The Nova Scotia Community Socio-Economic Status (SES) Snapshot reports were developed in the context of the Nova Scotia Community Cancer Matrix (NSCCM), a research project funded by Research Nova Scotia and led by Dr. Nathalie Saint-Jacques, senior epidemiologist with the Nova Scotia Health Cancer Care Program. The research aims to study the cancers affecting communities. When complete, the work will profile community-level cancer risk and how it relates to the social, material and environmental conditions in which people live.

The work reports on 301 Communities, 23 cancer types and 99,000 cancer cases diagnosed over the period of 2001-2017. The goal is to map disparity in cancer risk, identify possible inequities in risk and understand the disease prevention potential of Nova Scotia communities. This information can in turn, be used to inform the development of an effective, equitable and sustainable cancer prevention strategy. The work is particularly important in Nova Scotia where both the rates of several cancers and prevalence of known risk factors are generally greater than those found elsewhere in Canada.

The research project will be releasing several knowledge products, the first of which are the Nova Scotia Community Socio-Economic Status (SES) Snapshots reports.  These reports provide a window on the SES profile of communities included in each of the 37 NS Health Community Health Boards (CHBs) distributed over four Health Management Zones. Some of the CHBs cross more than one zone, resulting in a total of 42 reports.

Being able to identify, measure and map SES across communities is a critical step towards achieving greater health equity in Nova Scotia.

Research Team
Dr Nathalie Saint-Jacques, Registry & Analytics, Nova Scotia Health Cancer Care Program
Dr Trevor Dummer, Population & Public Health, University of British Columbia
Dr Mikiko Terashima, School of Planning, Dalhousie University
Dr Patrick Brown, Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto
Dr Daniel Rainham, Healthy Population Institute, Dalhousie University
Ms Judith Purcell, Cancer Primary Prevention, Nova Scotia Health Cancer Care Program

Advisory Committee
Marie Aucoin, North Inverness County Community Health Board
John M Garcia, PhD, Member, Community Health Board for Northside The Lakes
Gavin Kennedy, Department of Natural Resources and Renewables (Nova Scotia)
Jong Kim, Dalhousie University
Carole MacLeod, Member, East Cape Breton County Community Health Board.
Gillian Ritcey, Healthy Populations Institute

How to cite these reports
Saint-Jacques N, Ritcey G, Purcell J, Dummer T, Brown PE, Rainham D, Terashima, M. Nova Scotia Community Socio-Economic Status Snapshot. ResearchNS, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 2022

Acknowledgement
This work benefited from an active and engaged Advisory Committee, funding from Research Nova Scotia and support of the Nova Scotia Health Cancer Care Program and Dalhousie University Healthy Populations Institute.

Zone Summaries (Infographic)
Eastern Zone Summary 
Central Zone Summary
Western Zone Summary
Northern Zone Summary

View the reports by Health Zone:

Eastern
Antigonish (Town/County)
Central Cape Breton County
Central Inverness
East Cape Breton County
Guysborough County
North Inverness
Northside The Lakes Areas 
Strait Richmond Areas
Victoria County

Central
East Hants
Chebucto West
Cobequid
Cole Harbour - Eastern Passage - Waverly (Southeastern)
Dartmouth
Eastern Shore Musqudobuit
Halifax Peninsula
Hantsport
West Hants

Western
Annapolis
Central Kings
Clare
Digby
Lunenburg County
Queens County
Shelburne County
Western Kings
Yarmouth
Kingston/Greenwood
Eastern Kings

Northern
Eastern Shore/Musquodoboit
Truro
Debert/Economy/Lower Onslow
Central/East Pictou
Cobequid
East Hants
North Shore Area
Pictou West
Pugwash
South Colchester
Southampton/Parrsboro/Advocate
Springhill/Oxford/Amherst
West Hants