September arrives, and that means it’s back to school and back to work for the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Board of Health! It looks like the public health staff spent their summer writing some pretty big reports on the health effects of poverty, the lingering effects of the pandemic, increasing immunizations and vaping. Plus, we’re getting ready for cold and flu and COVID season this fall. Get ready, because there’s a lot of ground to cover
NOTE #1: This meeting will be in-person at the Public Health office on Chancellors Way and it will also be available to watch online. To get the link you will have to send a request to join the meeting via an online form that you can find here. Deadline to send in the request is Wednesday September 6 at 11 am.
NOTE #2: The meeting begins at 2 pm.
MOH Update(s)– Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer will deliver her verbal report on current matters facing Public Health.
PRESENTATION: 2023 Poverty and Health Report – See two steps below.
Health Protection Second Quarter Summary (January 2023 – June 2023) – This is pretty straightforward, and it’s the one item on the meeting’s consent agenda, a round up of the results from Public Health’s regular inspections during the second quarter of 2023: from food safety to pool water quality.
2023 Poverty and Health Report – There’s a pretty big connection between poverty and health, and with 7.4 per cent of the region living in poverty (that’s 22,510 people) there’s a lot of people who are facing the health effects that come with living in poverty. What are those effects? “Rates of diabetes, arthritis, asthma, anxiety disorders, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, lack of physical activity, unintentional injury mortality and suicide mortality are higher in groups living in low-income,” the report says.
There are no new direct actions coming out this report, but it’s an example of Public Health’s direction to use data to help guide outreach and programs to combat poverty and the ancillary health effects that come with it. That includes education like the annual Nutritious Food Basket report and programs like Healthy Smiles Ontario and Healthy Babies Healthy Children.
Secondary Impacts of the Pandemic on Children and Youth – According to research, the “downstream” impacts of COVID-19 on youth and children includes mental health, education, relationships, nutrition, movement behaviours and equity. This report has developed a number of recommendations that might help our young people recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Mental Health – Work with community partners to find easier ways to get access; reduce stigma and improve help-seeking behaviours; develop communications material to help kids, parents and education workers to recognize the signs.
“Digital Consumption” – Promote healthy technology use like screen time guidelines; one-hour or less per day for kids between 2 and 4 years, and two hours or less per day for young people between 5 and 17 years. Also, provide education on digital literacy and increase data collection.
Lifestyle Behaviours – Work with community partners to create more access to sports and recreation; promote more physical well-being and extracurricular involvement; advocate for subsidized, affordable access to nutritious foods.
Health Equity – Develop communications and educational materials to highlight health inequities; also develop communications and educational materials specifically directed to groups supporting children and youth; continue data collection, especially targeting sub-groups like young people affected by disabilities, racism and discrimination.
2023 Fall FluVID Campaign – While the number of COVID-19 cases have been at their lowest point since the earliest days of the pandemic, Public Health has spent their summer vacation getting ready for fall and the inevitable uptick in cases, plus the return of the flu. They’ve been co-ordinating with long-term care homes, retirement homes, and other congregate settings to roll out shots early, plus working with pharmacies, physicians and hospitals to get ready for the fall vaccine roll out in those facilities. Public Health will be looking to initiate six-week flu and COVID vaccine clinics – or FluVID clinics – in locations around the region including Stone Road Mall starting on the week of October 16.
Solutions to Increase Youth HPV Immunization in Canada: Findings from Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph – Over a 10-year period between 2010 and 2020 the rate of young people being vaccinated against HPV has been decreasing. This could be another consequence of the pandemic, but our own local health unit is hardly unique in this, which is why they were selected to be part of a nationwide project funded through Urban Public Health Network.
From that work, three recommendations were made to generate more uptake of the HPV vaccine: An update to the HPV communication items for parents/guardians, the hosting of information sessions for parents/guardians, and the involvement of youth in HPV and HPV vaccine discussions. These efforts will be monitored to see if there’s a positive impact on the number of young people getting their HPV jab.
Talking to Youth About Vaping – Vaping and e-cigarettes have become more of an issue for the health of young people than cigarettes these last few years; in 2022, 15 per cent of students between grades 7 and 12 claim to have used a vape or an e-cigarette when compared to three per cent who claim to have smoked a cigarette. Since vaping still poses the same risks like brain development and lung injuries as cigarettes, Public Health is looking for ways to work with community partners to make sure fewer young people are sparking up a vape.
Committee (Verbal) Report(s) – There’s nothing this month from either the Human Resources Committee or the Finance & Audit Committee, but there will be an item from the Executive Committee, and in order to talk about it the board will have to go into…
CLOSED SESSION:
Labour Relations Report (2023) – Because this is a matter regarding labour relations or employee negotiations this matter has to be discussed in-camera under Section 239 of the Municipal Act.
SEE THE COMPLETE AGENDA ON THE WDG PUBLIC HEALTH WEBSITE HERE.
Guelph Politico 