Reframing ‘Healthy’ Public Policy

BRANDON, MB – A community health leader and visiting professor at Brandon University (BU) says every Canadian would benefit from an approach making health a consideration in all public policy.

Dr. Ardene Robinson Vollman is a registered nurse, educator, and researcher in public health and health promotion; chair-elect of the Canadian Public Health Association; and Stanley Knowles Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Health Studies at BU.

“How can we, as citizens and members of our community,” says Dr. Vollman, “look at the social and environmental conditions in which we live, love, learn, play, pray and work, and generate health-promoting behaviours within our community? A health-in-all-policies approach has potential for reducing health inequity and promoting healthy communities.”

Dr. Vollman will give a public talk in Brandon on September 16 about critical factors in the health of Canadians – income and education – and an action strategy for building healthy public policy that emerged from the first International Conference on Health Promotion in 1986.

“With health care costs spiralling out of control, cost-cutting and government austerity threaten the safety nets upon which many Canadians depend,” Vollman says. “It is time for a public discussion on placing health promotion on the community agenda.”

BU Dean of Health Studies, Dr. Dean Care, says, “As a centre of research, Brandon University is contributing new ideas and sparking new dialogue into challenges that face many communities. Dr. Vollman’s work has the potential to reshape public policy to benefit all Canadians.”

Join Dr. Vollman on Tuesday, September 16th at 11 am in the Health Studies Building, Room 141, at Brandon University. All are welcome.

Brandon University, founded in 1899, promotes excellence in teaching, research, and scholarship; educating students so that they can make a meaningful difference as engaged citizens and leaders.

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