News Release

1999-86
June 18, 1999

Health Minister announces funding for Canadian Nurses Association project

OTTAWA -  Speaking today at the annual general meeting of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), Health Minister Allan Rock announced federal support for a new initiative to help nurses and physicians support self-care in their practices.

The minister said: "There is strong evidence that Canadians are actively participating in their health care, but they need support and they need quality health information. This project will help Canadians work with health professionals to benefit from their knowledge, experience and expertise."

"Nursing's commitment to helping patients make informed decisions about their health and deal with health problems is an important component of the nursing profession's long tradition. This self-care initiative is of particular importance in that it emphasizes inter-disciplinary collaboration" says CNA President Lynda Kushnir Pekrul.

The CNA, along with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Association of Canadian Medical Colleges and the Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing, will collaborate to assist health care professionals, particularly nurses and physicians, to support self- care in their practice by funding local/regional projects across the country on education and practice support. They will establish a Supporting Self-Care Coordinating Committee to solicit, select and supervise these local/regional projects. The projects will contribute to the development of education programs/models for undergraduate and postgraduate and continuing education for a variety of health professionals, especially nurses and physicians. The federal government is providing $360,000 to the CNA for this initiative.

The CNA is a federation of nine provincial and two territorial nurses' associations with a membership of more than 110,000 registered nurses.

Health Canada funding is being provided through the Population Health Fund. Health Canada has adopted a population health approach to further its continuing mandate to maintain and improve the health of Canadians. This approach recognizes that many factors, in addition to the health care system, have a strong influence on health, for example: nutrition, physical activity and education. The approach promotes prevention and positive action on determinants that affect the health of the population as a whole, or that of specific population groups.

The goal of the Population Health Fund, which has an annual budget of $14 million, is to increase community capacity for action on the determinants of health. To achieve this goal, the fund supports projects that facilitate intersectoral planning and coordinated action among voluntary organizations, service providers, governments and the private sector.

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Media Inquiries:
Derek Kent
Office of Allan Rock
Federal Minister of Health
(613) 957-1515

Carole Saindon
CNA Media Relations
(613) 237-2159, ext. 310

Public Inquiries
(613) 957-2991