Links to policy resources that are applicable to public health, including search engines and tools to find, analyze, and interpret policies.
Canadian
Government of Canada
World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Policy (WHOCC)
This WHOCC is a part of the Public Health Agency of Canada. It is focused on chronic disease policy, including policy monitoring, research, training and capacity building, dialogue, partnerships, outreach, and the development of legislation.
- The report, Mobilizing Intersectoral Action to Promote Health: The Case of Act Now BC (2009), is an example of the work that the WHO Collaborating Centre on Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Policy conducts in health policy. This case study focuses on intersectoral action for health by examining the whole of government approach that British Columbia took in the ActNow BC program.
Healthy Public Policy Development
This website from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Atlantic Region provides links to publications from the Atlantic Region of interest to policy-makers.
Health Policy Research – Reports and Publications
This website from Health Canada provides links to health policy research bulletins on topics such as migration health, place and health, and social capital and health. These bulletins are published twice annually, and include data, historical information, and policy discussions.
National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy
National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCC)
The NCC for Healthy Public Policy is one of six National Collaborating Centres funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Reports from the NCC for Healthy Public Policy include:
- Methods of economic evaluation: What are the ethical implications for healthy public policy? (PDF document), National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy, Quebec (2014). Examines how costs are determined across the various methods of economic evaluation, the differences between methods, how to measure and value the effects stemming from policy options, and broader ethical implications.
- Structural Profile of Public Health in Canada This regularly updated table outlines the structure of public health in Canada for each province and territory by public health function, including population health assessment, health surveillance, health promotion, disease and injury prevention, health protection, and Aboriginal health (2012-2013 update).
- Method for synthesizing Knowledge About Public Policies (PDF document) This report outlines a method for synthesizing public polices by examining their effectiveness in different contexts (2010) .
- Integrated governance and healthy public policy: Two Canadian examples (PDF document) This report examines integrated governance through two examples – ActNow BC (which uses a whole of government approach) and Section 54 of Quebec’s Public Health Act (which uses a horizontal management approach). The report defines integrated governance, outlines each case and identifies key success factors for integrated governance both from the literature and these two initiatives (2008).
Canadian Population Health Initiative
Canadian Population Health Initiative (CPHI), is part of the Canadian Institute for Health Information and focuses on research, policy, and knowledge translation in population health. Policy Synthesis and Analysis is one of the four functions of CPHI. Their reports typically focus on topic-specific areas, including urban health, mental health, inequalities, and healthy weights.
Pan-Canadian Public Health Network
Pan-Canadian Public Health Network (PHN) consists of a 17 member council of federal, provincial, and territorial representatives working to strengthen Canada’s public health. The Network reports to the Conference of Deputy Ministers of Health on priority public health items. Their website has a link to Reports and publications, including PHN’s annual reports on work they have completed in their priority areas, their publications on health inequality indicators and summaries of external population health reports.
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy
The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy is situated at the University of Manitoba in the Faculty of Medicine. The primary question that the Centre addresses is: “What makes people healthy?”, including examining health services and determinants of health.
- What Works? A First Look at Evaluating Manitoba’s Regional Health Programs and Policies at the Population Level (2008) (PDF document), is an example of the reports on the Centre’s website. It examines whether or not there has been a change in health status or use of health services in the regions, and if so, if the change was linked to any particular interventions.
L’Institut national de santé publique du Québec
The Public Policy and Health website is a portal for public policy and health for the INSPQ. It includes links to new publications and events, as well as links based on theme areas (e.g. lifestyle, poverty and social development, safety).
Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) is an independent organization funded by the federal government to accelerate action on cancer control for all Canadians.
- Prevention Policies DirectoryThis is a regularly updated, searchable database from CPAC of various policy-type documents across Canada on risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. You can search by key word, risk factor, type (e.g. legislation, bill, regulation), jurisdiction (e.g. municipal, school, provincial/territorial), and geography (e.g. by province/territory or Canada).
- Prevention Policies Directory Report (2011) (PDF document) This CPAC report outlines the various processes used to develop the Prevention Policies Directory described above.
- Prevention Policies Directory. This is a regularly updated, searchable database from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) of various policy-type documents across Canada on risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. Search filters include key word, risk factor, type (e.g. legislation, bill, regulation), jurisdiction (e.g. municipal, provincial/territorial, federal), and geographic location (e.g. by province/territory or Canada-wide).
Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement
The Support Tools for Policy-Making web page identifies almost 20 tools for people working on health policy, to assist them in using research to develop policy and programs. Tools include “Findings Systematic Reviews” and “Preparing and Using Policy Briefs to Support Evidence-Informed Policymaking”.
International
World Health Organization
The WHO Health Policy web page links to the health policy section of the WHO’s website, and many policy-relevant publications on health topics can also be accessed through the site.
The Health in all policies training manual increases understanding of the importance of Health in All Policies (HiAP) among health and other professionals. Its objectives are to build capacity to promote, implement and evaluate HiAP; encourage engagement and collaboration across sectors; facilitate the exchange of experiences and lessons learned; promote regional and global collaboration on HiAP; and promote dissemination of skills to develop training courses for trainers.