Linked Documents:

The Opportunity of Adolescence: The Health Sector Contribution
The Opportunity of Adolescence: The Health Sector Contribution. This document was prepared by the Federal, Provincial, Territorial Advisory Committee on Population Health. Using the determinants of health framework, the paper describes the current health status for adolescents and identifies areas where certain youth have greater needs for information and support. The paper considers the importance of gender, ethnic and cultural differences in adolescent development and behaviours.

Canadian Research on Immigration and Health ( PDF format - 1,332Kb)
This report is part of Health Canada's contribution to the Metropolis project and presents a scan of Canadian research on topics related to immigration health. It addresses a wide range of issues grouped within Health Canada's three main areas of interest:

• promotion of population health
• health system support and renewal
• management of risks to health

Due to limited time and resources, primarily large, broad studies of national policy interest published from 1990 to the present were included in the scan. The scan identified a number of main themes and remaining gaps in immigration health research. These include:

• a predominance of material on health determinants (compared to management of risks to health and health system support and renewal), yet there are significant gaps in knowledge
• evidence for considering the immigration experience itself as a health determinant
• little focus on the strengths of immigrants or their positive effect on the health care system
• a need for a focus on immigrant sub-populations

Developmental Health and the Wealth of Nations: Social, Biological, and Educational Dynamics , Canadian Institute of Advanced Research, Daniel Keating and Clyde Hertzman, Editors, 1999, outlines a conceptual framework for the understanding of human development in the modern world, presents detailed discussions of the key evidence and offers a framework for discussion in which the fundamental importance of human development is recognized and included in societal decisions.

How Does Literacy Affect the Health of Canadians? A profile paper
Literacy is a major variable influencing health in a variety of ways. The paper touches upon some of the mechanisms by which literacy affects health, and suggests some of the ways in which the health field can respond.

Toward a Healthy Future: The Second Report on the Health of Canadians, is a landmark public policy report that examines major factors or "determinants" that influence the health of Canadians at all ages. It draws on results from the National Population Health Survey, the National Longitudinal Survey on Children and Youth and numerous other sources, to provide a comprehensive picture of the state of the nation's health.

Recommended Reading:

Indicators that Count! Measuring Population Health at the Community Level by Trevor Hancock, Ron Labonte and Rick Edwards, 1999. The full report is to be published by the Center for Health Promotion, University of Toronto and ParticipACTION. Abstracted version is available in Canadian Journal of Public Health, Nov/Dec, 1999, Vol 90-Supplement 1.

Health Indicator Workbook: a tool for healthy communities (2nd Edition), BC Ministry of Health, Victoria, 1995.

Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality by Richard Wilkinson, 1996. Richard Wilkinson is an expert on social structure and the psychosocial determinants of population health and welfare. He is a research fellow in social epidemiology at the University of Sussex and Associate Director of the International Centre for Health and Society at University College London where he is a visiting professor. He is also the co-editor (with M. Marmot) of The Social Determinants of Health (Oxford U.P. 1999); and (with I. Kawachi and B. Kennedy) of Income Inequality and Health; Vol. 1 of The Society and Population Health Reader. (New Press 1999).

Related Sites:

Social Capital as a Health Determinant: How is it Defined? Working Paper Series, Health Canada, 2002
This report is a summary of social capital research and attempts to clarify the place of social capital among the social determinants of health. The companion report, Social Capital as a Health Determinant How is it Measured? focusses on the methodological aspects of social capital research.

The Science and Research page at the Health Canada web site outlines research projects and programs undertaken or sponsored by Health Canada, as well as research reports.

Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
CIHI 's mandate is to coordinate a comprehensive and integrated health information system, deliver knowledge and develop tools to advance health policies, improve the health of the population, strengthen the health system and assist health sector leaders in decision making.

Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF)
CHSRF's mission is to sponsor and promote applied health systems research, to enhance its quality and relevance, and to facilitate its use in evidence-based decision making by policy makers and health system managers.

Institut national de santé publique du Québec (only available in French)