Population Health Assessment and Surveillance

 

Tackling public health issues head on is essential as we move into the 21st century. To be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, Nova Scotia has become the first province in the country to commission an external review of the strengths and limitations of our public health system in a post-SARS world. This review led to the creation of the Department of Health Promotion and Protection, which brought together all our public health functions dedicated to a common goal: to promote the future health and well-being of all Nova Scotians.
  
This review, The Renewal of Public Health in Nova Scotia: Building a Public Health System to Meet the Needs of Nova Scotians, contains important recommendations to enhance the province’s public health services including strengthening population health assessment and health surveillance in Nova Scotia, two core functions of public health.

The role of the newly developed Population Health Assessment and Health Surveillance, in collaboration with many partners, group will be to collect, analyze, interpret, and disseminate information and data critical to public health practices. The group will also be responsible for identifying and reporting on issues, such as disease and health  trends, environmental health, and social determinants of health that affect the health of Nova Scotians.

Partnerships will also be critical to the work that we do. We will collaborate with organizations, community groups, government departments, health care professionals, research institutes and others locally, regionally, nationally and internationally to identify and support the priorities of the public health system. Some of our many functions will include population-based surveillance; population health assessment; research; program evaluation; knowledge transfer; provincial standards monitoring; and mentoring.

We will also provide the methods, tools, and human resources necessary to meet the information, data, and knowledge needs of the Nova Scotia public health system and the Department of Health Promotion and Protection. Meeting these needs will support decision-making that, in turn, supports the health of all Nova Scotians.

 

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