A scoping review of strategies to support public health recovery in the transition to a "new normal" in the age of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health workforce has experienced re-deployment from core functions such as health promotion, disease prevention, and health protection, to preventing and tracking the spread of COVID-19. With continued pandemic deployment coupled with the exacerbation of existing health disparities due to the pandemic, public health systems need to re-start the delivery of core public health programming alongside COVID-19 activities. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify strategies that support the re-integration of core public health programming alongside ongoing pandemic or emergency response. METHODS: The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews was used to guide this study. A comprehensive search was conducted using: a) online databases, b) grey literature, c) content experts to identify additional references, and d) searching reference lists of pertinent studies. All references were screened by two team members. References were included that met the following criteria: a) involved public health organizations (local, regional, national, and international); b) provided descriptions of strategies to support adaptation or delivery of routine public health measures alongside disaster response; and c) quantitative, qualitative, or descriptive designs. No restrictions were placed on language, publication status, publication date, or outcomes. Data on study characteristics, intervention/strategy, and key findings were independently extracted by two team members. Emergent themes were established through independent inductive analysis by two team members. RESULTS: Of 44,087 records identified, 17 studies were included in the review. Study designs of included studies varied: descriptive (n = 8); qualitative (n = 4); mixed-methods (n = 2); cross-sectional (n = 1); case report (n = 1); single-group pretest/post-test design (n = 1). Included studies were from North America (n = 10), Africa (n = 4), and Asia (n = 3) and addressed various public health disasters including natural disasters (n = 9), infectious disease epidemics (n = 5), armed conflict (n = 2) and hazardous material disasters (n = 1). Five emergent themes were identified on strategies to support the re-integration of core public health services: a) community engagement, b) community assessment, c) collaborative partnerships and coordination, d) workforce capacity development and allocation, and e) funding/resource enhancement. CONCLUSION: Emergent themes from this study can be used by public health organizations as a beginning understanding of strategies that can support the re-introduction of essential public health services and programs in COVID-19 recovery.

L'évaluation d'impact sur la santé, un outil pour promouvoir des politiques climatiques favorables à la santé.

INTRODUCTION: Potential impacts of climate change on health are increasingly studied due to the diversity of the associated risks (heatwaves, air pollution, water- and vector-borne diseases). Consequently, adaptation and mitigation strategies, including tools, have been developed by different cities, states, and organizations to assess the effects of climate change on health. OBJECTIVE: Health impact assessment (HIA) is a tool that could be used to assess the potential health impacts of climate change policies before their implementation. The objective of this study is therefore to analyze the way HIA is used in the development of these policies. METHOD: A scoping review of grey and scientific literature in French and English (period: 1990-2019) allowed us to identify 35 articles and reports, with 6 using HIA specifically. The areas of HIA application related to transport, urban planning or the building sector. The main health issues addressed in these HIAs concerned air, noise, physical activity, urban heat islands, green spaces, and functional diversity. RESULTS: These studies have shown that HIA is an approach that can facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration, and its flexibility allows for its application to adaptation and mitigation policies, as well as at several spatial scales (cities, regions). DISCUSSION: The principal limitation in this approach relates to uncertainties associated with quantifying projected impacts.

What are effective strategies to respond to the psychological impacts of working on the frontlines of a public health emergency?

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the healthcare and public health sectors. The impact of working on the frontlines as a healthcare or public health professional has been well documented. Healthcare organizations must support the psychological and mental health of those responding to future public health emergencies. Objective: This systematic review aims to identify effective interventions to support healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing during and following a public health emergency. Methods: Eight scientific databases were searched from inception to 1 November 2022. Studies that described strategies to address the psychological impacts experienced by those responding to a public health emergency (i.e., a pandemic, epidemic, natural disaster, or mass casualty event) were eligible for inclusion. No limitations were placed based on study design, language, publication status, or publication date. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion and a third reviewer when needed. Results were synthesized narratively due to the heterogeneity of populations and interventions. Outcomes were displayed graphically using harvest plots. Results: A total of 20,018 records were screened, with 36 unique studies included in the review, 15 randomized controlled trials, and 21 quasi-experimental studies. Results indicate that psychotherapy, psychoeducation, and mind-body interventions may reduce symptoms of anxiety, burnout, depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with the lowest risk of bias found among psychotherapy interventions. Psychoeducation appears most promising to increase resilience, with mind-body interventions having the most substantial evidence for increases in quality of life. Few organizational interventions were identified, with highly heterogeneous components. Conclusion: Promoting healthcare workers' mental health is essential at an individual and health system level. This review identifies several promising practices that could be used to support healthcare workers at risk of adverse mental health outcomes as they respond to future public health emergencies.Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=203810, identifier #CRD42020203810 (PROSPERO).

