Introduction
The Surveillance Advances Seminar Series will focus on topics defining the future of public health surveillance and emerging issues and perspectives in surveillance. This seminar series will introduce public health surveillance concepts and principles with discussions of specific topics in epidemiology, public health, and health equity.
The seminar series will also encourage discussions about the relevance of innovation and new technologies and surveillance methods and their role in the future of the public health surveillance systems, identifying the challenges and the strategies to improve surveillance systems.
Governance and how surveillance methods can integrate equity in considering the interaction of social, cultural, political, and economic contexts in developing and implementing strategies and programs to improve the health of populations will be covered.
Dates
Ten accessible virtual seminars will be delivered monthly on the last Tuesday of the month from September 2023 to July 2024, excluding December 2023.
Time
1:00 to 2:00 Eastern Time / 12:00 to 1:00 Central Time
Language
Seminars will be delivered in English.
Format
Seminars will be held on Zoom. Up to two speakers with expertise in the topic of interest will have approximately 30 minutes to present their material, followed by approximately 20 minutes for discussion and questions from attendees. Presentation materials in English and French will be distributed through NCCID media channels.
Synopsis
Public health surveillance systems are used to monitor and forecast health determinants, health outcomes and public health threats in order to determine public health actions, identify emerging health conditions, monitor the results of control measures, as well as support evidence-based policies and programs.
The growing rate of data generation and emerging advances in data science, data management, technology and analytic methods create opportunities to substantially enhance surveillance, but at the same time have provided several challenges in their implementation.
This means it is necessary to discuss the challenges and opportunities of innovative methods and new technologies in the future of public health surveillance as well as to discuss the role of public health governance in the implementation of strategies, programs and policies to improve population’s health and achieving health equity.
General objectives
- Demonstrate the importance of public health surveillance and its importance for improving population health, achieving well-being, and promoting health equity;
- Facilitate dissemination of innovations and successes in the cycle of public health surveillance and the use of surveillance information, methods, tools, systems, and infrastructure to respond to emerging public health issues, and how they can continue to generate key evidence for future public health insights and action across Canada;
- Build capacity and strengthen networks across the Canadian public health surveillance community by providing participants with exposure to surveillance experts; and
- Discuss health equity in all aspects of the future of public health surveillance, with an emphasis on Indigenous methods, ways of knowing, governance, and sovereignty for race and population-based data.
Audiences
This seminar series is designed for diverse audiences. It will be offered to undergraduate and graduate health sciences and public health students, health professionals, public health practitioners, epidemiologists, data analysts, stakeholders in public health in various settings (rural, remote, northern, as well as congregate settings such as corrections and shelters), Indigenous working groups and organizations.
Speakers
For each seminar we will have experts sharing their knowledge and experience in public health surveillance.
Topics
Each seminar addresses a different aspect of public health surveillance, including data science, health inequities, communicable and non-communicable disease surveillance, novel surveillance methods and tools, and knowledge mobilization and translation.
Registration
Look out for the next announcements about the Surveillance Advances Seminar Series. More information about each seminar will be provided later with the link for registration.
Access instructions
All instructions for the seminar series will be posted on the Eventbrite registration page and will be emailed to all registrants prior to the event.
Accreditation statement
Surveillance Advances is a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). Surveillance Advances is also approved by the Council of Professional Experience for professional development hours for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI).
