REPORT - Indigenous Children's Health Report

A new report on Indigenous children's health in four countries has been released today by the Centre for Research in Inner City Health at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto. The Indigenous Children's Health Report, authored by Dr. Janet Smylie and Paul Adomako, offers evidence of significant disparities between the health of Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. While the research focuses on the health of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children in Canada, the situation in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States is also explored.

Importantly, the authors write that "[g]iven the diverse genetic heritage of these widely dispersed Indigenous groups, we must conclude that similar exclusionary social policies active in all four countries are at the root of these profound and unjust differences in child health." (page 3)

The authors emphasize that the root causes of these disparities are social, not biological determinants of health (pg 9). Colonization, in particular, is named as a key determinant of health (pg 8). Solutions must not only respond to the effects of these determinants, but must also explore access to critical resources, especially differential access to health care (pg 9).

Despite the striking inequities recorded in the report, the authors note that a strong theme of resilience and resistance emerges (pg 9). These stories are also presented in the document.

The full report can be viewed in .pdf format here:
http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/pdf/crich/ichr_report.pdf

More information about the project team is here:
http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/crich/indigenous_childrens_health_report.php

Edmonton Sun article, "Native kids in uphill fight from birth, study finds":
http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Canada/2009/03/31/8945386-sun.html
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Call for Abstracts - Ontario Public Health Association 2009 Conference

Call for Abstracts--OPHA 2009 Annual Conference

Deadline May 11, 2009

OPHA invites you to submit an abstract for our 60th Anniversary Conference, Building for the Future. The conference will be held at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre November 1-4 2009.

In celebration of all the many disciplines contributing to the development and delivery of public health services, the themes for this year's conference are:

-Collaboration
-Health Equity
-Innovation in Public Health Practice
-Knowledge Exchange

Conference participants will be engaged through a variety of presentation formats: panel discussions, workshops, lectures, roundtable sharing sessions, and posters. Abstracts for all these formats must be submitted electronically through the OPHA conference web site http://www.ophaconference.ca by end of day May 11, 2009.

Submissions that reflect the themes of the conference will be reviewed by a Committee of Peers using standard criteria. Applicants are encouraged to visit the conference website regularly for general information about the conference as it unfolds, as well as detailed information on the scope of each of the themes of the conference and guidelines on how to write a successful OPHA conference abstract http://www.ophaconference.ca/files/abstract_writing.html.
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PUBLIC CONSULTATION - Mental Health Commission of Canada recommendations re: mental health system & racialized and immigrant groups

From: March 5, 2009 Mental Health Notes: Canadian Mental Health Association Ontario Newsletter

Mental Health Commission of Canada seeks feedback on strategies to improve mental health system for ethnoracial and immigrant groups

The MHCC Service System Advisory Committee is seeking feedback on their draft recommendations to improve the mental health system for ethnoracial and immigrant groups in Canada.

The committee has developed 19 recommendations seeking to improve mental health service delivery at the provider and system levels. Recommendations are grouped under four key themes: better coordination with health-related services provided by other sectors; more available information about the needs and use of mental health services by ethnoracial groups in Canada; community engagement to strengthen the voice of ethnoracial service users and providers; and development of more appropriate and culturally safe services.

The purpose of the consultation is to ensure that the proposed recommendations are appropriate to improve the mental health of and mental health services for people from ethnoracial, ethnocultural, immigrant and refugee groups in Canada. Culturally safe services that respond to the diverse needs of Canadians are recognized as fundamental building blocks in an equitable and socially just mental health system.

The consultation paper describes the challenges of improving mental health services for ethnoracial groups and highlights research findings from over 50 national and regional studies addressing the mental health of diversity groups in Canada. Ethnoracial and immigrant and refugee groups face increased rates of mental health problems; barriers to mental health care due to language, discrimination or lack of cultural awareness; and reduced access to the social determinants of mental health.

Feedback on the draft recommendations can be submitted online until April 1, 2009. The Service System Advisory Committee is also holding regional consultations across Canada. The committee is also interested in learning about current promising/best practices in providing services for immigrants, refugees and racialized communities. Consultation findings will be considered in the development of a final report to the MHCC.

