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Bridge for Health’s latest news!

Transforming 2014 by #sharingourselves!

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At Nelson Mandela’s memorial on December 9th, 2013, President Obama made the following remarks:
“Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa — Ubuntu – that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us… We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality.”

Whether you agree or not with Obama’s politics, it is hard to deny that we need to find ways to come together if we aim to find solutions to the complex issues we are facing today. Inequities cause disease, poverty, violence, discrimination and social exclusion. So, how can we work together to create health, freedom from violence and social inclusion?

Bridge 4 Health was created in a similar spirit as Ubuntu. We are building a global collective platform aimed to bring people together from diverse perspectives to share their knowledge about improving health and well-being.

Nelson Mandela taught us to share ourselves and care for others.
How do you share yourself to improve health and well-being?

We would like to share your stories!

Do you have a story to share about how your community has come together to promote health and well-being?
Do you actively use collaboration and engagement in your work or research aimed at promoting health and well-being?

We are inviting you to either post your story on facebook.com/Bridge4Health or tweet #sharingourselves @Bridge4Health with a link to your story!

If your story is not out yet…we would love for you to consider writing a short blog to share on the
Bridge 4 Health website click HERE

Either way you choose, your story will be shared with others in order to support more collaboration and engagement to create healthier communities for everyone in 2014. We all have something to contribute!

If you would like more information, we would love to hear from you! Please connect with us at: info@bridgeforhealth.org

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Welcome CHASE! Centre for Health through Action on Social Exclusion, Victoria, Australia

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Ann TasketBridge 4 Health is excited to welcome on board CHASE – Centre for Health through Action on Social Exclusion, from Deakin University, Australia.

Professor Ann Taket, Director of CHASE, shares how action on social exclusion works through collaboration and engagement, on various levels:

Social exclusion can be understood as the inability to participate in the normal activities of life, despite the desire to do so.  It exists in social and cultural as well as economic and political domains. Social exclusion has detrimental effects on health and wellbeing in the short, medium and long term.  The importance of promoting social inclusion is recognised in many significant government initiatives at federal and state level in Australia as well as internationally. Social exclusion is experienced by a wide range of different groups within any society, as well as in a diverse range of situations. Our research includes a diverse range of population groups, with particular focuses on: families and reproductive health, including gendered violence and abuse; disabled people; sexuality; refugees and asylum seekers; poverty and locational disadvantage.

One of the major features of the way CHASE works is through the development of partnerships, with communities and with organisations in the health and human services sector.  Collaborating in research and development in a University-based centre offers mutual advantage. The collaboration itself is important – it breaks down barriers between theory and practice, and encourages positive relationships between health and human services professionals, service users, carers, researchers and communities, producing increased capacity to drive positive social change.

CHASE currently brings together a group of some thirty staff and over 40 doctoral candidates, as well as masters and honours students. The group is multidisciplinary and multiprofessional, including public health, health promotion, health sciences, social work, occupational science and therapy, sociology, anthropology and disability studies. (Professor Ann Taket)

Bridge 4 Health looks forward to future collaboration!

For more information  visit www.deakin.edu.au/health/chase

 

Twitter Chat on Promoting Mental Well-being

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We are excited to announce that Bridge 4 Health will be moderating a twitter chat hosted by Health Nexus , a long standing Health Promotion leader in Canada, on shifting the conversation towards mental well-being.
Date: Tuesday 26 Nov, 2013 at 12:00-1:00PM PST or 3:00-4:00PM EST
Follow #HealthPromoChat @Bridge4Health.

The questions we will be exploring are:

1.Why do you think that promoting mental health and wellbeing needs to be incorporated into your role as a health promoter in your particular setting?

2.What are your current challenges in addressing mental well-being in your practice?

3.What are some of the enablers that allow you to include mental health promotion in your setting?

4.How do we foster the sense that each one of us working in health promotion, shares a role in promoting mental well-being?

Would be great to have you participate!

Public Health Association of British Columbia 2013 Conference

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Phabc 2013The Public Health Association of British Columbia held its annual conference this year on the topic of Health in All Policies: Taking Inter-sectoral Action for Equitable and Sustainable Health, on November 4-6th, 2013.

