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DALE DAUTEN
Leaders in Immunization
Intelligence
A profile of Ian Culbert, Executive Director
of the Canadian Public Health Association
Ian Culbert didn't seek out a job at the Canadian Public Health Association. No, he was sent there by a temp agency, way back in 1990, and he never left.
Back then, having just graduated from Carleton University*, Culbert was trying to puzzle out the direction his career might take.
*I bet you can't tell me the mascot for Carleton U
sports teams. Scroll down to near the end
and you'll see the answer, along with
one of the great mascot logos.*
He says of his earlier days with CPHA,
"I found the work very interesting and the people and atmosphere were great, so I accepted a permanent position when it was offered."
Hear
ing Culbert speak of his time at CPHA, reminded me of the executive who insisted that the secret of having happy employees was to ask each one, "
What's a good day?"
and then to help them do more of what they love. Here's Culbert on his work days:
"I've always felt that if you work in public health that no matter what, in some small way, what you do each day makes the world a better place. You can't ask for more than that from a job!"
It's been three years since Culbert took over the role of Executive Director and he says of that time, "At our heart we are an advocacy group and I'm proudest of helping the Association develop a solid reputation for the quality and relevance of the evidence-informed policy alternatives we develop and advocate for with government."
Among the accomplishments that struck me as most impressive was the launch of an app for individual Canadians and their families to keep immunization records, ImmunizeCA, developed with Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
He adds, "Patients want control and data in their own hands." The app makes that literally true. It not only is a place to store records, but Culbert says the most popular feature is the Reminder function -- the app takes the vaccination dates you input and then compares them to the recommended schedule for your province and alerts you when it's time for new vaccinations.
It also has an Outbreaks features that alerts users to new cases of diseases in their locale.
There's a 3-minute video that does an excellent job of explaining the app: http://immunize.ca/en/app.aspx
In less than two years, they have nearly over 120,000 users. Why is the app catching on? For one thing, it's time has come. As Culbert put it,
"The day of people doing something just because told to by a doctor is over."
The growth in popularity of the app has also benefitted from a close partnership with Canadian health officials, especially the decision to include a flier promoting the app placed in the same envelope with checks for those receiving child benefit payments.
Funding is pending for a second iteration of the app, with the goal of making it possible for users to share data (particularly helpful to those engaged in co-parenting) and to be interactive with new immunization information systems. Culbert hopes that one day the app might function cross-border with the U.S.
Speaking of working cross-borders, STC will be in attendance at the CPHA Conference in Toronto, coming in June. The man leading STC's efforts in Canada, Brad Goble, says, "Ian Culbert's leadership with CPHA provides a unique platform for public-private partnerships to flourish and STC is proud of its ongoing relationship with Ian and CPHA. We are particularly looking forward to engaging in the Canadian dialogue in June." See you there, eh?
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