About the Project

COVID-19 underlined the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination in responding to public health emergencies. The pandemic also highlighted existing gaps in public health and public policy training programs focused on equipping trainees with the skills needed to engage effectively with policy processes and work across sectors. This project addresses this gap through three state-of-the-art teaching cases using real-world examples from COVID-19.

These cases aim to build competencies for Canadian public health and public policy practitioners to engage in policy development, implementation, and health communications.

Collaborators

Study Lead: Veena Sriram
Case Writer: Betty Ackah
Collaborators: Peter Berman, Maxwell Cameron, Trevor Corneil, David Patrick, Heidi Tworek, Candice Ruck, Kshitij Sharan
Research Assistants: Connor Guyn, Netheena Mathews.
Case and Website Design: Bosung Kim, Namsook Jahng (Centre for Teaching and Learning Technology, UBC)

Funding

This project was funded by the Catalyst Grant: CPHO’s Report 2021: Future of Public Health, which supported research based on the priorities outlined in the Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2021. We address the following priorities from the CPHO 2021 report:

“Design, implement, and evaluate strategies to train and build capacity to support a world-class public health system”
“Examine best and wise practices in public health leadership and communication that build public trust by promoting transparency, accountability and legitimacy in public health systems.”

Approach

Each case was developed through a combination of document review, media analysis, and interviews with decision-makers and other stakeholders.

Intended audience

Trainees in the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency Programs, Masters of Public Health programs, and Masters of Public Policy programs;
Educators in public health, public policy and medicine;
Trainees and educators in public health and public policy programs in B.C., Canada and internationally.