Ministers Announce Funding for Health Care Projects

Federal Health Minister Allan Rock and Nova Scotia Health Minister Jim Smith today announced federal funding for two innovative projects that test ways to improve primary health care and to enhance the health of children and youth in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Rock also announced funding for two national projects, to pilot palliative home care in rural areas and to develop a new model for primary care in the Eskasoni First Nations community. Total funding of $4.8 million will be provided under the Health Transition Fund.

"These projects will generate evidence-based information to help provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place," said Mr. Rock. "This kind of collaboration among governments to identify promising models will help health planners as they look for solutions on how best to modernize our health care system. These solutions will ensure that Canadians have continued access to high-quality health care."

"Nova Scotia is fortunate to have been selected as the site of the four projects announced today and for the opportunity to work together with our colleagues in Prince Edward Island on the palliative home care initiative," said Dr. Smith. "The result of our work will help to inform health policy and decision-makers across the country."

The Sharing Strengths: A Child and Youth Health Strategy project will improve understanding and provide evidence for the reform, development and co-ordination of health services for children and youth. Developed in the Nova Scotia western region, this project will evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and community-based planning processes in addressing child and youth health issues. It will also evaluate the role of communities in shaping public policy which promotes the development of healthy children and youth.

The Strengthening Primary Care project will explore and evaluate various ways of funding, organizing and delivering primary care services in Nova Scotia. Interested organizations will be invited to submit proposals for models of primary care to be implemented and evaluated. The results of the research will help to identify the parts of the primary care system that require gradual change and the parts that work well and should not change.

The Rural Palliative Home Care project will test using rural primary care teams, supported by a regional mobile team, to provide palliative home care services in three regions of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. The project will examine how to overcome barriers to service delivery, how to integrate palliative home care with other services and in a variety of settings, and how to support and educate providers.

The Tri-Partite Approach to Developing a New Model of Primary Care for Eskasoni First Nation project will test the effectiveness of a collaborative approach among federal, provincial and First Nations partners, for planning, implementing and evaluating a multi-disciplinary team approach to primary care services, to residents of the Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia.

The Health Transition Fund was established by the federal government in 1997 in response to a recommendation by the National Forum on Health. It is designed to generate information and evidence on the organization, funding and delivery of health services in four priority areas -- home care, pharmacare, primary care and integrated service delivery.

Evaluation results of projects will be shared among all provinces and territories. The fund provides $30 million to national level projects and $120 million to provincial and territorial projects on a per capita basis.