What we do

We provide education and skill-building opportunities to help people understand health issues and make informed choices. These activities empower individuals and communities to take steps that improve health and well-being.  

• Increase knowledge about important health topics.  
• Teach practical skills that support healthy behaviors.  
• Offer tools and resources that help people make informed decisions. 

• Deliver workshops, training sessions, and community events in schools, workplaces, and other accessible settings.  
• Use culturally relevant and inclusive approaches to make learning meaningful.  
• Engage participants through interactive activities that encourage active learning.  

Our education and skill-building efforts help reduce mortality and improve overall health by empowering people with knowledge and practical tools. We address chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and injuries through programs that promote healthy behaviors and early prevention. These activities also support healthy growth and development, oral health, mental well-being, and health equity by making information accessible and culturally relevant. In addition, we strengthen initiatives for immunization, injury prevention, substance use reduction, and violence prevention by teaching skills that lead to lasting behavior change.  

We provide education in schools, workplaces, health care settings, and community spaces. We also reach families, Indigenous communities, and organizations that serve diverse populations.

• Health Promoter  
• Public Health Nurse  
• Public Health Inspector  
• Registered Dietitian  
• Enforcement Officer 

• Community Events to promote childhood healthy behaviours  
• Playground Activity Leaders in Schools to promote leadership in school activities  
• Food Handler Certification Classes and Exams to ensure servers handle food safely  
• Healthy behaviours to prevent infectious diseases  
• Tobacco retail education to ensure compliance with Smoke-Free Ontario Act  

We investigate potential health threats to protect the community and help identify risks, trace sources, and put measures in place to keep people safe.  

• Identify sources of illness or hazards in settings defined by the Ministry of Health.  
• Take enforcement actions in accordance with applicable legislation. 

• Respond to service requests, complaints, illness reports, and outbreak notifications.  
• Conduct risk assessments and source tracing.  
• Collaborate with other public health teams and agencies for a coordinated response.  
• Communicate clearly with affected individuals and interest-holders. 

Investigations protect community health by working to control and reduce sources of hazards to prevent risks to public health. It also promotes health equity and supports health promotion through timely risk assessments and interventions.  

We investigate health risks in schools, workplaces, child care centres, food premises, and institutional facilities, and other settings in accordance with applicable legislation.  

• Epidemiologist  
• Public Health Inspector  
• Public Health Nurse 

• Investigating reports of foodborne illness.  
• Assessing risks during outbreak notifications.  
• Inspections of settings in accordance with applicable legislation.  

We inspect facilities and environments to make sure they meet as determined by legislation and the Ministry of Health. These inspections help prevent illness, injury, and disease by identifying risks and promoting safe practices. 

• Conduct inspections in specific settings to check compliance with legislation and the Ministry of Health. 
• Identify risks and recommend corrective actions.  
• Provide education on safe practices during inspections.  
• Support outbreak investigations and public health surveillance.  

• Use risk-based inspection models to prioritize high-risk settings for inspections.  
• Engage with operators and stakeholders to promote compliance.  
• Apply continuous quality improvement to strengthen inspection outcomes. 

Inspections ensure safe environments by enforcing health standards. This work helps prevent infectious diseases, reduce injuries, and minimize environmental health hazards. It also supports injury prevention and reduces risks that could harm individuals and communities.  

We inspect places like restaurants, child care centres, personal service settings, and care homes to make sure they meet health standards.   

• Public Health Nurse  
• Public Health Inspector  
• Enforcement Officer 

• Food safety inspections in restaurants and grocery stores.  
• Infection prevention checks in healthcare and childcare settings.  
• Inspections of salons and spas to ensure safe personal services.  

We monitor and analyze health data to understand the needs of our community. This helps us identify trends, detect emerging issues, and guide actions that improve health for everyone.  

• Collect and interpret data on reportable diseases, health behaviors, risk factors, and outcomes.  
• Track social determinants of health and disease trends.  
• Use findings to inform health protection measures, and health promotion programs, policies, and resource allocation. 

• Maintain local surveillance systems and collaborate with local health partners.  
• Integrate data from multiple sources for a complete picture of community health.  
• Apply continuous quality improvement to ensure accuracy and relevance.  
• Share findings with interest-holders to support evidence-informed decisions. 