The National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy in times of COVID-19: Building skills to "Build Back Better".

This article, the second in a series on the six National Collaborating Centres for Public Health, focuses on the National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy (NCCHPP), a centre of expertise, and knowledge synthesis and sharing that supports public health actors in Canada in their efforts to develop and promote healthy public policy. The article briefly describes the NCCHPP's mandate and programming, noting some of the resources that are particularly relevant in the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) context. It then discusses how the NCCHPP's programming has been adapted to meet the changing needs of public health actors throughout the pandemic. These needs have been strongly tied to decisions aimed at containing the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and mitigating its immediate impacts in various societal sectors since the beginning of the crisis. Needs have also gradually emerged related to how public health is expected to help inform the development of public policies that will allow us to "build back better" societies as we recover from the pandemic. The article concludes by discussing the orientation of the NCCHPP's future work as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.

Tools and Methods to Include Health in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies and Policies: A Scoping Review.

Climate change represents a serious threat to the health and well-being of populations. Today, many countries, regions, and cities around the world are implementing policies and strategies to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects. A scoping review was performed to identify tools and methods that help integrate health into climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and strategies. The literature search includes scientific and grey literature. The scientific literature was conducted using PubMed, Elsevier Embase, and Web of Science databases. A grey literature web search was performed to complement the results. A total of 35 studies (28 from the scientific literature and 7 from the grey literature) were finally included. A large majority of research articles (24/28) and almost all reports (6/7) from the grey literature were published after 2010. Results show that the tools that were found most frequently are the nested models (12/35), health impact assessment (6/35), vulnerability and adaptation assessment (3/35), conceptual frameworks (3/35), and mixed methods (3/35). This review shows an increasing interest in the topic of developing tools to better manage health issues in adaptation and mitigation strategies, with a recent increase in the number of publications. Additional analyses of tools' effectiveness should be conducted in further studies.

Nimble, efficient and evolving: the rapid response of the National Collaborating Centres to COVID-19 in Canada. / Agiles, efficients et en évolution : la réponse rapide des Centres de collaboration nationale à la COVID-19 au Canada.

Since December 2019, there has been a global explosion of research on COVID-19. In Canada, the six National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) for Public Health form one of the central pillars supporting evidence-informed decision making by gathering, synthesizing and translating emerging findings. Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and located across Canada, the six NCCs promote and support the use of scientific research and other knowledges to strengthen public health practice, programs and policies. This paper offers an overview of the NCCs as an example of public health knowledge mobilization in Canada and showcases the NCCs' contribution to the COVID-19 response while reflecting on the numerous challenges encountered.

The explosion of research on COVID-19 in Canada and around the world called for an improved capacity to support evidence-informed decision making (EIDM). Canada is fostering various mechanisms to achieve this goal; the National Collaborating Centres (NCCs) for Public Health are central to supporting EIDM during the pandemic. The NCCs, a network of networks anchored on six unique knowledge hubs, are well connected to provincial, territorial, local and international partners. In response to COVID-19, the NCCs are making an important contribution to building knowledge, skills and capacity in the public health sector, and to supporting public health professionals in synthesizing and using evidence-informed knowledge in policy and practice.

L'explosion de la recherche menée sur la COVID-19 au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde a nécessité une augmentation de la capacité à soutenir la prise de décisions informées par les données probantes. Parmi les divers mécanismes préconisés par le Canada pour atteindre cet objectif, les Centres de collaboration nationale (CCN) en santé publique jouent un rôle essentiel pendant la pandémie pour soutenir la prise de décisions informées par les données probantes. Les CCN, qui constituent un réseau de réseaux s'appuyant sur six centres de connaissances, ont des liens étroits avec plusieurs partenaires provinciaux, territoriaux, locaux et internationaux. Pour lutter contre la COVID-19, les CCN renforcent de façon significative les connaissances, les compétences et les capacités en santé publique et soutiennent les professionnels en santé publique en synthétisant des connaissances fondées sur des données probantes pour leur intégration aux politiques et aux pratiques.

Influencing public policies: Two (very good) reasons to look toward scientific knowledge in public policy.

The healthy public policy movement rests on the belief that a range of public policies should be at least partly informed by evidence demonstrating the positive effects of these policies on population health, health inequalities and their determinants. In order to address certain difficulties that the movement faces, knowledge produced in various scientific disciplines regarding public policies may provide some valuable guidance. In this short commentary, we examine how knowledge from the scientific disciplines investigating public policies makes it possible to address two difficulties in the development of healthy public policies: 1) adequately anticipating the effects of public policies, and 2) assessing the political viability of the policies being promoted. Since urban traffic policies are of interest to most of the other contributors to this supplement, we use examples from this field to illustrate some of our points.