Supportive Environments

Designing Supportive Environments for Chronic Disease Prevention

Flagship Co-Leads: Dr. Sara Kirk (Faculty of Health), Dr. Catherine Mah (Faculty of Health)
Flagship Community Lead: Meaghan Sim

The Case for Action

While the widely held belief of personal choice and responsibility remains a popular narrative in relation to population health and chronic disease prevention, it is glaringly evident that individual behaviours have limited impact when our broader social and structural environments are not conducive to good health and well-being. It takes an enormous amount of effort to live a healthy lifestyle, including being active and eating healthy foods, when our modern environment models the opposite behaviours.

Our Flagship Project

This project understands how individual behaviour is influenced by and influences multiple and interconnected elements of the social system that impact chronic disease prevalence. A major focus of this flagship is UpLift: A School-Community-University Partnership, which involves designing supportive environments within elementary and junior high school settings in Nova Scotia. 

Our Work in Action

[insert 3-5 article links here]