Public health improvement and integrated planning in British Columbia

Experiences of staff involved in public health improvement in a health authority highlight several barriers and keys to success. Analyzing these experiences with the BC Core Functions Improvement Process and reviewing the literature of other recent initiatives leads to a summary of potential key areas to address public health improvement. This project will explore in detail the key area of integrated planning using information from interviews with public health staff, a public health leadership team meeting, implementation of an integrated planning framework, and the relevant literature. A proposed framework for integrated planning will assist health authorities in successfully implementing public health improvement initiatives, assist the Ministry of Health in their goal of renewing public health services, and move towards an integrated planning and delivery system in public health in British Columbia.