The draft report, "Understanding the Issues, Best Practice and Options for Service Development to Meet the Needs of Ethno-Cultural Groups, Immigrants, Refugees, and Racialized Groups," is available in English and in French at www.camh.net , along with the link to the e-consultation form.

For more information on the Mental Health Commission of Canada's consultation on the goals for the National Mental Health Strategy, see "Mental Health Commission Seeks Feedback on Draft Mental Health Strategy" (Mental Health Notes, February 19, 2009), available at: www.ontario.cmha.ca/mhn .


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RESOURCE - Planning for Health Places with Health Impact Assessments (U.S.)

From the Bringing Health Information to the Community listserv:

Planning for Healthy Places with Health Impact Assessments
is a ‘how to’ guide for conducting health impact assessments (HIAs), developed by the American Planning Association and the National Association of County & City Health Officials, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This online course will explain the value of conducting an HIA and the steps involved in conducting an HIA. Throughout the course, examples of health impact assessments have been highlighted and discussed. This course is available for free, thanks to a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information please visit the following URL:

http://professional.captus.com/Planning/hia/default.aspx
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Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada - online resources

The Indigenous Physicans Association of Canada offers useful online resources on various topics. Resources are available through the Publications page at:
http://www.ipac-amic.org/publications.php?PHPSESSID=daffea2eba30ebec620b91c7d4476642

The resources include:

• Pre-Admissions Support Toolkit for First Nations, Inuit, Métis Students in Medicine (2007) - guidelines for faculties of Medicine to support students' success from the application stage to the completion of their eduction
• First Nations, Inuit, Métis Health Core Competencies: A Curriculum Framework for Undergraduate Medical Education (2008) - A guide providing undergraduate medical educators with curriculum support and themes related to "First Nations, Inuit and Métis (FN/I/M) health knowledge, skills and attitudes to engage both patient and community-centred approaches to health care delivery with and for FN/I/M peoples" (page 5)

Additional resources and links are also recommended, including Taiaiake Alfred's Wasase and Linda Tuhiwai Smith's Decolonizing Methodologies.

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CONFERENCE (Berlin) - Reducing Health Inequalities - What do we really know about successful strategies?

From the PAHO Equidad listserv:


Conference: Reducing Health Inequalities What Do We Really Know About Successful Strategies?

8–9 May 2009 School of Public Health, University of Bielefeld, and Hertie School of Governance, Berlin

Website: http://www.hertie-school.org/binaries/addon/1085_rhi.pdf

“….socioeconomic status which enhance inequalities in health outcomes are a growing problem. The result is a loss of educational and economic competences in large parts of the population which reduces the economic prosperity of the whole country. Therefore, tackling health inequalities and implementing health equity strategies are the main objectives of public health policy in welfare states around the globe.

The conference will focus on the comparative analysis of public health strategies in different states.

The leading questions are:

- What do we know about the interaction of welfare regimes and health outcomes?
- Do regime types influence the results of health equity strategies?
- Do they have consequences for the overall burden of disease?
- Which strategy is appropriate in order to reduce health inequalities?
- How can the particularly heavy burden of disease faced by families, children, adolescents, the elderly, the migrant population,
and other vulnerable parts of the population in low economic and educational status be reduced?
- What do we really know about successful strategies?



PROGRAM



Friday, 8 May



09.30 h Opening

Michael Zürn, Dean of the Hertie School of Governance

Bertram Häussler, Director of IGES Institute

Frank Lehmann, Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung



10.00 h Plenary Session

Welfare States and Their Public Health Strategies

Klaus Hurrelmann: Why should we tackle health inequalities?

