Pre-conference Sessions

Sessions will be presented in the language as indicated by their respective titles.

Monday 28 May

Morning session

INNOVATIONS IN PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION: ARTS AND MULTI-MEDIA METHODS TO SUPPORT ENGAGED LEARNING

9:00 – 12:00

Through an interactive session, this workshop will explore experiential learning pedagogy and its application to building competencies in public health. The session will demonstrate some of these educational innovations, involving gamification, role play, interactive online instruments, scenario challenges, and real-time problem solving. Using examples from public health curricula, the session will involve participants in experiential learning exercises, using case scenarios, interactive challenges, and exploration of hot topics in public health.
This workshop will demonstrate ways to use innovative arts-based and multi-media teaching tools for public health education, by involving participants as learners in specific teaching exercises. The workshop will provide participants with tools that are adaptable for teaching in various disciplines, interprofessional education, or workplace training.

Presented by: Lloy Wylie, Western University

Afternoon sessions

CANADA’S LOWER-RISK CANNABIS USE GUIDELINES: SUPPORTING IMPLEMENTATION AFTER LEGISLATION

13:00 – 16:00

As Canada moves toward legalizing and regulating cannabis, credible and evidence-based information will be critical for public health professionals to effectively prevent and reduce cannabis-related risks and harms.
This workshop will support public health professionals to be ready for legalization of cannabis for non-medical purposes with an understanding of the best available evidence on the public health risks and potential harms. Participants will have the opportunity to shape the knowledge products they require to implement the recommendations across Canada, learn more about the risks and harms of cannabis and inform the future development of additional information products required for different community settings and priority populations.

Presented by: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the Canadian Public Health Association

LONG-TERM PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSES FOR LONG-TERM EVACUEES DUE TO DISASTERS IN CANADA

13:00 – 16:30

Additional registration fee required: $20

Very little is known in Canada about long-term public health responses to natural and man-made disasters and the needs of long-term evacuees following immediate emergency responses. Furthermore, there are significant knowledge gaps regarding the systemic and structural inequities that put First Nations, Métis, Inuit, rural and remote individuals and communities at particular risk, as well as community-specific public health needs after disasters. The National Collaborating Centres for Public Health (NCCs) are initiating a two-year project to understand the information needs of public health practitioners for appropriate long-term planning and responses for long-term evacuees, and to help meet those knowledge needs with timely and relevant tools and resources.

This session will bring together public health personnel, including emergency preparedness planners at all levels, medical officers of health, national Indigenous organizations, researchers, epidemiologists, and students to explore public health roles to support long-term evacuees in Canada after typical emergency response interventions conclude.

Presented by: The National Collaborating Centres for Public Health

NAVIGATING ACADEMIA: DEVELOPING A ROADMAP FOR STUDENTS AND EARLY CAREER PROFESSIONALS

14:00 – 17:00

This skills-building session aims to provide students and early career professionals with knowledge and skills to successfully manoeuvre through a variety of academic paths. This highly interactive and participatory session will provide attendees with a welcome to CPHA and Public Health 2018, and the opportunity to learn about academic career options, the funding system and grant writing, manuscript preparation and developing an academic CV. Participants will leave this session with practical knowledge to get their academic career started.

Presented by: Canadian Public Health Association

RESTRICTING MARKETING OF UNHEALTHY FOODS TO CHILDREN

14:00 – 16:00

This session will provide an update on Health Canada’s approach to restricting marketing of unhealthy foods to children, one of the initiatives under Health Canada’s Healthy Eating Strategy. The first part of the session will include a Health Canada status update, including a presentation of results from the 2017 public consultation, current policy thinking and next steps in the process. The second part will include a presentation of the proposed monitoring framework and research agenda developed in partnership with the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition. The third part will provide participants with an opportunity to give input on the monitoring framework and research agenda, and discuss potential collaborations to enhance these efforts.

