Sharon Davis-Murdoch

Sharon Davis-Murdoch, BA, MA, Diversity and Social Inclusion Health Policy Advisor, Nova Scotia Department of Health

Sharon Davis-Murdoch, Senior Policy Analyst with the Nova Scotia Deparatment of Health, received a Premier's Award of Excellence for her work in Diversity and Social Inclusion in Primary Health Care. Sharon is also a government representative in the Health Association of African Canadians (HAAC). She and other members of HAAC are active collaborators on the NELS-ICE research team.

Sharon Davis -Murdoch - Senior Policy Advisor, Primary Health Care Division, Nova Scotia Department of Health.

Presented by: Sharon Davis Murdoch, Nova Scotia Department of Health

Sharon Davis Murdoch (Secretary)Phone: (902) 424-7476E-mail: murdochsd@gov.ns.ca

Sharon Davis Murdoch

Sharon Davis-Murdoch, Senior Health Policy Analyst with the Nova Scotia government, has engaged in primary care health research with a focus on determinants of health.

Sharon Davis-Murdock, a senior policy analyst with the Nova Scotia Department of Health, understands this.Responding to concerns raised by stakeholders, she endorsed Nova Scotia's inclusive Vision for Primary Health Care and proposed the Diversity and Social Inclusion in Primary Health Care Initiative.

Sharon Davis- Murdoch Senior Policy Analyst Nova Scotia Department of Health

Yet Sharon Davis-Murdock, a senior policy analyst with the provincial government says: "No evidence of black health status is captured in provincial data bases or bio-medical research."

"The same," she says, "is true regarding the health status of blacks across Canada."

Davis-Murdock says targeted lifestyle-related health education addressing obesity/ nutrition, exercise, sexual health, addictions such as smoking, prescription compliance and mental health issues are not going to the affected communities.

Access to such services is affected by old stigmas, along with distance, a lack of culturally competent care, and low literacy.This leads to a lack of understanding of the value of services and remediation of ailments.