Recommendations for action on the social determinants of health: a Canadian perspective

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 372; no. 9650; pp. 1690 - 1693
• Main Authors: Johnson, Shanthi, Prof, Abonyi, Sylvia, PhD, Jeffery, Bonnie, Prof, Hackett, Paul, PhD, Hampton, Mary, Prof, McIntosh, Tom, PhD, Martz, Diane, PhD, Muhajarine, Nazeem, Prof, Petrucka, Pammla, PhD, Sari, Nazmi, PhD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 08.11.2008; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Canada; Education; GDP; Gross Domestic Product; Health Care Reform - organization & administration; Health Care Reform - trends; Health services; Health Services Needs and Demand - statistics & numerical data; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Industrialized nations; Internal Medicine; Medical research; Poverty; Professional development; Provincial government; Qualitative research; R&D; Research & development; Social Change; Training; Canada
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61694-3

The Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit has been a leader in the development of culturally appropriate, locally relevant frameworks and indicators, working on one project with several Aboriginal and northern communities20 and on another with provincial government to evaluate population-level interventions to promote child health.21 In these projects we noted that in addition to the development and use of quantitative measures of population health, qualitative research and evidence can add depth and nuances necessary for fully understanding and to address health disparities, in essence following Lalonde who challenges us to identify factors and consider how they may be measured.22 Despite excellent data sources, we do not have reliable and timely data for the health needs and outcomes of ethnocullural and geographically distinct (ie, rural and remote) groups.\n30 A goal of substantial poverty reduction is, however, feasible. Professional development and continuing education opportunities have already proven invaluable for the understanding and application of population health framworks in the health-planning process, identification of community-health needs, and addressing health inequalities.38 The need for innovative postgraduate education and professional training initiatives with an interdisciplinary approach to health research, policy; and practice (including the societal and cultural dimensions of healthy populations) has been recognised, implemented, and assessed.33 Education and training programmes that create new health knowledge and apply research findings through partnerships with community-based organisations, policy makers, advocates, lobbyists, and different levels of government can improve the quality of the questions we ask about health disparities, innovate approaches to finding the answers, and ultimately translate them into action.