TOPHC 2023 Virtual Convention
The Ontario Public Health Convention (TOPHC) was pleased to welcome attendees back for a full convention for the first time since 2019. TOPHC 2023 also marked the first time the convention had both a virtual day, held on March 27, and an in-person day, held on March 30. As a reminder, those who attended the virtual day on March 27 have access to recordings of all day one presentations in the virtual library for six months.
Opening Keynote Dr. James Makokis – Two-Spirit doctor – LGBTQ2S, Indigenous, Diversity and Inclusion Expert
Two-Spirit family physician Dr. James Makokis from the Saddle Lake Cree Nation gave a thought-provoking keynote where he shared insights about public health approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion, and lessons learned as a winner of The Amazing Race Canada.
“To make progress you have to learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” said Makokis. He added that it’s similar to having children with growing pains and “you can’t have growth sometimes without a little discomfort.”
Makokis gave a brief introduction on how the health of Indigenous peoples is tied to the land and the importance of understanding their health system, culture, ceremony and tradition. He asked, “As an ally, how will you increase the space and access to Indigenous medicine by Indigenous people in health care settings?” He delved into the history of the treaties between the Crown in the Right of Great Britain and Indigenous groups, explaining that Indigenous peoples were agreeing to let settlers live in Canada, working together as equals, and not agreeing to give up their land. He demonstrated the importance of understanding this history in order to understand the systemic racism, institutionalized poverty and health disparities that persist to this day. With this in mind, Makokis gave examples of incorporating Indigenous knowledge alongside western medical knowledge to improve health, e.g., combating mistrust of the health system by incorporating Cree ceremonies with vaccines in order to improve vaccine uptake. At the conclusion of the session, Makokis talked about the importance of working together, elevating Indigenous voices and moving beyond allyship to organized action.
Concurrent Sessions
Morning concurrent sessions discussed important and emergent public health issues facing Ontarians.
The workshop on The GetaKit Study: Bridging the Gap in Undiagnosed HIV Infections Using at-home HIV Self-Testing Kits examined and evaluated the uptake and outcomes of providing free HIV self-tests in Ontario. Meanwhile panelists outlined strategies for effective health and justice partnerships in the workshop Health & Justice Partnerships: An Innovative Approach to Health Equity, while Planning a Sustainable and Resilient City focused on how health and climate resiliency perspectives inform and advance public policies. Finally, panelists highlighted evaluation results in Urban Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy in Simcoe Muskoka: Reviewing a Successful Collaborative Approach where they noted that establishing shared priorities and collaborating from start to finish are important for building effective public health relationships and fostering population health outcomes.
Afternoon concurrent sessions focused on successes and challenges to current public health practice and policy, opportunities and potential solutions.
Panelists for Mpox Outbreak Management in Montreal & Toronto: Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned discussed lessons learned, including tailoring communications to communicate risk, leveraging strong and trusted relationships, and piggy-backing on some existing COVID-19 infrastructure. Meanwhile, Beyond Research Evidence – A Toolkit for Evidence-Informed Public Health Decision Making in Community Contexts focused on a suite of tools developed by the National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools to assess the quality of contextual evidence. The presenters for Nature-Based Equity: An Assessment of the Public Health Impacts of Green Infrastructure in Ontario, Canada discussed findings from a participatory research study, noting how a strategy can improve access to healthier built environments, support sustainable development, increase climate resilience, enhance ecological connectivity, and create healthier communities. Finally, presenters for Mathematical Modelling of COVID-19 for Public Health Units used real-world data to demonstrate the use of a Windows app for epidemiological modelling of COVID-19 at the local level.
Poster Presentations
Attendees had the opportunity to attend poster presentations throughout the day on a broad range of important public health topics. For example, The experience of Canadian adults with intellectual & developmental disabilities getting COVID-19 vaccines: Findings from a national survey and implications for public health highlighted how the majority of Canadian adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities surveyed experienced barriers to getting COVID-19 vaccines including information, the environment, transportation and follow-up. The poster presentation Exploring current well water stewardship in rural Ontario communities via a mixed-methods approach: Implications for drinking water vulnerability and public health risks showed that 47% of surveyed well owners did not previously have their well water tested for bacterial contamination or only had their well water tested once. With a wide range of topics from alcohol and opioids to chronic diseases, COVID-19 and evidence synthesis, there was something of interest for everyone.
Public Health Plenary Panel: Public Health by 2033 (Dr. Eileen de Villa, Dr. Bonnie Henry, Dr. Theresa Tam, Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed)
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health for the City of Toronto, moderated a discussion on Public Health by 2033 with session panelists: Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia, and Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, Associate Dean of Serving and Engaging Society for Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine and Assistant Professor in the department of Community Health and Epidemiology. Together they looked ahead at the future of public health over the next decade.
Vision for public health in 2033
To start, de Villa asked the panelists to talk about the three most important concepts underpinning their vision for public health in 2033. Tam discussed equity, trust and participation. “Trust is established over time, not just in a crisis,” said Tam. She added that we must continuously reflect and learn about being accountable to the people we serve in order to be a trusted system and trusted public health organizations. Henry said that her 2033 vision was the same vision she had at the end of the SARS outbreak in 2003; that we had a connected system. “It’s in the best interest of society that we have a strong robust public health service that can make these connections and use the information we collect,” added Henry.
Watson-Creed said that she hopes by 2033 in Canada, the formal public health system “knows itself” meaning that “We can stand up and claim with integrity and confidence we’re public health. This is what we’re here to do. We’re not ambiguous about it. With ambiguity we lose credibility among stakeholders. We lose capacity to really dig into things we’re uniquely situated to dig into.” She added that public health would also have to know that nothing happens in public health that doesn’t start and end at the local level. A strong public health system is aligned at the federal, provincial and municipal level and they’re all driving at local public health outcomes.
Throughout the discussion, the panelists touched on many important topics, such as the need to have a strong presence on social media to help combat mis/disinformation, how to advance the social determinants of health (SDOH) and take an equity approach, and the importance of how our work in primordial prevention differentiates public health from other service providers.
A message to the next generation of public health professionals
The session concluded with a final takeaway from each panelist for the next generation of public health professionals. Watson-Creed said “Congratulations. You’re going to love it. Public health is awesome. Embrace the complexity.” Tam said that as we tackle complex issues we must work together and team up. “Break down those silos now,” she said “Nothing can be done in public health without working together.” Henry said “The things that we do in public health make a difference and sometimes you won’t see it…It’s a team sport…You’re never alone. We have a community that makes it part of what makes it such a joy to work in public health.”
Facilitated Networking
The virtual day concluded with an opportunity for participants to join small group networking tables, including tables sponsored by Sanofi and CSL Seqirus, to talk about learnings from the day and timely public health topics of mutual interest like harm reduction, climate change, and child and youth health. Continued Conversations tables encouraged participants to reflect on themes from the plenary and keynote presentations, ask questions and connect with others.
A big thank you to everybody who (virtually) attended day one of TOPHC 2023. At the end of the day, we were also pleased to see many participants continue to access the platform to view presentations in the virtual library and continue networking. We hope that you’ll find the virtual library useful and informative. For those who didn’t attend but are interested in accessing the virtual library, you can find more details here.
