Setting a course for the future
As we prepare to turn 10, we undertook an environmental scan.
The NCCID is approaching its tenth anniversary. To help us set our course for the future, we commissioned an analysis of the key challenges, needs, and opportunities in infectious disease public health in Canada.
We set out to:
- Describe the field of infectious diseases public health, including current knowledge translation priorities;
- Detail how knowledge translation in this field is developing;
- Assess the best knowledge translation methods to advance this field;
- Compare the work of other organizations with tasks similar to ours; and
- Define an innovative knowledge brokering niche for NCCID.
Read more on how we undertook the environmental scan in the full version.
And our environmental scan detected an unfilled need.
There is a pressing need in Canada for a knowledge brokering centre for infectious diseases. NCCID is well-suited for this role, because:
- Our national mandate enables us to work across jurisdictions and to address national priorities.
- We work with specialists in diverse disciplines across the country. This means we can address cross-cutting themes and still be flexible and responsive to the urgent need for knowledge when infectious diseases emerge.
- We bring together public health practitioners with researchers and policy makers. Through this we support the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada’s call for more information sharing to improve the prevention, control, and treatment of infectious diseases.
- We work at arm’s length from government and academia. We are a credible information source for public health policy-makers, planners, and practitioners.
Read more about why our analysis highlighted this need in the full version.
A vision for the future
Public health information needs continue to grow and evolve.
Knowledge translation is no longer enough.
The NCCID is therefore becoming a knowledge broker.
As a public health knowledge broker for infectious diseases, NCCID is:
- strengthening existing relationships and creating new partnerships with research, policy, and practice experts;
- facilitating connections, discussion and knowledge exchange;
- working with stakeholders to identify knowledge gaps and promising practices;
- finding the right methods to interpret and translate evidence to support decision-making and priority setting in infectious disease public health; and
- focusing on cross-cutting issues like burden of illness, drivers for infectious diseases and the links between infectious and chronic conditions.
Learn more about the NCCID’s work as a knowledge broker in the full version of our environmental scan.