What are the National Collaborating Centres?
The NCCAH is one of six National Collaborating Centres established by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada to support public health renewal in Canada. The centres are hosted by various institutions in regions across the country, and aim to improve response to public health threats, chronic disease and injury, infectious diseases and health disparities.
Together, the centres in the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health program are helping to renew and strengthen Canada's public health system by creating and fostering linkages among researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, organizations and communities to improve practice at all levels of the public health system across Canada.
Our work focuses on 'KSTE' - synthesizing existing knowledge, translating it into meaningful and useful tools, and exchanging relevant knowledge with those who need it. The centres also identify gaps in public health knowledge as well as emerging priorities in public health.
The National Collaborating Centres in Action
Each National Collaborating Centre focuses on a different aspect of public health:
- NCC for Environmental Health (NCCEH), British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, BC, addresses health risks associated with the physical environment and identifies evidence-based interventions to reduce those risks. A leading initiative concerns the safety of small drinking water systems in Canada.
- NCC for Infectious Diseases (NCCID), International Centre for Infectious Diseases, Winnipeg, Manitoba, focuses on marginalized populations and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI prevention) to improve related prevention programs across Canada.
- NCC for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP), Institut national de sante publique du Quebec (INSPQ), Montreal, Quebec, promotes informed strategies concerning policy and health impacts, with a focus on health impact assessment tools and processes. Currently, the Centre is exploring Quebec's Act to combat poverty and social exclusion for insights on policy development.
- NCC for Methods and Tools (NCCMT), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, provides leadership and expertise in sharing what works in public health and develops interactive tools to help enhance evidence-informed public health practice and policy.
- NCC for Determinants of Health (NCCDH), St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, addresses the role of non-medical factors including income, social status and education, with a focus on early child development as a determinant of health.
- NCC for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH), University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, B.C., focuses on the health of a population and addresses health inequities experienced by Canada's First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
The NCCs are funded by contribution agreements under the sponsorship of a host organization, and operate at arm's length from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The national program draws on the expertise, perspectives and resources of individual centres to help get knowledge into practice and policy, and is guided by a National Advisory Council of public health experts, who regularly review and asess NCC priorities.
Working Together
Joint Projects
In addition to working on specific areas of specialization, the NCCs collaborate on projects of public health importance, Currently, the six centres are combining forces to address drinking water safety in Canada and help prevent future outbreaks of waterbrone disease events such as the one that occurred in Walkerton, Ontario, in 2000.
Summer Institutes
The six National Collaborating Centres have hosted four successful annual Summer Institutes, providing public health practitioners, policy makers, researchers and others with opportunities to share expertise on knowledge synthesis, translation and exchange (KSTE).
The 2009 Summer Institute in Mont Ste-Anne, Quebec, explored Knowledge for a Change to discover practical means to inspire change and improve public health. In 2010, the Summer Institute took place at the Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba from June 28-30, 2010. This year's theme was “Making Connections” for public health practice, policy and research.
The NCCPH continues to strengthen public health in Canada by creating and embracing opportunities to learn from each other and to work in collaboration with a wide variety of regional, national and international experts, organizations, and public health networks.