Written by Abosede Adesina, Master of Public Health (MPH) Student at the University of Saskatchewan

For three months, I had the opportunity to work as a practicum student with the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health.  During the course of my practicum, I participated in planning, conducting and reporting two major knowledge translation events.  

• Developing a Health Equity Agenda: From a Shared Vision to Policy and Practice held on May 13th, 2013 in Saskatoon, SK.
• A Knowledge Translation Forum on the Social Determinants of Health and Health Equity held on June 4th, 2013 in Winnipeg, MB.

The first a national summit that brought together multisectoral participants from across Canada, including public health practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and leaders from other community and government sectors, who have demonstrated leadership in social determinants of health and health equity. The summit featured a combination of panel speakers, presentations from Canadian and international experts, and working sessions. Participants contributed to the development of an agenda to guide health equity practice, policy, and research through the use of participatory activities and the conversation is continuing  with an online dialogue in the NCCDH online community.

The second brought together public health practitioners, researchers, decision makers, students and community leaders from across Manitoba to discuss issues related to the social determinants of health and health equity in the province. The event was co-sponsored by Manitoba Health, the Manitoba Public Health Association and the regional office of the Public Health Agency of Canada , and featured presentations from Canadian experts, roundtable discussions and working sessions. It was designed to be participatory, including a session that used open-space technology, and a crowd sourcing activity that identified top ideas and action priorities to move health equity work forward in Manitoba. The level of engagement during the forum was impressive and participants identified many opportunities to collaborate across sectors.

My Personal Reflections

In 2011, I relocated to Canada from Nigeria, a country with huge burden of health inequities. Prior to arriving in Canada, I believed that    Canadians did not experience a high level of health inequity. My participation in these events has given me a sense of the bigger, more realistic picture. Health inequities exist everywhere, and my mind has been buzzing with the complexity of the issue in Canada.

This practicum has made me go beyond my previous experience and challenged me to learn. As a result:

•      I understand more about the health inequity issues experienced by Canada’s indigenous peoples.
•      I realized the importance of storytelling and the use of videos as an effective knowledge translation tool.
•      I am able to multitask more, and I feel that I can operate as part of an efficient and highly organized team.

What brought me great satisfaction in this practicum experience is the fact that I got to play a valuable role in the planning, execution and capture of the two events.  I believe that the relationships that were initiated will continue to grow and flourish. The information that was gathered is important and will support planning activities in the future.

The practicum was an exceptional component of the Master of Public Health program at the University of Saskatchewan. This experience has strengthened my abilities, challenged me to learn more about health equity work in public health, and has strengthened my interest in pursuing a career in health promotion and knowledge translation.