Common Elements of All Our Work

Population Health Approach

The population health approach is a strong, unifying theme for all our programs and initiatives.  The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) uses a population health approach to improve the health of the entire population and to reduce health inequities among population groups.  To reach these objectives, PHAC Atlantic looks at and acts on the broad range of factors and conditions that influence health.

The population health approach recognizes that health depends on more than a good health care system.  Other determinants of health include income, education, social support networks, personal health practices, coping skills, the environment, and employment and working conditions.  These determinants of health interact to influence the health and well-being of individuals throughout their lives.  The population health approach promotes prevention and positive action on determinants that affect the health of the population as a whole or that of specific population groups.

PHAC Atlantic addresses the determinants of health in each life stage:  childhood and youth, mid-life, and later life, focusing on the most vulnerable people.  Since each life stage affects the one that follows, investments in the childhood and youth life stage have the greatest possible long-term effect.  Through this emphasis on prevention, PHAC Atlantic contributes to the health of Atlantic Canadians of all ages while reducing pressures on the health care system.

Resource material on population health

Population Health Approach Web site