LATEBREAKER
Social
A Not-Too-Distant Future: Engaging with Stakeholders to Develop a Vision for Public Health Surveillance in Canada by 2030 Elissa Giang* Elissa Giang Dhilal Alhaboob Claire Betker Margaret Haworth-Brockman Chia-Yu Lin Faith Layden Sally Park Jean-Paul R. Soucy Chi-Hang Jonathan Sinn Lynda Tjaden Louis Wong Sarry Zheng David L. Buckeridge
Background: A clear vision for public health surveillance is critical for navigating complex health landscapes and allocating limited resources effectively. To develop this vision, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is actively engaging stakeholders to ensure diverse perspectives are considered, with the goal of enhancing and ensuring collaboration in addressing future public health challenges.
Objectives: The objectives of the resulting vision are two-fold: 1) to describe the future characteristics, values, and guiding principles essential to a high-functioning system of surveillance systems in Canada, and 2) to identify strategic opportunities to accelerate movement towards the vision.
Methods: Our engagement approach is designed to reflect a broad range of perspectives from public health personnel and allied stakeholders. To this end, we determined to meet with practitioners, academics, and equity-deserving groups including First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public health staff and organizations, as well as the public. We conducted in-person and virtual workshops and administered an online questionnaire to ensure there were a number of ways people could contribute. Transcript data and notes were analyzed qualitatively using a reflexive thematic approach.
Results: Between September 12, 2023, and March 1, 2024, we held 29 facilitated workshops with 816 participants across all Canadian provinces and territories. The online questionnaire received 925 unique responses from across the country. Our analysis identified 6 themes describing current gaps in surveillance; five areas for opportunity; and 44 proposed objectives to strengthen public health surveillance Canada.
Next steps: The identified themes and proposed objectives are undergoing validation by consulting experts outside of and within PHAC, who will refine the values, future characteristics and guiding principles of a high-functioning surveillance ecosystem in Canada. Results from this work will contribute to the development of a framework guiding stakeholders toward a desired vision for strengthened surveillance systems throughout Canada.