Our Mandate

The National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH) focuses on the social and economic factors that influence the health of Canadians. In order to fulfill our mandate, the NCCDH uses Knowledge Synthesis, Translation and Exchange (commonly referred to as KSTE) to assess, analyze and inform our stakeholders on how various determinants of health are impacting Canadians. KSTE has been defined as "the exchange, synthesis and ethically sound application of research findings within a complex system of relationships among researchers and knowledge users as part of a large process to incorporate research knowledge into policies, and practice to improve the health of a population" (Keifer, 2005).

The NCCDH does not perform research studies. Instead, we gather the evidence and information distributed by researchers and make it accessible to stakeholders such as public and population health practitioners, researchers, policy-makers and professional associations across Canada Our mission is to engage researchers, policy-makers, health practitioners, and the public so as to better include knowledge about the broad determinants of health in policy and practice decisions that will achieve social justice and health for all.

Our objectives are to:

Synthesize, translate, and exchange knowledge for practitioners and policy-makers

Identify key gaps in research and practice knowledge

Build capacity through networks of practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers in determinants of health

Increase partnerships and develop intersectoral collaborations to address specific determinants of health or combinations of those determinants.