Event Details

Disease surveillance is a core function of public health. This PHO Rounds discusses surveillance program activities, goals, relevant legislation, and ethical underpinnings, as well as the statistical theory behind comparisons of current with historical data. The presenter will discuss how surveillance can be implemented in various settings, from large infectious disease laboratories to small health units based on factors such as the counts of the disease or event of interest, the size of the population being surveyed, the technical capacity and equipment of the system operators and recipients, and the ideal time frame for intervention in case of an outbreak. These factors indicate the frequency with which surveillance should be conducted and whether a simpler or more complex model of expected counts should be used to compare with those observed.

Intended Audience:
Public health clinicians, epidemiologists, infection control practitioners, environmental health officers/inspectors, Medical Officers of Health (MOH), and Associate Medical Officers of Health (AMOH), public health professionals with interest in surveillance.

By the end of this event, participants will be able to:

• Use a grid to determine the frequency of surveillance for their chosen health event.
• Explain whether a simpler or more complex statistical analysis is optimal given their event of interest.
• As part of team, design and implement an appropriate surveillance system for their health event
• Explain to a surveillance system audience why further investigation is required when an observed count exceeds that expected.

Dr. Ann Jolly, PhD started her career in the 1980s in the Northwest Territories evaluating the effects of safer sex messaging on STI rates. She completed her MSc and PhD at the University of Manitoba, working with laboratory and notifiable disease data on STBBI, estimating risk of sequelae, and defining transmission through sexual networks of connected individuals. She developed a weekly, automated laboratory based surveillance system for infectious disease at Cadham Provincial Laboratory which ran for three years. She pioneered network analyses of STBBI, TB, and MRSA and (during COVID) combined spatial and social network methods to demonstrate spread across Ottawa.

The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.

Public Health Ontario Rounds are a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).

Other colleges, including the College of Family Physicians of Canada, Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario and the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors, may accept RCPSC accredited events on a per-hour basis. Please contact your relevant college should you have any questions.

In order to receive written documentation for Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits, please check "Yes" beside the question "Do you require CME credits?" on the registration form.

For more information or for a record of registration for other Continuing Education purposes, please contact capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.

Public Health Ontario is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact 647-260-7100 or capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.