{"id":50827,"date":"2018-05-02T14:41:24","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T18:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=50827"},"modified":"2021-04-16T08:48:23","modified_gmt":"2021-04-16T12:48:23","slug":"policy-brief-from-brock-nco-and-niagara-region-calls-for-novel-approaches-to-improve-health-and-prevent-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2018\/05\/policy-brief-from-brock-nco-and-niagara-region-calls-for-novel-approaches-to-improve-health-and-prevent-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Policy brief from Brock NCO and Niagara Region calls for novel approaches to improve health and prevent illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

A shared responsibility across different health, social, government, economic and education sectors is a key element to improving health outcomes, recommends a new Brock University \u2014 Niagara Region Public Health policy brief.<\/p>\n

Each stage of life from infancy to old age has characteristic health challenges such as illnesses, accidents, and mental health issues says \u201cThe Future of Niagara\u2019s Health: Using a Life-Course Approach to Improve Well-Being<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But often these challenges are viewed \u2014 and treated \u2014 in isolation as they occur. The life-course approach focuses our attention on understanding the biggest health issues across the lifespan and considers how to reposition programs, policies and services to address these issues in order to have the largest impact on health and well-being, says the brief, produced by Brock\u2019s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) and release in a webinar Wednesday, May 2 hosted by Niagara Connects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe life-course perspective offers a new way of looking at health, not as disconnected stages unrelated to each other, but as an integrated continuum,\u201d says co-author Sin\u00e9ad McElhone, Manager of Surveillance and Evaluation, Niagara Region Public Health and adjunct faculty at Brock University.<\/p>\n

For example, currently two-thirds of 45- to 64-year-olds in Niagara are overweight or obese.<\/p>\n

As this condition is known to be associated with a multitude of chronic conditions such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and asthma, as well as knee replacements, the life-course perspective identifies times at which targeted interventions may be especially effective.<\/p>\n

This would help reduce the burden on hospitals and clinics in the future, the brief outlines.<\/p>\n

Drawing upon data from a wide variety of sources, the brief provides a detailed snapshot of the region\u2019s overall health challenges as well as those in 11 age groups from birth to those 75 and older.<\/p>\n

The Top 10 reasons why Niagara residents seek health services are cancer, diabetes, digestive system diseases and infections, circulatory system diseases, injuries, maternal\/reproductive issues, mental health, poisonings, respiratory infections and diseases, and sexually transmitted infections.<\/p>\n

Health challenges in the various age categories include:<\/strong><\/p>\n