TORONTO, November 25, 2002 -- York University’s school of Health Policy and Management will host a national conference on the social determinants of health which will, for the first time, bring together experts to provide an accounting of the state and quality of ten related areas of health policy and activity.
The conference, "Social Determinants of Health Across the Life-Span – A current Accounting and Policy Implications", takes place November 29 to December 1 in Lecture Hall A of the new Computer Science and Engineering Building at York University. The conference will provide an up-to-date accounting of the state of various factors across Canada known to have the greatest impact upon the health of Canadians.
The conference will be opened at 7 p.m. Friday, November 29 by Mr. Scott Broughton, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Canada’s Population and Public Health Branch, John Frank, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health and Lorna R. Marsden, president and vice-chancellor of York University; and conference organizer Dennis Raphael, associate professor at York’s School of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Michael Rachlis, associate professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine’s department of health policy, management and evaluation, will deliver the conference keynote address that evening.
Raphael noted, "We know the societal factors we are addressing at this conference have a far greater effect upon the health of Canadians than the lifestyle behaviours we usually hear about. A greater understanding of the relationship between these social factors and how they lead to either health or illness, will help build an approach to health policy that focuses on how governments, community organizations, and the labour and business sectors can work together to promote the health of Canadians by strengthening these determinants of health."
The conference will cover ten related areas: health services; education; working conditions; income distribution; unemployment; early life; housing; food security; social exclusion; and the social safety net. A concluding panel discussion will examine how inequalities in health status can be addressed.
The conference, expected to attract more than 500 participants from across Canada, is jointly sponsored by Health Canada’s Health Policy Research Program, York University’s School of Health Policy and Management; CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health, and the Centre for Social Justice.
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For further information, please contact:
| Dr. Dennis Raphael | Cim Nunn |
| School of Health Policy and Management | Director, Media Relations |
| Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies | York University |
| 416-736-2100, ext. 22134 | 416-736-2100, ext. 22087 |
| draphael@yorku.ca | cimnunn@yorku.ca |
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