Chronic Disease Prevention
In 2024, the Chronic Disease Prevention program used a comprehensive health promotion approach and worked in collaboration with municipalities, school boards, schools and community partners to support healthy public policies and programs that reduce poverty and household food insecurity. The program also led the Simcoe Muskoka On The Move initiative to encourage walking and wheeling to school. Input was also provided on a variety of municipal land use planning documents to enhance healthy community design.
Substance Use and Injury Prevention
In 2024, the Substance Use and Injury Prevention program distributed 8,318 naloxone kits through SMDHU nurses and contracted partners. The program issued five community-based drug alerts to inform partners working with people who use drugs. Internally, 270 SMDHU staff, representing 93.8 percent of all employees, were trained in opioid overdose response.
Healthy Growth and Development
The Healthy Growth and Development program continued to support families through various services in 2024, including in-person breastfeeding support groups, clinical appointments and postpartum calls. It offered prenatal education in online, virtual and in-person formats, as well as infant nutrition sessions. Capacity-building activities were carried out through Community Action Program for Children, Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, and EarlyON programs. Additionally, families in need received car seat vouchers through partnerships with Honda Canada and Canadian Tire. The program also supported community events in response to service requests from local partners.
Healthy Babies Healthy Children
From January to December 2024, the Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) program completed 2,369 home visits. Public health nurses administered Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQs) with all consenting families to screen for potential developmental or social-emotional delays and help identify areas where children and families may need support. In 2024, HBHC joined a national ASQ database initiative in partnership with SickKids Hospital and Queen’s University. This project aims to improve understanding of child development milestones across Canada and inform future programming and policies based on aggregated data.
School Health
Throughout the 2023-2024 school year, public health nurses (PHNs) in the School Health Program worked as liaisons between the SMDHU and local school boards to enable streamlined communication, collaboration, and partnership in support of comprehensive school health. At a school level, School Health PHNs conducted outreach visits, and worked with schools and school communities on Healthy Schools initiatives to address local priorities including, but not limited to, mental health promotion and school food and nutrition. SMDHU nutrition staff provided consultation to assist with promoting healthy school food policies, environments, and Student Nutrition Programs.