Research to Support Surveillance and Prevention of the Wider Health Impacts of COVID-19
CARRFS 2021 Symposium (Virtual) Proceedings
Executive Summary
The Canadian Alliance for Regional Risk Factor Surveillance (CARRFS) is a network of public health stakeholders across Canada interested in working together to build and strengthen regional/local chronic disease risk factor surveillance. Since it’s inception in 2007, CARRFS has strived to be a networking space for public health, academic and policy professionals interested in regional risk factor surveillance.
In 2021, CARRFS hosted a virtual symposium titled Research to Support Surveillance and Prevention of the Wider Health Impacts of COVID-19. The symposium was designed to:
Describe the wider health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, that can be unintended societal consequences of:
Direct response measures to the pandemic, such as impacts of lockdowns, school and business closures, physical distancing requirements, and travel restrictions on mental health, substance abuse, lifestyle, and food security;
Indirect responses to the pandemic, such as re-allocation of resources away from prevention and treatment of other health conditions and reluctance of individuals to seek treatment for non-COVID-19 conditions;
Exacerbation of socio-economic disparities leading to increased inequalities in health outcomes; and
Longer term effects, such as chronic disease sequelae subsequent to the resolution of initial COVID-19 symptoms, also known as “Long COVID-19” or “long haulers,” and inequalities arising from long term economic impacts.
Explore the opportunities for, and challenges of, research and surveillance at the population level, and discover the possibilities to monitor and assess these impacts and potential responses;
Discuss potential opportunities for applied researchers to support surveillance and prevention strategies, while responding to the wider health impacts of public health emergencies.
The Symposium successfully hosted 47 people in learning about the research being conducted across Canada on the wider health impacts of COVID-19. Our five keynote speakers provided in-depth looks at the ways that Canadians’ health has been affected over the course of the pandemic as well as the consequences of related public health measures and policy changes. Attendees also heard from seven rapid fire presenters on various related topics of interest to public health researchers nationwide.
Résumé
L’Alliance canadienne pour la surveillance des facteurs de risque régionaux (ACSRFS) est un réseau de professionnels de la santé publique partout au Canada qui souhaitent travailler ensemble pour établir et renforcer la surveillance des facteurs de risque de maladie chronique régionaux et locaux. Depuis sa création en 2007, l’ACSRFS s’est efforcé d’être un espace de réseautage pour les professionnels de la santé publique et de politiques publiques ainsi que les universitaires intéressés par la surveillance des facteurs de risque régionaux.
En 2021, l’ACSRFS était l’hôte d’un symposium virtuel avec le titre ‘La recherche pour soutenir la surveillance et la prévention des impacts plus larges de la COVID-19’. Le symposium avait les objectifs suivants :
Décrire les impacts plus larges de la pandémie de COVID-19 sur la santé, y inclus des conséquences sociétales non prévues :
des mesures d’intervention directe pour contrôler la pandémie, telles que l’impact des confinements, des fermetures d’écoles et d’entreprises, des exigences de distanciation physique et des restrictions de voyage sur la santé mentale, la toxicomanie, le mode de vie et la sécurité alimentaire;
les réponses indirectes qui découlent de la pandémie, telles que la réaffectation de ressources au détriment de la prévention et du traitement d'autres problèmes de santé et la réticence des individus à consulter pour des problèmes non liés au COVID-19; et
l’exacerbation des disparités socio-économiques conduisant à des inégalités de santé accrues;
les effets à plus long terme, tels que les séquelles de maladies chroniques après la phase aigüe de l’infection de COVID-19, également connues sous le nom de « syndrome post-COVID » ou « COVID longue», et les inégalités découlant des impacts économiques à long terme.
Explorer les occasions et les défis en matière de recherche et de surveillance à échelle populationnelle, et découvrir les possibilités de surveiller et d’évaluer ces impacts ainsi que les réponses potentielles;
Discuter des occasions qui s’offrent aux chercheurs appliqués de soutenir les stratégies de surveillance et de prévention, tout en répondant aux impacts plus larges des urgences de santé publique sur la santé.
Le Symposium a accueilli avec succès 47 personnes qui ont appris davantage sur la recherche menée partout au Canada au sujet des répercussions plus larges de la COVID-19 sur la santé. Nos cinq conférenciers d’honneur ont examiné les façons dont la santé des Canadiens a été affectée au cours de la pandémie ainsi que les conséquences des mesures de santé publique et des changements de politique connexes. Les participants ont également entendu sept présentateurs sur divers sujets d’intérêt pour les chercheurs en santé publique à l’échelle nationale liés à ces enjeux.
Introduction
The CARRFS Organizing Committee, closely working with the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), once again decided to organize its annual symposium as a virtual pre-conference event a day prior to CPHA's Public Health conference.
With the all-round challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, it has become clearly understood that the pandemic has touched almost all aspects of our lives. Public health professionals are now beginning to shift their focus to the surveillance of the wider impacts of the pandemic to inform the mitigation strategies and so it was the obvious choice for this year's theme.
Symposium attendees heard from researchers and public health professionals from across Canada on a wide variety of topics, such as the impact the pandemic has had on health services, chronic disease management, and socio-economic disparities. Atteendees included Epidemiologists, Research Scientists, Policy Analysts, and public health professionals, and represented federal, provincial, and local public health agencies as well as academic and research institutions.
CARRFS is grateful to the presenters and attendees who participated in enriching discussions about ongoing COVID-19 research and surveillance. As in past years, we also want to thank the Centre for Surveillance and Applied Research at the Public Health Agency of Canada and the BC Centre for Disease Control of the Provincial Health Services Authority, for their generous financial support of the 2021 CARRFS Symposium.
Agenda
Session 1
Welcoming remarks: Dr. Christine Blaser (Moderator) and Dr. Drona Rasali (CARRFS Chair)
Keynote address: Understanding the wider health impacts of COVID-19: Evidence from the Public Health Agency of Canada
Dr. Heather Orpana: Canada’s opioid crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic
Dr. Murray Weeks: Findings from the Survey on COVID-19 and Mental Health (SCMH)
Mrs. Francesca Reyes Domingo: Prevalence of long-term effects in individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 – A living systematic review
Rapid fire presentations
Ashok Krishnamurthy: Spatiotemporal transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in Alberta, Canada
Ya-Ping Jin: Backlog in ophthalmic surgeries caused by COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario 2020: a time series modelling analysis
Mai Thanh Tu: Generalized anxiety in young adults during the summer of 2020, shortly after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec
Li Rita Zhang: Assessing the impact of COVID-19 physical distancing measures on the mental health of British Columbians using crowdsourcing data
Q&A about CARRFS
Session 2
Welcoming remarks: Dr. Kavita Singh (Moderator)
Keynote address: Learning from the Societal Effects of the COVID-19 Response to “Build Back Better” - Dr. Jason Wong
Rapid fire presentations
Crystal Li: Socio-economic (SES) Disparities Associated with COVID-19 Incidence in Lower Mainland of British Columbia
Sabrina Luke: The unintended consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic response on maternal and infant health outcomes, British Columbia, Canada
Sharon Relova: Examining vaccine coverage inequity across Community Health Service Areas (CHSA) using British Columbia’s Index of Multiple Deprivation
Keynote address: COVID Policy Choices: Getting Better Evidence - Dr. Vinay Prasad
Closing remarks: Dr. Kavita Singh
For more details, please download the full Proceedings Report and watch recordings of the presentations.