Paola Ardiles, Shannon Turner, Charlene King, Kayla Pompu and Crystal Hutchinson were some of the Bridge for Health contributors attending this year’s conference, alongside many supporters such as Dr. Irv Rootman and Dr. Trevor Hancock.

Paola and Charlene presented an oral presentation on ‘ Putting the Public Sector at the Forefront of “Public” Health’. We shared our vision to create a space where people can participate to co-create knowledge about what keeps us healthy and vibrant! We recognize that so many public health efforts are oriented towards preventing and/or treating illness. We are interested in supporting people to share from their own experiences and perspectives, what we need to create health and well-being!

This is an on-going dialogue for Bridge for Health as we start to seek funding opportunities to put our ideas into action.

If you have any feedback or recommendations, we would love to hear from you!

Contact us at: info@bridgeforhealth.org 

New global partner: Pan-American Interdisciplinary Primary Care Network

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Logo REQUIAPBridge 4 Health is excited to announce a new partnership with the Pan-American Interdisciplinary Primary Health Care Network, aimed to bring together health and social service providers from various disciplines and organizations to work collaboratively on primary health care issues.

REQUIAP has been serving as a knowledge-exchange forum for the past two years, reaching out to over 900 members across the Americas. It has been recognized as a community of practice under  the Primary Health Care Collaborative Network of the Pan-American Health Organization.

If you are a social and health care provider and interested in learning more about their work please visit: http://www.requiap.org/

Bridge 4 Health and REQUIAP will be working closely to create future opportunities to collaborate on various projects to promote health and well-being for all.

For more information please contact: SandraMilena Espitia Founder & Network Lead REQUIAP at:  redequiposap@gmail.com.

 

Welcome Bridge for Health’s Global Advisory Circle!

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Bridge for Health is proud to introduce our new Global Advisory Circle!
Yes, we choose the word ‘circle’ to represent the spirit of collaboration this group shares.
Not only are these bright, experienced, and respected collaborators; they also have vast experiences in building partnerships, collaborations and networks locally and globally, in the areas of health promotion, health literacy and health equity. Most importantly, they bring their inspiration, wisdom and knowledge to support Bridge for Health’s vision to create safe, just, diverse, sustainable and vibrant environments that enable individuals, groups and communities to flourish.

Please welcome Marilyn Rice, Kristine Sørensen and Sarah Simpson!

B4H 1st Organizational Contributor: Simon Fraser University Health Promotion Team!

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sm_SFU_BlogSimon Fraser University’s Health Promotion team within SFU Health and Counselling Services was founded in 2006 with the mandate of improving health and well-being for students at SFU. Initially the team prioritized health behavior change through outreach and education, addressing a variety of health issues related to university students including sexual health, nutrition, sleep, physical activity, illness and injury prevention and mental health. Resource development was also an area in which the Health Promotion team succeeded in order to support individuals in improving their personal health practices and skills. Over time the unit has recognized the need to shift to more strategic, systemic and sustainable approaches to impacting campus well-being. Through this process, several changes were made, including moving resources online to create easier access, and transitioning health education outreaches to student Peer Health Educators. Continue reading →

Welcome Guillermo! Bridge for Health’s new partner in Chile

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FotoBridge for Health is pleased to introduce Guillermo Abalos Barros, as the lead of Bridge for Health network in Chile, as of September, 2013! His vast experience and local networks uniquely position him to lead our resource and tool developments projects, as well as our partnership building efforts in Chile.

Guillermo has 23 years of experience as a Clinical Psychologist and offers capacity building initiatives for various postgraduate programs in Chile. He has extensive experience in designing and delivering personal development workshops and training programs . His work caters to both public and private organizations interested in investing resources to address the health and well-being of their workforce. Guillermo facilitates the translation of knowledge to the hands of management and staff in the areas of : “Self Care and Stress Management”, “Assertive Communication and Teamwork”, “Management and Prevention of Addictions”, “Parental Communication to Promote Healthy Families”, “Conflict Resolution and Stress Management.” Guillermo brings a interdisciplinary approach to various settings, including the National Public Prosecutor’s Welfare Office, of the Ministry of Justice of Chile. Continue reading →