PHABC

The Campus Food Systems Project is looking for five new university campuses to join the movement!

Are you a student leader?

Are you passionate about getting more local, sustainable food into your campus cafeterias?

Don't miss out on an amazing opportunity to reach this goal. Selected students will join a national network of students engaged in this work, receive an honorarium, resources and direct staff support.

Check out the 2012-2013 coordinator application for the Campus Food Systems Project for more details. Applications will be accepted until April 11th.

If you know somebody who this message applies to, please pass this on.

Learn more about the Campus Food Systems Project at studentfood.ca!

New resources to promote Canada's Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines

On behalf of the National Alcohol Strategy Advisory Committee (NASAC) and the LRDG Knowledge Exchange Working Group, CCSA is pleased to announce the posting of several new resources to assist you in promoting Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines, which were launched on November 25, 2011.

Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines
This brochure provides the guidelines previously launched. The fifth guideline (“delay your drinking”) has been revised to provide greater clarity to our recommendations related to youth and young adults. Should you wish to reproduce and disseminate the guidelines, this is the version to use.

Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines (adaptable version)
Use this version of the brochure if you wish to include your organization’s logo or local contact information on the document.

Permission to Reproduce, Adapt, Translate or Use Images
To assist us in our ongoing evaluation of our knowledge exchange efforts, please complete this form for permission to use resources related to the guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
This resource was developed to assist you in promoting and explaining Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines to clients, colleagues and networks. Although helpful to Canadians, these FAQs are not specifically targeted at the general public. As we receive additional questions, we will add them and the corresponding responses to this document.

Guidelines for Healthcare Providers
This set of guidelines was developed specifically for primary healthcare providers (such as family physicians and nurse practitioners), based on feedback from these professionals.

Communicating Alcohol-Related Health Risks
Healthcare providers are encouraged to use this resource to help tailor the population-level guidelines to patients with specific health conditions or risks.

Please contact at alcohol@ccsa.ca if you:

have questions that you would like to see addressed in the FAQs
would like us and others to know about your activities to promote the guidelines
have ideas for additional resources that could help you to promote the guidelines
have suggestions for improvement on existing resources

would like to receive updates about Canada’s Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines

Outdoor Air Quality and Health and the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)

An online, on demand, bilingual and accredited course

Developed by the UBC School of Population and Public Health and leading air pollution and health experts, this course provides a comprehensive overview of air pollutants, the health effects of air pollution and how to advise at-risk patients.

This web-based course features multimedia content and extensive information that is designed to provide physicians and health professionals with an understanding of the basics of:

The health effects associated with air pollution and air pollution for susceptible populations.
Guidelines for health professionals on how to advise their patients on actions to reduce the adverse impacts of outdoor air pollution on their health.
The use of the AQHI as a risk communication tool.

Time and cost
Learners can complete the course in 3-4 hours, plus time in a discussion forum. There is no cost to participants.

Continuing education credits
This program has been accredited by The College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to 3 Mainpro-M1 credits.

This event is an Accredited Group Learning Activity eligible for up to 3.0 Section 1 credits as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. This program has been approved by UBC Division of Continuing Professional Development. Other professional credits are available.

For more detailed information and to register, visit http://www.spph.ubc.ca and select the link “Continuing Education”

The Early Years Conference 2012-The Development of Children�s Mental Health: How Do We Become Who We Are?

Registration now open

February 2nd - February 4th, 2012

Vancouver, BC

This conference will stimulate dialogue, reflection, a deeper understanding of a child’s total development as rooted in their earliest relationships, and may revolutionize our approaches and practices with young children, their families, and their communities. The conference aims to:

· understand global development of children (birth to six years), and how it progresses through their early relationships and experiences

· promote focused dialogue among individuals and groups who support early child development and learning

· showcase exemplary approaches that support healthy early childhood social emotional development

· learn how to apply the understanding of child development to practice and development strategies

For further information, please visit the conference website at Early Years Conference-registration , or to register, please contact us at ian.ipce@ubc.ca or (604) 827 – 3112.

The conference brochure is available at Confernece Brochures/Brochure

The Early Years Conference 2012-The Development of Children�s Mental Health: How Do We Become Who We Are?