Espen Dahl: Health inequalities related to types of welfare states

Richard Brown: Health inequalities and public health in the USA

Seppo Koskinen: Health inequalities and public health in Finland



14.00 h Workshops

Workshop I:

Public Health Strategies for Families of Low Socioeconomic Status

Petra Kolip: Public health strategies for families

Alexandra Sann: Early prevention: Health care and welfare services

Maya Mulle: Public health strategies for women in Switzerland

Muhamad Zakria Zakar: Public health strategies for families in Pakistan



Workshop II:

Health Inequalities Among Children and Adolescents

Matthias Richter: Health inequalities among children and adolescents

Alessio Zambon: Welfare regimes and health inequalities in adolescence

Patrick West: Equalisation of health in youth

Laura Kestilä: Life-course determinants of health, health behaviour, and

health inequalities in adulthood

Leena Koivusilta: Critical periods in the development of educational

careers: implications for health inequality



Workshop III:

Public Health Strategies for Vulnerable Groups of the Population

Ullrich Bauer: Public health strategies for vulnerable groups

Orna Baron-Epel: Inequalities in health in vulnerable populations in Israel

Nico Dragano: Occupational health of elder workers in Europe

Angie Hart: Resilient therapy: Parent-professional communities

Andreas Mielck: Tackling health care disparities



18.00 h Keynote Lecture

Ilona Kickbusch: The growing burden of disease: Reaching out for a global health diplomacy



Saturday, 9 May

09.30 h Plenary Session

Welfare States and Health Equity Strategies

Clare Bambra: Welfare states and health equity policies

Bertram Häussler: Reducing inequalities in supply with health care services



11.00 h Keynote Lecture

Martin McKee: Reducing health inequalities – What do we really know about successful strategies?



12.00 h Discussion

Starting with invited statements by the plenary speakers

Clare Bambra, Richard Brown, Espen Dahl, Bertram Häussler, Ilona Kickbusch, Seppo Koskinen



13.00 h End of the Conference





Registration

Please send an email with your name, your address, and your professional affiliation to
Prof. Klaus Hurrelmann: hurrelmann@hertie-school.org


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LAUNCH (Toronto) - Women's Health Circles Handbook (OWHN) - March 31/09

From Toronto Women listserv:

"There are many things we want to talk about. We could have more discussions like this." (Focus Group Participant)

Are you interested in conducting Women's Health Circles in your community with women who experience marginalization?

SAVE THE DATE! Please join us on March 31 for the launch of the Women's Health Circles Handbook and the companion Key to Women's Health: Stroke Resource Guide for Women's Health Circles.

Women's Health Circles are:

* Collective education forums for women: participants determine the health topics of discussion, engage with other women to learn from each other's thoughts and experiences, ask questions of health and social service providers and learn about community resources.

* Learning spaces for health and social service professionals: health and social service professionals learn about the lived experiences of women to create more appropriate and sensitive care.






The Women's Health Circles Handbook demonstrates approaches from three pilot sites to coordinating and conducting Health Circles and offers examples to help you meet the needs of women in your community.

The Key to Women's Health: Stroke Resource Guide illustrates how to link discussions on the social determinants of health or other topics chosen by women attending Women's Health Circles to the risk factors, signs and symptoms of stroke.

Mark your calendars and be sure to join us:

Date: March 31, 2009
Time: 9:30 am - 11:00 am
Location: Parliament Library
269 Gerrard St. East (just west of Parliament), Toronto
2nd floor, Community Room
Hosted by the Ontario Women's Health Network, Inclusion Researchers and project partners:

Women's Health Circles: Asset Mapping Research Project (AMRP) of the Toronto Christian Resource Centre, Immigrant Women Services Ottawa, Sudbury Women's Centre (SWC)

Key to Women's Health: AMRP, SWC, Region of Peel, Public Health Department, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Southeast Toronto Stroke Network

The Women's Health Circles Handbook and Key to Women's Health projects have been generously funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, respectively. The views expressed in the projects and at the launch are not necessarily those of the funders.

