Innovation in Achieving Healthy Equity in Rural Nova Scotia: A Conference by the StFX Health Society

Achieving health equity has been an ongoing process throughout Nova Scotia, and at StFX, the Health Society has been leading the conversation. In efforts to spread information and increase these types of discussions, the student-run society will be hosting a conference on January 27 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm in the Schwartz Auditorium. Titled “Innovation in Achieving Healthy Equity in Rural Nova Scotia,” the conference will feature six changemakers of various expertise. Each will give a short presentation about their work related to current gaps in medicine and health in rural Nova Scotia, as well as share some of their innovative solutions aimed at achieving health equity. A panel discussion will follow the presentation period, focusing on how rural communities can make meaningful change in achieving health equity. The conference will feature a Q&A period with the audience members.

I was able to speak with Sophie Bezanson, the Co-Vice President of Conferences and Events of the Health Society and a co-organizer of the conference. She mentioned that the society wanted a conference that would “create a difference in the community”. They recognize that there are “so many wider social factors that impact an individual’s or a population’s health” that are often overlooked, and Bezanson spoke on how she wanted to “spotlight these issues and identify the challenges and barriers to achieving health equity in rural areas.” The conversations taking place during the conference will be a step towards “focus[ing] on the solutions and how we can move forward.”

The panelists speaking at the conference will include the following professionals: Dr. Ajantha Jayabarathan (Dr. AJ), Dr. Amy Grant, Dianne Oickle, Sarah-Marie O’Toole, as well as a representative from both the Nova Scotia Brotherhood and Sisterhood Initiative.

Dr. AJ is a family physician and director of the Coral Shared-Care Health Center. She is also an Assistant professor at Dalhousie University, where she developed a program named GeoView. The program is a virtual mapping tool that uses Geographic Information System technology to standardize health collection data. With this information, primary care providers are able to have a unique visualization of the social determinants of health.

Dr. Amy Grant has a Ph.D. in Social and Developmental Psychology and is the Senior Health Policy Researcher at the Maritime SPOR SUPPORT Unit. Here, she leads and supports mixed-methods research, with her most recent project focused on pharmacist prescribing, collaborative family practice team implementation, transition of care for pediatric patients with chronic disease, and the mental health impacts of COVID-19.

Dianne Oickle is the Knowledge Translation Specialist at the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. She has extensive experience working in the public health field as a registered dietitian and is a frontline health practitioner. Her work focuses on mental health promotion, community engagement, intersectoral practice, movement building, digital equity, and equity in environmental public health.

Sarah-Marie O’Toole is a Physician Recruitment Consultant with the Nova Scotia Health Authority in the Eastern Zone. In their previous role as a Community Navigator, Sarah supported the arrival, settlement, and integration of new physicians and their family members into the Antigonish community. Their work follows a “people first” philosophy, focusing on the individuals and families coming to Nova Scotia and acknowledging the many factors contributing to a satisfying and fulfilling life.

The two representatives from the Nova Scotia Brotherhood Initiative and the Nova Scotia Sisterhood Initiative, Preston Matthews and Elizabeth Nkrumah, will share information about their work. This includes providing culturally appropriate primary health care services to individuals of African ancestry. The Initiatives provide rotating clinics in various Black communities in the Central Zone. Additionally, they run programs that focus on improving health literacy, social determinants of health, health advocacy, and building capacity for individuals to develop health leadership and stewardship.

Bezanson closed by saying that it is easy to see the state of our medical and healthcare system and be deterred by the challenges present, but that “there are a lot of opportunities to be innovative and create change for the better.” Conversations like those that will take place at the conference are helpful to identify the barriers that do exist and will put “more of a positive spin on it” with the solutions they can provide. Bezanson remarked that coming together and having these discussions goes to show that “change is possible” and that it “needs to happen in order for our population to be as healthy as it can be.” The conference on Innovation in Achieving Health Equity in Rural Nova Scotia is just the first step on the road by StFX Health students and activists—like Bezanson—to solving issues surrounding health equity in rural Nova Scotia.