Presented by: Health Canada

Full day sessions

BEYOND TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE: STATE-OF-THE-ART INNOVATION IN PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE

9:00 – 16:00
Additional registration fee required [Lunch is not provided]

Participant: $75
Student: $50

Trauma-informed care (TIC) was originally conceptualized approximately 40 years ago with the goal of reducing the likelihood of further traumatization or re-traumatization of clients. More recently, trauma- and violence-informed care (TVIC) has taken this approach a step further by recognizing the interaction of trauma with violence. This perspective not only includes interpersonal violence, but also incorporates an intersectoral perspective informed by social categories, structures and conditions that impact health and well-being. An overview of the basic tenets of TIC will be provided, followed by a review of recent developments in TVIC that acknowledge health inequities in both past and present institutional policies and practices. Special attention will be paid to the legacy of the residential school system. Attendees will engage with interactive hands-on case studies concerning the implementation and evaluation of TVIC in public health practice.

Presented by: Caroline C. Piotrowski PhD MPH

ENGAGING YOUTH WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY, PROGRAMS AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION

9:00 – 16:00
Additional registration fee required and lunch will be provided:

Participant: $60
Student, youth or community service provider: $20

This session will be bilingual.

Wisdom2Action is committed to ensuring registration cost is a not a barrier to participation. A limited number of subsidized spots are available. Please contact info@wisdom2action.org for more information.

Though national and international bodies articulate the need for the engagement of persons with lived experience of illness into the design of their own care, we do not yet know enough about how to do this. At the population level, young people have traditionally been excluded from shaping public health policy and/or programs in a significant way. Yet youth engagement is recognized in various disciplinary areas as an effective strategy for individual and community development and improved health outcomes.

This session will demonstrate the why and how of youth engagement in a way that is adaptable to diverse organizations or projects. We will draw upon lessons learned from different examples, including Wisdom2Action’s Youth Advisory Committee. Participants will hear about this essential topic directly from youth and from professionals with in-depth youth engagement experience.

Presented by: Lisa Lachance, Executive Director, Wisdom2Action

FILLING INFORMATION GAPS WITH ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SURVEILLANCE

9:00 – 16:00
Additional registration fee required and lunch will be provided:

Participant: $60
Student: $40
Webcast: free of charge

The CARRFS Symposium is a venue to learn and to share current news, practices and trends in public health surveillance. You will meet CARRFS members, public health professionals and academics from across Canada and exchange news and views on emerging challenges and solutions in public health surveillance. This year’s theme is Filling information gaps with environmental and occupational health surveillance.

Presented by: CARRFS (Canadian Alliance for Regional Risk Factor Surveillance)

TESTING INNOVATION: ADDRESSING GAPS AND INSPIRING INNOVATION IN STBBI TESTING IN CANADA

9:00 – 16:00
Additional registration fee required: $25 [Lunch is not provided]

In Canada and worldwide, sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs) continue to be a significant individual health issue and public health burden. Despite the fact that STBBIs can largely be prevented, and in some cases cured, the burden of STBBIs remains a significant public health concern. Globally, the push to eliminate HIV, hepatitis C and other STIs as a public health threat by 2030 is an elusive goal. In Canada, in order to meet the commitment made to Canadians, there is an urgent need to reach the right people, at the right time, at the right place, with the most effective STBBI programs which include testing as a central component. Robust testing and linkages to services are gateways to prevention, treatment and care, and part of an effective, comprehensive strategy to address STBBIs in Canada.

This session will bring together a variety of STBBI stakeholders, including health researchers, health policy decision-makers, industry partners, public health officials, and community-based service providers. Building on a pre-conference session hosted at Public Health 2017, this session will provide an overview of the burden of STBBIs in Canada with an emphasis on identifying and addressing gaps in testing. During this CME accredited interactive workshop, participants will be engaged to inspire innovative responses and identify effective mechanisms to address STBBI testing gaps through a variety of approaches, including presentations, small group discussions and case study examples.

Learning Objectives:

Identify gaps in our collective efforts to reach people living with STBBIs
Apply implementation science to innovative programming approaches to STBBI testing
Describe patient-centered access to STBBI testing services
Assess national and provincial policy and programming gaps

Presented by: IUSTI Canada, NCCID, CATIE, PHAC, CPHA, INSPQ, and Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University