For more information please contact: Ontario Women's Health Network at owhn[at]owhn.on.ca or 416-408-4840







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CALL OUT - Youth needed for Advisory Board for Sexual Health Education & Pleasure Project

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EVENT (Toronto): Majora Carter on Greening the Neighbourhood..and how much it won't cost us

See below for details:

Greening the Neighbourhood.. and how much it won’t cost us
Keynote by Majora Carter

followed by panel with Joe Pantalone, Ben Powless, Blake Poland, & Eric Miller
Friday March 13, 2009, noon-2pm
@ UofT’s Hart House
A special presentation sponsored by Hart House, the Metcalf Foundation, UTERN, The Cities Centre, the Centre for the Environment, & CIUT 99.5FM

A dynamic and passionate speaker, Majora Carter will explore how sustainability, economic community building, and social and environmental justice converge to improve and renew neighborhoods in innovative ways. She will also speak to her compelling personal story of activism emerging from her experiences growing up in the South Bronx.

Major Carter: From 2001 to 2008 she was Executive Director of the non-profit she founded: Sustainable South Bronx - where she pioneered green-collar job training and placement systems in one of the most environmentally and economically challenged parts of the US. This MacArthur “genius” is now president of her own economic consulting firm, a co-host on Sundance Channel’s The Green, and host of a new special public radio series called, The Promised Land (thepromisedland.org).

Note: this event will be webcast live at http://mediacast.ic.utoronto.ca
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Sharing learnings across the country - Aboriginal Health Week, Edmonton AB, March 2-6

My work with the Equity Toolkit Project has taught me of the importance of building networks of support across sectors and distance. We have so much to share with one another: resources, learnings, ideas and encouragement. This phenomenal event in Edmonton, Alberta, is a great example of this. Please read on...

Aboriginal Health Group Presents: “A Gathering of Speakers”

Aboriginal Health Week

March 2 – March 6.

2009 MONDAY March 2, 2009. 12-1 pm Room 1080 KATZ

Dr. Michael Hart, an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. He is also a Clinical supervisor for the Long Plain Health Centre and First Nations and Inuit Health Branch. His research and most recent book addresses the Cree philosophy to helping and deepens our understanding of Indigenous perspectives and practices in the professional disciplines of Social Work.

TUESDAY March 3, 2009. 12-1 pm Room 1080 KATZ

Dr. Angeline Letendre is Cree-Métis from a small community in Alberta. Angeline received a doctoral degree in Nursing. Angeline is currently the Interim Assistant Director for the CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health at the University of Alberta under the direction and leadership of the newly appointed Scientific Director Dr. Malcolm King.

WEDNESDAY March 4, 2009. 12-1 pm Room 1080 KATZ

FIRST 30 Participants will make their own rattle.

Vincent Steinhauer is a family man and resident of Saddle Lake First Nation. He is working on his PhD in Indigenous knowledge. He is lecturing at Blue Quills First Nations College. Vincent is highly regarded as a ceremonial leader, a cultural arts practitioner, and active community member.

THURSDAY March 5, 2009. 5-9 pm Room 1080 KATZ

“Evening Gathering” Exploring how Blackfoot (Siksika) culture influenced some of Abraham Maslow’s most important theoretical frameworks. Ryan Heavy Head, Akáyo’kaki, is an instructor of Kainai Studies and Cultural Anthropology at Red Crow College, on the Blood Indian Reserve, Alberta, Canada. He is presently serving as the acting Coordinator of the Kainai Studies program.

Narcisse Blood [iitsitssko’pa]; translation meaning emplaced-for-a-reason, tribal elder. Narcisse Blood, Ki’naksaapo’p, Iitsitssko’pa. He currently teaches for the Kainai Studies program, the Department of Education at Lethbridge University, and the International Indigenous Studies Department at the University of Calgary.

FRIDAY March 6, 2009. 12-1 pm Room 1080 KATZ

Ghislaine Goudreau is a member of the Algonquin of Pikwàkanagàn. She works as a Health Promoter at the Sudbury & District Health Unit. In 2006, Ghislaine completed her Master of Science Degree in Health Promotion through the University of Alberta; She was awarded the special honor for best Masters Thesis work in Canada "Exploring the Connection between Aboriginal Women's Hand Drumming and Health Promotion (Mino-Bimaadiziwin).

PO Box 60016, 0-40 SUB University of Alberta, 8900 115 St., Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2C0, Phone: (780) 964-2310, Fax: (780) 492-7614 Email: abhealth@ualberta.ca, Website: http://www.ualberta.ca/~abhealth

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