TOPHC 2022 Spring Workshops
Health equity was in the spotlight for the two spring workshops hosted by TOPHC in April and May. Both workshops were well attended and participants enjoyed the breakout room discussions, interactive polls, and the new post-workshop, Continued Conversations, segment that allowed participants to engage with the facilitators and one another.
We would like to thank everyone who took part in the workshops, including Brian Schwartz (VP, Public Health Ontario) who introduced the April workshop, our moderators and the workshop facilitators. We would also like to thank the workshop participants who generously completed the post-workshop evaluation and let us know that they found the workshops intuitive, timely, convenient and helpful. The vast majority of respondents agreed that what they learned in these workshops would encourage them to apply changes to their current practice or profession. This kind of feedback is vital for ensuring that future workshops are relevant, practical and worthwhile for the attendees.
Workshop Summary: April 13, 2022 – Using CIHI’s Measuring Health Inequalities Toolkit to Advance Health Equity
The April workshop offered participants an introduction to the Measuring Health Inequalities Toolkit developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Session objectives were delivered and facilitated by Mayuri Mahendran, Dr. Diana Ridgeway and Dr. Dana Riley, from CIHI’s Population and Indigenous Health branch; workshop discussions were moderated by PHO’s Dr. Karl Kabasele.
Dana, Program Lead at CIHI, kicked off the workshop with a video overview of the toolkit that covered its origins and its value measuring health inequalities. This led to a discussion with participants about the difference between health indicators and equity stratifiers. “Hospital stays or health system performance would be examples of health indicators,” said Dana, “while equity stratifiers are socio-demographic characteristics, like age, sex, income, and geographic location.”
The second phase of the Toolkit – Planning Your Analysis – was also facilitated by Dana. This included a review of the equity stratifiers that are used to measure health inequalities. She showed how selecting multiple, relevant equity stratifiers can provide more accurate estimates for population subgroups, leading to more relevant public health interventions for those subgroups. Dana talked about the equity stratifier information sheets that are part of the Toolkit along with a template for creating a health equality analysis plan.
Mayuri, an Analyst at CIHI, walked participants through the toolkit’s third phase: Analyze Your Data. Mayuri demonstrated how to conduct a stratified analysis of health indicators, categorize data into population subgroups, and quantify inequalities using summary measures.
The final phase of the Toolkit, Report Your Findings, was presented by Diana, a Senior Analyst with CIHI. She explained how the participants could interpret their results for key findings by examining the magnitude of inequality, identifying patterns of inequality and using caution when considering the statistical significance of their findings.
Diana rounded off the workshop with tips for reporting findings, saying that “tailoring the message and your visualizations to your audience will have the greatest impact” when reporting your health inequalities findings.
Workshop Summary: May 4, 2022 – Measuring What Counts in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Equity Indicators for Public Health
TOPHC’s second spring workshop looked at health equity considerations from the perspective of pandemic preparedness, response, mitigation and recovery.
PHO’s Dr. Yasmin Khan, whose work helped inform the Measuring What Counts Guidance Document, moderated this workshop. The facilitators were Margaret Hawarth-Brockman, MSc, Senior Program Manager for the National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) and Dr. Claire Betker, Scientific Director for the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH), who co-authored the guidance document.
This workshop focused on the cycle of public health pandemic planning, response and recovery through the lens of health equity. Margaret and Claire walked participants through the public health preparedness indicators developed by Dr. Khan and her co-authors, explaining the importance of considering the structural and social determinants of health as an integral part of measuring emergency preparedness and resilience.
Essentially, the Measuring what Counts Guidance Document augments existing indicators for public health emergency preparedness with equity prompts that can help decision-makers integrate health equity considerations into their emergency planning.
Margaret explained how data collection and reporting on population-level health status and outcomes could be “disaggregated by equity indicators like sex, age, place of residence, ethnicity and race” to provide a more comprehensive picture of health inequalities.
Claire expanded on this, noting that “when we speak about health equity we are looking at systematic differences in health outcomes which are avoidable. And because they are avoidable, they are unfair.” She went on to explain that these differences are “rooted in unequal social relations and systems, like gender inequity, racism, colonialism, and socio-economic exclusion.”
The facilitators led participants through several exercises to demonstrate how prompts to encourage equity could be applied to public health preparedness indicators. Participants were encouraged to identify ways in which their own public health organizations could develop the capacity to integrate health equity into their emergency planning.
Margaret cautioned participants, noting that “these equity prompts are a starting point; they are not intended to be prescriptive.”
“Essentially,” Claire added, “at the heart of the prompts is meaningful engagement, partnership and involvement with communities.”
Continuing Conversations
A strong theme in the feedback TOPHC received following the Fall 2021 workshops was that participants wanted more opportunities to interact with the facilitators and other attendees. That’s why, in addition to including interactive polls and breakout rooms, we developed a new Continuing Conversation segment for our Spring 2022 workshops. Continuing Conversations are an optional activity for workshop attendees to take some time after the presentation to network and discuss key themes from the workshop and their applications. Participants have told us that they found the Continuing Conversations segment to be valuable and appreciated the opportunity to exchange ideas about what they had learned. They also liked the fact that these 30-minute sessions were conveniently scheduled right after the workshop, over the lunch hour.
We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the Continuing Conversations participants whose insightful questions and remarks enriched the experience for everyone.
Up Next
Stay tuned to TOPHC as we begin planning for TOPHC 2023 with keynote speakers, plenaries, and a variety of relevant and timely programming. Follow TOPHC on Twitter to get the latest!
