Spotlight on the Near North District School Board & the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit
“We really are so much stronger when we work together.”
Emily Samuel, Principal of Safe Schools, Early Years and Leadership Development, Near North District School Board
In connection with Ophea’s Vaccination Talks Toolkit, an online resource that integrates health literacy, digital media literacy and inquiry into discussions about vaccines as part of healthy living, in January, Ophea hosted a Think Tank on enhancing school board and public health collaboration in service of student well-being. We asked interest holders from three regions to tell us about the magic ingredients behind the success of their school board and public health collaborations.
Their presentations not only gave audience members helpful tips, but blueprints for success that they could take back to their own school boards or health units. This month, we’re shining a spotlight on the work of the partnership between the Near North District School Board and the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit, as described by panelist Emily Samuel.
Working together brings a broader awareness of community health needs.
Encompassing Parry Sound, Nipissing and the Almaguin Highlands districts, the Near North District School Board covers a lot of ground—and not just geographically. With a mixture of municipalities, rural areas, and urban areas, they work to meet a broad range of community health needs. So broad, in fact, that identifying what these needs are in the first place can sometimes be a challenge.
A multi-faceted vaping reduction program for secondary schools, a concussion policy including medical paperwork recognized by all local health professionals, a safe cycling program in service of active transportation for grades 7 and 8, and a sharps safety program for custodians (after sharps were being found on an elementary school playground) are just some of the initiatives the partnership has worked on together.
“Some of these needs we wouldn’t have known existed if it wasn’t for our health unit partner,” said Emily Samuel, Principal of Safe Schools, Early Years and Leadership Development with the Near North District School Board. “Similarly, I can pick up the phone and call our health unit and say ‘Hey, this is the need that’s really driving us right now.’”
Strong communication can bring down barriers.
Regardless of who first identifies the need, the partnership works together to address it—and communication plays a big role. Most recently, the partnership went the extra mile to serve a community need when many students were facing suspension in relation to the Immunization of Pupils Act.
They began by coming to a consensus on when letters would be going to families, what they’d say, and how to best support a quick return to school for children who weren’t immunized by the deadline.
A conversation between the health unit and school board also led to a small policy adjustment that had a big impact. “One of our schools is very remote,” Samuel explained. Many of the children are bussed in, some riding for more than 60 minutes each day. Typically, a child who remains unvaccinated on the day of the deadline would be barred from riding the bus, but by allowing those children to ride that morning, the school board and health unit were able to coordinate a seamless return to school for many of them.
Public health set up a vaccination clinic just down the street from the school that morning. The children could walk to the clinic to get vaccinated. The clinic then emailed or faxed the school, and by the time the child walked back, their proof of vaccination had been received.
“It’s a good example of where the power of communication allowed us to find solutions and remove barriers for families so they can access these incredible resources,” said Samuel.
The school board gained a neutral perspective and access to evidence-based resources.
“Another huge bonus of having strong relationship with your health unit is the neutrality they can bring,” Samuel commented. Although the school board aims to foster strong communication and common goals across its varying regions [co-term boards], sometimes these groups have different mandates and priorities.
“The educational resources [the public health unit] provide[s] are relevant, up to date and we know that they reflect best practices,” she commented. “We know that they’re bringing that level of knowledge and expertise to the table, so nobody has to spend time arguing about that. We’re able to take that information and run with it.”
Public health has gained access to school-aged children and school-specific data.
Meanwhile, when health units—who are mandated to work with schools—have a contact who sits at the board level, like Samuel, they gain direct access to many school-aged children to promote their messaging and programs to.
“For anyone who’s tried to navigate a school board organization, (…) it’s really hard sometimes to know where to start. You might have a good relationship with a principal or two, but then your mandate or your initiative is only going to go as far as they’re able to carry it out in their school building,” she pointed out. However, with a board-level contact in place, public health units can easily disseminate their information through all the schools in the board.
The partnership also has a provision for data sharing written into its memorandum of understanding, which means that the school board can share school-specific data to help inform public health initiatives.
It’s a win-win relationship for sustainable change.
“In education, we sometimes sit in a very siloed world,” Samuel reflected. “It can be difficult for us to see and engage with people in different sectors, even though we know the importance and the benefit of doing so.”
But now that the members of the partnership have seen the benefit first-hand, not only is there no turning back for them, they’re eager to share what they’ve learned with others. “I’m a big believer in not reinventing the wheel,” said Samuel, who’s more than happy to share the blueprints for any of the partnership’s projects with other school boards or public health units across the province.
She also aims to develop the Near North District School Board and North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit partnership to the point where its network of strong relationships carries it into the future—with or without her. “We’ve seen visible results that we know are going to continue regardless of who’s in my position,” she said, “and that’s really want we want, right? We want sustainable projects that are going to continue when we move on to retirement.”
Access the video recording of Samuel’s full presentation.
The Enhancing School Board and Public Health Collaboration in Service of Student Well-being Think Tanks as well as Ophea’s Vaccination Talks Toolkit were made possible through funding support from the Immunization Partnership Fund delivered by the Public Health Agency of Canada. However, the views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Ophea’s Vaccination Talks Toolkit is a free online resource that integrates health literacy, digital media literacy and inquiry into discussions about vaccines as part of healthy living. Explore this bilingual resource at: ophea.net/vaccination-talks-toolkit