Chronic Disease Surveillance Project Overview
The Chronic Disease Surveillance Program
includes a number of innovative projects. The program as a whole is meant to increase the capacity of the Métis Nation BC and health care professionals who work with Métis People. The increased capacity comes as a result of having more health information on Métis in BC and by having a streamlined and effective process for sharing health information with Métis Citizens, health care workers and advocates. The capacity of the Métis Nation is also increased by establishing the processes that are required for sharing information between the provincial and federal governments and the Métis Nation. The different projects that are included in the CDSP all aim to increase the capacity of the Métis Nation with the ultimate goal of improving the health and well being of Métis Citizens.
The CDSP is a collection of projects all meant to increase the shared knowledge of Métis health and well-being. Projects directly related to the CDSP include the Métis Nation BC Comprehensive Survey, Sharing Health Information and a planned collaboration with the BC Cancer Society. Harvesting health is a project that is led by the CDSP manager that investigates the health benefits of cultural activities and is being completed in collaboration with the Métis Nation BC and the University of British Columbia Okanagan.
Chronic Disease Surveillance Program
The reported health status of Métis People is often the result of surveys or of one off research projects. Although informative these methods of reporting are not as accurate as available forms of data. For instance, the data that is collected by doctors and pharmacists when you require their services is recorded and put into data repositories. This information is held by provincial government agencies and is used to determine service development.
Unfortunately, Métis people can not be identified within this data with out their consent and a process to match them with their data. The CDSP is meant to gain the support of Métis Citizens by asking them to consent to having their information shared with the Ministry of Health Service of BC.
The information that Métis Citizens share is protected to the standard developed by the MNBC Registry and by the Provincial Government. Sharing your address, birth date, personal health number and, if applicable, maiden name will allow the Ministry of Health Services to identify the data recorded by doctors. This information will be grouped together with other people's information as to not identify any single individual, it is this aggregated data that MNBC and the Ministry of Health Services will include in reports on Chronic Diseases.
Chronic diseases that will be investigated include cardiovascular and respiratory diseases (diseases related to heart and lung health), metabolic diseases and diseases related to the digestive systems (i.e. diabetes, liver diseases), mental health and Arthritis including Rheumatoid and Osteoarthritis.
To learn how to give your consent please go to the ethics and consent web page. For more detailed information please look at the 2010-2011 contribution agreement and the timeline. Please note that these documents change as deliverables and outcomes are met or adjusted as required.
