Internship: Health Promotion and Policy Review and Analysis

Summary

The goal of this project was to assess the state of existing and proposed preventative health care measures in Alberta, and to develop new policy recommendations for the Calgary Health Region and Alberta overall. The project involved an analysis of health care policies and how they pertained to health promotion, prevention and wellness, as well as an assessment of policy barriers and deficits. The researcher reviewed successful models and systems of health promotion, prevention and wellness in other jurisdictions.

Grant Outputs

Health Promotion and Wellness in Canada: A Review – http://www.virtualcurriculum.com/N4210/MaxBell.pdf

This report examines the state of provincial and federal preventative health programs. It examines three major reports to determine what kinds of actions or roles they propose for various Canadian government authorities. These include the Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (the Kirby Report), The Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (the Romanov Report), and the Repot of the Premier’s Advisor Council on Health (the Mazankowski Report). The recommendations in these official reports identify twelve key determinants of healthy living, including such things as health literacy, nutrition, obesity and immunization. It suggests that there is very little incentive or attention paid to preventative medicine, despite the high cost of treatment paid for preventable illnesses.