While a number of factors work together to determine how long we will live and how healthy we will be, it is well documented that our health is impacted by our behaviour. Certain behaviours place us at risk for disease and injury. A small number of behaviours are responsible for a large proportion of cancers and chronic diseases experienced in the North. These key behaviours include: tobacco use, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour, what and how we eat, problematic substance use and risk taking behaviours that lead to injuries.
Northern Health is committed to a population health approach. This means that we work with our internal health sector partners, our external partners such as employers, schools and municipalities, and community organizations to address risk factors collectively. To ensure consistency of messaging and approaches, Northern Health has embarked on the development of position papers specific to key behavioural risk factors. The position papers outline how a collective approach might address these behavioural risk factors. The position papers are grounded in provincial, national and international evidence, and are consistent with provincial and national best practice approaches.
These positions will serve as northern tools that will focus on our people, and identify how we will work collectively to develop strategies for action to reduce the incidence of these risk factors, thereby improving the health and well-being of people and communities in the North.