Through online, instructor-facilitated learning modules you will:

• study online, four to six hours per week, including engaging in peer discussion forums
• learn how to design, implement and evaluate a falls prevention program Upon course completion you should be able to:
• define the scope and nature of the problem of falls
• provide fall risk identification and assessment
• provide a selection of prevention interventions reflecting evidence-based strategies
• understand social policy and context
• provide application of a program planning model
• evaluate the effectiveness of a fall prevention program

For more details and registration:

https://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/Course/Canadian-Falls-Prevention-CurriculumC-An-E-Learning-Course/HPCF215/

Course Fee: $210 CAN plus $10.50 GST

Required textbook: Fall Prevention Programming by Vicky Scott, PhD, RN, through www.lulu.com

For more information call 250-721-8558

The CFPC is an evaluated course, developed by a team of experts in fall prevention, adult education and clinical practice under the leadership of Dr. Vicky Scott with funding provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada, Population Health Fund.  More information about the course is also available at www.canadianfallprevention.ca