At local, regional, and provincial levels, the surveys measured the populations’ perceptions of risk, the acceptability of the public health response and recovery measures, and the broader impacts of the pandemic. Over 580,000 British Columbians completed at least one of the two surveys. These timely data were critical to informing public health response to the pandemic in our province, and we’re thrilled to share that the research methods have been published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health.

We are committed to funding projects supported by evidence, and rooted in health equity. The Social Determinants of Health Model was used to inform SPEAK survey questions, allowing for valuable insight into the health equity needs of our population. Some of the results of the two SPEAK surveys showed that families with children, young adults, and people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds have been most impacted by the pandemic. 

With the support of generous donors and partners, we have played a critical role in supporting BC’s COVID-19 public health response. Our newest campaign Your Health, Our Commitment is about applying lessons learned during the pandemic and capitalizing on new opportunities to prepare for emerging and future emergencies.

It’s about supporting recovery efforts and strengthening BC’s public health system to be ready for new threats.
It’s about mobilizing public health research findings for evidence-based and solution-oriented practice, policy, and decision-making.
It’s about identifying and delivering long-term solutions to address systemic inequities.

We invite you to learn more about Your Health, Our Commitment and how you can be a part of supporting BC through this next phase.

Once again, we’re thrilled by the publication of the SPEAK 1 and SPEAK 2 survey methods, we’re proud to fund this critical research, and through Your Health, Our Commitment, we’re energized as we think about rebuilding and reimagining a healthier and more equitable future for all. We hope you’ll be a part of this important next phase for our province.

The post Building on Lessons Learned: COVID-19 SPEAK 1 & 2 Survey Update appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey and Dashboard

One of the first key projects we supported in May 2020 was the BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey: Your Story, Our Future, the largest-ever population health survey at that time in Canada with nearly 400,000 respondents. The purpose of the survey was to learn about British Columbians’ experiences, knowledge, and actions during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this survey provided our public health leaders with vital knowledge that helped shaped BC’s COVID-19 response.

Some of the key results of the SPEAK Survey included:

• British Columbians were following public health advice.
• People of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds were impacted differently by COVID-19.
• Those with lower income suffered more negative economic and health consequences due to COVID-19.
• Those ages 18-29 and families with children reported greater mental health and economic burden throughout COVID-19.

The data from the SPEAK Survey were made available for all British Columbians through an interactive dashboard. The data not only offers evidence of how COVID-19 is impacting people in all corners of BC, but it also provides the public with a tool to look at and understand the data themselves, in particular what is happening at their regional and community levels.

Drawing heavily on the BC SPEAK data, as well as quantitative and qualitative findings, including quotes from young adults in BC describing the impacts of the pandemic in their own voice, the BCCDC COVID-19 Young Adult Task Force Report “Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Health and Well-Being of Young Adults in British Columbia” was released in July 2021. In total, the report contains 32 specific recommendations spread across nine key areas of action and priorities.

BC COVID-19 SPEAK 2 Survey and Dashboard

Thanks again to our donors, we funded the BC COVID-19 SPEAK 2 Survey in 2021, which invited British Columbians to share about their experience one year into the pandemic. This second iteration of the population-level survey focused on gathering evidence at a second time point in the pandemic, as well as for recovery efforts and vaccination programming. More specifically, the “SPEAK 2 Survey” addressed four key areas:

• Life during the pandemic: How British Columbians’ behaviours and experiences have changed over the course of the pandemic.
• Vaccines: What barriers exist to accessing vaccines.
• Innovation and adaptation: How things have changed and how these changes have impacted British Columbians.
• Recovery: What supports are needed to help British Columbians through recovery from the pandemic.

Some examples of how the data are being used include to:

• Inform re-opening plans for safe return to school for kindergarten to grade 12 and the return of in-person post-secondary education.
• Model the impact of the pandemic and informed restart plans.
• Target education and interventions to areas with high vaccine hesitancy levels and inform COVID-19 vaccine program decisions and equity considerations.
• Raise discussions with medical and health leaders around virtual health and healthcare access.
• Raise discussions with community stakeholders to target supports and initiatives to improve mental health.
• Inform recovery priorities in supporting the health and wellbeing of young adults aged 18-29 years and their communities across BC.

A second interactive dashboard to reflect the data from the SPEAK 2 Survey was also made available to the public, and more sub-analyses and reports are expected to come from SPEAK 2 Survey data.

It is imperative that we collaborate across sectors, and with diverse stakeholders, to support and undertake more research and to take action to address the unintended consequences and inequities perpetuated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, we continue to raise funds and undertake COVID-19 response and recovery work. If you’d like to make a donation, please go here or call 604-707-2415.

For updates on this work and other related projects, go here.

The post COVID-19 Response: Population Health Evidence to Action  appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

Approximately 200,000 respondents completed the SPEAK 2 Survey, allowing public health experts to track and learn from local- and community-level data ensuring the cross-section of the population of BC is well-captured.

The purpose of this second-round survey was to better understand British Columbians’ experiences one year into the pandemic. This includes data on areas such as how behaviours and experiences have changed over the course of the pandemic, and the impacts of the pandemic on British Columbians. These data are helping our experts determine how to best respond to ongoing challenges, plan for adaptation and recovery, understand what barriers exist to accessing vaccines, and what supports are needed to help with recovery.

Examples of how the data have been used so far include:

• Inform re-opening plans for safe return to school for kindergarten to grade 12 and the return of in-person post-secondary education.
• Model the impact of the pandemic and informed restart plans.
• Target education and interventions to areas with high vaccine hesitancy levels and inform COVID-19 vaccine program decisions and equity considerations.
• Raise discussions with medical and health leaders around virtual health and healthcare access.
• Raise discussions with community stakeholders to target supports and initiatives to improve mental health.
• Inform recovery priorities in supporting the health and wellbeing of young adults aged 18-29 years and their communities across BC.

“The results from this round of the population health survey continue to show the severe impacts of the pandemic on the health and wellbeing of British Columbians, in particular, worsening mental health, disproportional impact on young adults, and increasing inequities.”

Jat Sandhu, Senior Executive Director, Innovation, Partnerships and Population Public Health Management

Results provide evidence across a variety of key indicators that will help British Columbia learn from the past and prepare for the future.

You can find more data and technical notes on the BCCDC website.

We’re as always very grateful to our donors and partners who have helped us to support such critical work that our public health leaders, decision-makers, and experts need to get us through the pandemic and better prepare us for recovery.

We continue to raise funds to support COVID-19 response and recovery efforts through our Emergency Response Fund and with your support we can help more people, faster.

The BCCDC Foundation continues to take on initiatives that leverage the government’s leadership role in healthcare delivery by supporting public health research, programs, and initiatives, and we are committed to seeing the province through recovery, ensuring that we bring a health equity focus to all population and public health programs.

If you would like to make a significant contribution to ensure BC is on the cutting-edge of COVID-19 response and research, please contact us at donate@bccdcfoundation.org.

The post Providing Evidence to Guide COVID-19 Response: BC COVID-19 SPEAK 2 Survey and Interactive Dashboard appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

The purpose of this second-round survey is to invite British Columbians to share about their experience one year into the pandemic. This data will help our experts determine how to best respond to the key, ongoing challenges facing British Columbians today, and how to best plan for adaptation and recovery in BC. 

More specifically, the survey addresses four key areas:

1. Life during the pandemic: How British Columbians’ behaviours and experiences have changed over the course of the pandemic.
2. Vaccines: What barriers exist to accessing vaccines.
3. Innovation and adaptation: How things have changed and how these changes have impacted British Columbians.
4. Recovery: What supports are needed to help British Columbians through recovery from the pandemic.

The survey is available in 10 languages and takes about 20-30 minutes to complete.

We encourage all British Columbians over 18 to take the survey and then assist elders and seniors in your community with it as well.

Since the more participants, the better the data, we hope you’ll share the survey widely with your networks. Plus, as researchers have informed us that they’re in need of responses from younger adults and those living in rural communities, please invite people you know in those populations to take the survey.

The survey will close on May 9th.

We are looking forward to sharing the results from this survey with you and thank you in advance for completing it and helping us spread the word about it.

“We encourage everyone to once again participate. As the new survey will likely show us, we have all been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And, equally important, we can all influence how quickly we get to the brighter days that are ahead. Let’s all do our part today.”

Dr Bonnie Henry

Take the survey now here.

The post BC COVID-19 SPEAK Survey, Round 2! appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.