Town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

IMAGINE A GENERATION OF PICTOU COUNTY

RESIDENTS LIVING WELL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      March 24, 2009

Imagine a generation of Pictou County residents living well

New Glasgow, NS - The Community Health Boards (CHBs) of Pictou County want to hear from you.  CHBs are volunteer boards, legislated by the government of Nova Scotia, to ensure that the voice of residents is heard by the Pictou County Health Authority.  We are residents just like you who care about the health of our community.

The Community Health Boards five-year Community Health Plan is underway.  Please talk to your family, friends, neighbours and business contacts throughout Pictou County about participating in the CHB’s health planning process.  By participating in this process, you will help us understand and address the known health issues/ concerns within Pictou County.  With your input we will gain an understanding of the support that individuals and families need to make improvements in their health.

You can participate in a number of ways:
• By filling out a survey (instructions available online at http://www.pcha.nshealth.ca/pdf_files/chbsurvey_2009.pdf or by requesting a paper copy at
 1-888-256-5444)
• By phoning 1-888-256-5444 and leaving a detailed message
• By sending an email with your thoughts to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The results of this survey and input from the public, in addition to findings from a series of 13 community consultations (or focus groups) currently being held throughout Pictou County, will help develop the 2009-2014 Community Health Plan for Pictou County.

The Pictou County Health Authority has assisted the CHBs in assessing the statistical evidence surrounding the demographics (who are we?), health status (how healthy are we?), and determinants of health (what makes us healthy?) for Pictou County and Pictou Landing First Nation (www.pcha.nshealth.ca (Health Status Profile, Community Health Status Report and 2009 Report Card on Health)).  By bringing together the evidence and the results of this public planning process, we can develop a strong plan for improving the health of our community.

The Community Health Boards will host a series of open houses in May and will present a draft of the 2009-2014 Community Health Plan to the public for your input.  More information will be available in April.  The CHBs will present the final Community Health Plan to the Pictou County Health Authority Board in June 2009.

The deadline for providing input into the Community Health Plan is April 3, 2009. We look forward to hearing from you.

For more information please contact Jaime Smith, community health planner, Pictou County Health Authority, 752-7600 ext 3340.

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Media contact:
 Eileen MacIsaac
 Public Relations
 752-7600, ext. 1124