Blog

The covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of public health at a new level for decision makers. Heavy demands have placed additional pressure on the health workforce and uncovered major gaps and emerging issues such as health equity (CIHR, 2021).  A recently updated framework for health care improvement, the quintuple aim, offers a way forward (Itchhaporia, 2021). This framework involves improvement planning for: 1. improved patient experience, 2. using evidence to strive for better health outcomes, 3. strategies to lower healthcare costs, 4. aiming to support clinician well-being and 5. addressing health equity (see figure 1). The relevance and application of a value-based framework has been gaining traction internationally in recent years, especially in Canada, as leaders desire a transformation to healthcare systems (Kokko, 2022). This transformation will lead to better health and an improved economy. As a health professional in provincial public health evaluation and planning, this is a reflection on the quintuple aim and what each strategic aim offers toward influencing the health of Canadians within the healthcare system in Alberta and Canada. 

Newcomers in Canada are a particularly marginalized and vulnerable group with complex health issues. "When they arrive in Canada, they are faced with problems in several areas including language barriers, housing, access to local services, transportation problems, cultural differences, raising children, prejudice, isolation, and the weather" (Caring for Kids New to Canada, 2022).  As a healthcare system, are we doing enough for this population? There is a growing number of new Canadians each year, the highest number of new immigrant Canadians in 20 years, 492,984, arrived between 2021-2022 according to Statistica (2022). What can we learn from different cultures and how can we provide culturally competent care? 

Early on in my career as a registered dietitian I knew that rather than counselling individuals on a diet plan for a specific disease state, I was more passionate about population health and upstream approaches to preventing illness and disease.  As such, much of my career as a health promotion facilitator has been focused on applying the population health promotion (PHP) model to improve the health of youth, build capacity, decrease health status inequities, and facilitate collaborative action for preventing illness, injury and disease in the future.  One health topic that has emerged over the 12 years that I have worked in school health promotion is youth mental health.  Applying a multilevel approach, such as the PHP model, will identify 'who' to target, 'how' to address youth mental health and 'what' is contributing to the issue.

The concept of health and defining it in a simple statement has been an ongoing challenge for many years. Rather than being mutually exclusive, perhaps health and illness may need to be considered together, and with different factors and perspectives to make it's definition not only accurate but dynamic. Can one thrive or flourish while living with an illness?

If my computer desktop were a physical space, it would be cluttered with sticky notes adorned with my chicken scratched writing. If documents, guidelines, toolkits, notes, ideas, best practices, and research articles were in a pile on my desk, it would stack to the ceiling. I hadn’t given it much thought actually because it isn’t physical, or taking up any space really.

In 2005, when I graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with my Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition, social media was not even on the radar for health professionals. It was more possible to lead separate professional and private lives.  I recall, in my first position as a Public Health Dietitian, in Red Deer, AB, wondering if patients might see me at the grocery store, and be looking in my grocery cart, judging its contents. I was not concerned about them knowing my political, religious, or other views by searching me online. Now, in 2022, deciding on and creating a professional identity is an important activity for any health professional.  Stukus et al. shares that health professionals themselves can benefit from connecting with each other online, and “can serve as credible sources of evidence-based information and provide a vetted landing spot for those seeking health information online.”