Dr. Robert Strang Medical Officer Of Health

Dear Reader:
We are pleased to share with you this first Community Health Status Report for the Capital Health District. This report examines, in the broadest sense, the health of our community. It is a fundamental step in understanding our collective strengths and identifying important areas for further investigation and potential improvement. We must build on this foundation - together - to ensure our citizens and our communities become healthier and stay healthy. Good health is the ultimate goal.

We need to start by changing the way we think about health. It is vital that we understand the pillars of good health include an adequate income, a high level of literacy, a safe and sustainable environment, social support and much more. We endorse the World Health Organization's definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

We have much strength to build on. Increasingly, people in our communities are becoming aware of the many things that influence their health, and the health of their families, friends, neighbours, co-workers and communities. Employers are working to create workplaces that are less stressful, more flexible and that encourage healthier habits. Educators and parents recognize that a healthy school is one with clean air and clean water. Health care organizations, like Capital Health and the IWK, as part of our day-to-day missions, are putting programs in place that encompass new ways to think about health and focus on the continuum of health care.

However, there is more work to be done, and it is essential that we work together. Health is a shared responsibility. If we are going to transform our health status over the long term, we need to address important issues. Together. This involves everything from putting programs in place to help people stop smoking to influencing public policy to assessing how health care resources are used.

This Community Health Status Report is not a one-time effort. It is a first step in focussing on issues that tell us where we are doing well and where we might improve.

It is intended to spark discussion and spur action. The next step is to ensure that we continue to build on our successes, while deciding collectively how to address those areas where we need to do more to achieve our ultimate goal - good health for our citizens and our community.

Maura Davies
Interim President & CEO
Capital Health

Dr. Alex Gillis
Interim CEO
IWK Health Centre

Dr. Robert Strang

Dear Reader:
I am pleased to provide this first report on the health status of the people and communities in the Capital Health District. This is an important first step as we start to work together to improve our individual and collective health.

You will notice quickly that this report is not about hospitals, surgeries and sickness. It is about health in its broadest sense: a state of physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease. It is about the factors that determine whether we are healthy or not. Lastly, it is about understanding that health is a collective responsibility among individuals, families, communities, businesses and all levels of government. To create healthy individuals and communities we all must take on our share of this responsibility.

Many of us in the Capital Health District are quite healthy, but many of us are not. Like the rest of Nova Scotia we have high rates of chronic diseases and significant problems with unhealthy lifestyles that lead to chronic poor health: smoking, excessive drinking, inactivity, unhealthy eating. We also have many youth adopting high-risk behaviours that result in problems such as addiction, injury, early school leaving and teenage pregnancy. More importantly, we have significant problems with many underlying factors that lead to poor health outcomes, such as childhood poverty and inadequate early childhood development, low income and unemployment, low levels of education, illiteracy, unsafe and unhealthy living and working environments, social marginalization and isolation.

Our high rates of chronic illnesses will continue to create many challenges for disease management and access to timely and appropriate care. Improving our lifestyles will require investment in education and health promotion. However, in order to truly make a difference and create a healthier population there needs to be intensive and sustained initiatives to address the underlying determinants of health. Capital Health and the IWK are committed to providing leadership in this direction but improving our health will require the involvement and commitment of individuals, families, communities, businesses and all levels of government.

The best available data were used for this report but some are outdated and for many indicators there are only national or provincial figures. These problems underscore the need for Nova Scotia to develop a system for the regular and timely reporting on the health status of communities across the province.

By its very nature, a report such as this has difficulty in showing the tremendous range of diversity that exists among individuals and communities within the Capital Health District. I hope, however, that we are all able to see pieces of ourselves within the report.

This report is the first in a series of reports that will help us to collectively identify issues, create solutions and improve our health.

Dr. Robert Strang
Medical Officer of Health

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