National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health

Black Experiences in Health Care Symposium: Bringing together community and health systems for improved health outcomes

Held on January 30, 2020, the Black Experiences in Health Care Symposium (BEHCS) generated rich, action-oriented dialogue about advancing Black health in Ontario. This important report of the proceedings is authored by Black Health Alliance and Health Commons Solutions Lab and is relevant to practitioners across Canada. It captures knowledge and experience shared during keynote presentations and breakout sessions.

Indigenous cultural safety: Necessary for Indigenous health

In this blog post, I unpack some of the concepts discussed in a recent NCCDH-hosted webinar on Indigenous health promotion, tying them to ideas brought up in a workshop on Indigenous cultural safety at TOPHC 2018. I am a White settler who lives and works in Waterloo, Ontario, on the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabeg and Haudenosauonee peoples.

First Nations Taking Action on the SDH: Reflections from CPHA 2017

When I attended the Public Health 2017 conference this past summer in Halifax, NS, (in Mi’kmaki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People), there were multiple resources from the First Nations Health Directors Association (FNHDA) of British Columbia that I found very interesting. One of the other resources the FNHDA shared also caught my attention: the Social Determinants of Health Discussion Guide, created by the First Nations Health Council (FNHC) in BC.

Symposium: Decolonizing our relationships through lateral kindness

At a symposium held at the Public Health 2017 conference, we learned about the concept of lateral kindness — a deliberate attempt by Indigenous communities to counter the lateral violence experienced as a result of colonization in Canada.

Indigenous KT and ways of knowing — what do they mean for public health?

Indigenous knowledge translation (KT) is a concept of central importance in public health practice. The recent annual conference of the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) highlighted many sessions reinforcing that the application, processes, outcomes, assumptions and integrity of research can all be strengthened by thinking about KT from an Indigenous perspective.