Registration now open

February 2nd - February 4th, 2012

Vancouver, BC

· understand global development of children (birth to six years), and how it progresses through their early relationships and experiences

· promote focused dialogue among individuals and groups who support early child development and learning

· showcase exemplary approaches that support healthy early childhood social emotional development

· learn how to apply the understanding of child development to practice and development strategies

For further information, please visit the conference website at Early Years Conference-registration , or to register, please contact us at ian.ipce@ubc.ca or (604) 827 – 3112.

The conference brochure is available at Confernece Brochures/Brochure

Stories of Strength: Perspectives on Mental Well-Being

Community Event - Sunday November 27, 2011 (Prior to PHABC Conference)

St. Andrew’s Wesley Church – Main Entrance

1022 Nelson Street, Downtown Vancouver, BC

Doors open at 6:30pm; Event begins at 7:00pm

- What is mental wellbeing?

- How can I support mental wellbeing in myself, my family, in my work, and in my community?

Explore answers to these questions with Dr. Gabor Mate, local physician and best-selling author, Melanie Rose, comedian and Stand up For Mental Health alumni, and Dr. John Raeburn, Adjunct Professor at the Auckland University of Technology.

This public event is open to all and will provide the opportunity to discuss mental well-being and to share ideas and thoughts on how mental health is a resource for everyday living. This free event is co-hosted by the Public Health Association of British Columbia, BC Mental Health & Addiction Services, and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Log on to your Facebook account, visit the Stories of Strength Facebook Event Link and invite your Facebook friends to attend and join in on our conversation about mental wellness.

RSVP appreciated: education@phabc.org. Visit www.phabc.org to find out more about the 2011 PHABC Conference held in affiliation with this event.

Event Poster

Preparing Public Health for New Prevention Technologies

Earlier this year, the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) requested PHABC's assistance in distributing a survey to help inform the project titled Preparing the Canadian Public Health Community for New HIV Prevention Technologies. This survey was circulated nationally and generated valuable feedback that informed the CPHA discussion paper on policies, programs and practices related to public health and civil society preparedness for new HIV prevention technologies (NPTs) in Canada.

We are pleased to share the results of the project, which are included in the attached report Preparing Public Health for New Prevention Technologies: A Road Map for Comprehensive Action in Canada. This report will be of interest to those working in HIV prevention in Canada as it is designed to provide guidance in developing policies, resources and programs that address issues of equity and accessibility of NPTs by identifying clear roles that public health should be assuming in a number of areas of action to prepare for NPTs in Canada.

Thank you for helping to make BC Pesticide Free!

Thank you, thank you for your support for a pesticide-free BC, and to everyone who has already sent in your response to the current public consultation and for inviting others to do the same! If you haven’t had a chance already, it’s not too late as there are still 9 days left to add your voice. Please see below for more information. The direct link to the BC Government’s online e-questionnaire is: https://www.leg.bc.ca/pesticidescommittee/questionnaire.asp

The e-questionnaire only takes about 3-5 minutes to complete. To help you, I have attached a ‘model’ response. This is a guide to assist you, but the more you can personalize your comments, the stronger your message will be.

Thanks to you we need only 3,000 more British Columbians to fill out the e-questionnaire to reach our goal of 8,000! Please pass this on to your family, friends and networks to encourage others to participate – there’s still time to meet the consultation’s deadline of December 16th.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

B.C. Lawn-Pesticide ban

The B.C. Government is considering a province-wide ban on toxic lawn pesticides. To help make their decision, they have set-up an on-line questionnaire -- to hear from citizens like you.

Please support the ban by doing the questionnaire at: https://www.leg.bc.ca/pesticidescommittee/questionnaire.asp

You don't need to fill out the full questionnaire. You can just answer question number 2 by clicking "Yes, I support a ban on pesticides".

Even if you don't live in B.C., please answer the questionnaire. We know that opponents are working all-out to kill the ban. Millions of Canadians have province-wide protection from pesticides -- but not the people of B.C.

Please do the questionnaire here. It only takes a few seconds.

Please share this message with your family and friends!

CPHA Media Release - Public Health Applauds Supreme Court Decision on Vancouver�s Supervised Injection Facility

Friday, September 30, 2011

OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada today unanimously ordered the federal Minister of Health to grant an exemption to Vancouver’s supervised injection facility (Insite) in accordance with s. 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA).