{"id":3251,"date":"2025-01-22T19:23:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T19:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pacificpublichealth.ca\/?p=3251"},"modified":"2025-01-22T21:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T21:08:10","slug":"looking-back-on-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pacificpublichealth.ca\/whats-new\/looking-back-on-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Back on 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

2024 was an important year for our Foundation, made possible with the generous support of YOU, our incredible donors. Your contributions funded projects across the spectrum of public health and for that we are so grateful.

We are excited to start the new year with fresh ideas and new projects in our mission to improve population health in BC. While we have hit the ground running with work already underway, we\u2019d also like to look back on the highlights from 2024 and the topics that you, our supporters, found most interesting and informative last year.<\/p>\n\n

    \n\tUpstream actions for a healthier future<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    Our most read article last year \u2014 by far \u2014 was the breakdown of upstream thinking and how it benefits us all. Particularly in public health, thinking upstream encourages us to take action to prevent illness and injury, protect people, promote environments that foster good health, and importantly, to address social injustice, inequities, and the determinants of health. Simply put, by addressing the conditions around us before they have a chance to burden our health, we are creating a healthier and safer world.<\/strong> Examples of upstream actions are all around us, like investing in early childhood development, a housing-first model to address homelessness, and the idea of universal basic income, to help everyone take care of themselves and their families.<\/p>\n\n

    2. New Name, Look and Feel \u2014 Introducing Pacific Public Health Foundation<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n

      <\/ol>\n\n

      The second top read was the launch news about our new name, brand, and refreshed website!<\/p>\n\n

      Over the last decade, our Foundation has grown, with new partners, team members, and donors across all areas of public health.\u00a0 Our shift in name allows us to better represent the broad scope of our work, and our bold new brand was created to convey our unique role in public health philanthropy and action. If you\u2019d like to learn more about our shift to Pacific Public Health Foundation, take a look at a video we created<\/a> that introduces our new name and refreshed vision for the future.<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

      3. A lesson in the social determinants of health<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

        <\/ol>\n\n

        The social determinants of health<\/strong> is a very important concept, and we learned that our supporters were eager to learn more! It was one of our most read articles in 2024, despite being published in 2021.<\/p>\n\n

        This guest blog post<\/a>, written by Svetlana Ristovski-Slijepcevic <\/u>and Charito Gailling<\/u>, Project Managers in Population and Public Health at BC Centre for Disease Control<\/em>, helped to visualize the social determinants of health (SDH) \u2014 the conditions where people grow, work, live, and age \u2014 making this complex idea more understandable. They encourage us to shift from thinking about the SDH as categories that describe what makes us sick, to describing what factors in our lives contribute to our good health. By shifting that terminology, we are also highlighting the upstream<\/strong> ways our overall environment impacts our health. We know the SDH are so important, which is why we support inclusive public health policies<\/a> that are necessary to create more equitable conditions for communities across in BC.<\/p>\n\n

        4. Social Justice and Public Health<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n