Major Health Issues in Nova Scotia: An Environmental Scan
Major Health Issues in Nova Scotia: An Environmental Scan
Major Health Issues in Nova Scotia: An Environmental Scan
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Introduction<br />
The NSHRF is updat<strong>in</strong>g its health research priorities. The objective of this<br />
<strong>in</strong>itiative is to maximize the impact of the health research enterprise on <strong>in</strong>formed<br />
decision mak<strong>in</strong>g through the focused and efficient use of NSHRF resources. The<br />
research priorities process has four phases: Process Identification and Information<br />
Gather<strong>in</strong>g, Consultations, Priority Identification, Priority Implementation. This<br />
process is designed to be <strong>in</strong>clusive, respectful, fair, and transparent <strong>in</strong> order to<br />
respect the diversity of constituents that the NSHRF serves.<br />
As part of the Information Gather<strong>in</strong>g phase a number of background documents<br />
are be<strong>in</strong>g prepared. These documents are considered "liv<strong>in</strong>g documents" and are<br />
posted on the NSHRF website as they are completed for your <strong>in</strong>formation,<br />
feedback, <strong>in</strong>put and suggestions. If readers feel that <strong>in</strong>formation is miss<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
<strong>in</strong>correct or misrepresented from any of the background documents, or the<br />
process, they are asked to submit that <strong>in</strong>formation to the NSHRF up to and<br />
<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g November 2, 2009 for consideration as priorities are established. Please<br />
email any comments or additional <strong>in</strong>formation to L<strong>in</strong>da Waterhouse<br />
(L<strong>in</strong>da.Waterhouse@gov.ns.ca).<br />
The <strong>Nova</strong> <strong>Scotia</strong> <strong>Health</strong> Research Foundation (NSHRF) was created by the<br />
<strong>Health</strong> Research Foundation Act and is required under this act to foster health<br />
research throughout the prov<strong>in</strong>ce by assist<strong>in</strong>g, collaborat<strong>in</strong>g with and fund<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>in</strong>dividuals and organizations conduct<strong>in</strong>g health research. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to its<br />
legislated mandate the NSHRF must support research that is consistent with the<br />
priorities identified by health boards, government, <strong>in</strong>stitutions and <strong>in</strong>dividuals.<br />
Previous priorities of the NSHRF focused on capacity build<strong>in</strong>g and support for<br />
students. Recent changes <strong>in</strong> both the <strong>in</strong>ternal and external environments have led<br />
to the need to establish new priorities to address these challenges and as a result,<br />
the NSHRF plans to establish new health research priorities.<br />
In support of an upcom<strong>in</strong>g process to identify research priorities, NSHRF<br />
contracted Pyra Management Consult<strong>in</strong>g Services Inc. to conduct an<br />
environmental scan to identify major health issues us<strong>in</strong>g epidemiological and<br />
demographic data specific to <strong>Nova</strong> <strong>Scotia</strong>, and for the major health issues<br />
identified, create an <strong>in</strong>ventory of exist<strong>in</strong>g relevant systematic reviews and quality<br />
research. For the purpose of the scan, the term “health issue” refers to disease<br />
burden as well as surgical <strong>in</strong>terventions, and also <strong>in</strong>cludes system level concerns as<br />
well as risk factors and the determ<strong>in</strong>ants of health.<br />
This report provides the results of the environmental scan. Beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g with an<br />
overview of the methods used for the scan, the report offers an overview of major<br />
health issues impact<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Nova</strong> <strong>Scotia</strong> and an <strong>in</strong>ventory of research reviews related