Population health assessment and surveillance guide decisions that improve health for everyone. This work improves local health outcomes in areas of addresses infectious and chronic diseases, injuries, mental health, oral health, and vision health. It also advances health equity and supports prevention efforts for immunization, substance use, and violence.  

We work with local health and community partners, along with the province’s Ministry of Health and Public Health Ontario, partners to better understand health trends in Lambton County, and use the information we gather to help us and our partners make decisions on improving community health of the residents of Lambton.  

• Epidemiologist  
• Health Promoter  
• Strategic Communications Staff 

• Monitoring rates of reportable diseases and chronic diseases and their and risk factors.  
• Tracking local vaccination coverage and infectious disease trends.  
• Reporting on social determinants of health to guide planning.  

We work to stop the spread of infectious diseases in our community. When someone gets sick with a disease that can affect public health, we act quickly to protect them and everyone around them.  

• Case management: If someone is diagnosed or suspected of having a reportable disease, ensure they receive clear guidance and support by reaching out to them and the health care provider. This helps them recover and prevents the illness from spreading to their contacts.  
• Contact management: We identify people who may have been exposed to a reportable disease. We assess their risk and provide guidance to help keep them and others safe.  
• Outbreak management: When several cases happen in the same place or are linked to the same source, we investigate. We find out what caused the outbreak, put control measures in place, and work with health care and other community partners to stop it from spreading further. 

• Respond quickly and follow the Ministry of Health’s protocols to control disease.  
• Communicate clearly with people who are affected.  
• Work with health care providers, community partners, and other sectors to keep everyone safe.

Our work helps prevent and control reportable diseases, protect healthy growth and development, and reduce health hazards in the community. By managing cases, contacts, and outbreaks, we reduce disease transmission, safeguard vulnerable populations, and support environments where people can thrive.   

We work with places like hospitals, schools, child care centres, workplaces, and long-term care homes to prevent and control diseases. We also work in collaboration with Indigenous communities, shelters, and correctional facilities.

• Public Health Nurse  
• Public Health Inspector  
• Epidemiologists 

• Respiratory illnesses  
• Sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections  
• Diseases that spread from animals to people  
• Illnesses carried by insects like ticks and mosquitoes  
• Food and waterborne diseases  

We share health information to help people make informed choices that support health and prevent disease. These strategies make health information clear, accessible, and relevant to your everyday life.  

• Share accurate, evidence-based health information through multiple channels like social media, websites, and community events.  
• Create messages that are tailored to different audiences so they are easy to understand and act on.  
• Encourage healthy behaviors by reducing barriers and highlighting benefits.

• Use proven communication techniques, including mass media, digital platforms, and face-to-face engagement.  
• Apply social marketing principles to influence positive behavior change for the good of the community.  
• Work with partners and community groups to make sure messages reach the right people at the right time. 

Our communication and social marketing efforts support a wide range of public health goals. We help reduce mortality and improve overall health by promoting awareness and informed decision-making. We address chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and injuries by sharing evidence-based information that encourages preventive behaviors and early intervention. We also promote healthy growth and development, oral health, mental well-being, and vision health through education and engagement, advancing health equity. Our work aims to reduce health hazards, support immunization, injury prevention, substance use reduction, and violence, with health information accessible and actionable for all. 

We share health information widely, through schools, workplaces, community centres, online platforms, and media. We also collaborate with governments, health care providers, Indigenous communities, and organizations serving diverse populations.  

• Strategic Communications Staff  
• Health Promoter  
• Program Support Staff  

• Public health campaigns on topics impacting community health  
• Social media and website updates with timely health information.  
• Community outreach and education sessions.  

We work with individuals, organizations, and networks to address health priorities and improve community well-being. By building strong relationships and working together, we create lasting changes that support health for everyone.  

• Bring people and organizations together to identify community health needs, set priorities, and plan to address these collectively.  
• Support communities in taking collective action to improve health.  
• Build lasting partnerships that strengthen local capacity. 

• Work with partners across sectors to align efforts, plans, and share resources.  
• Create networks and coalitions that coordinate responses to complex health challenges.  
• Use culturally relevant approaches that reflect the unique needs of our community.

By engaging community partners, we advance a broad range of public health goals. This work helps reduce mortality and improve overall health, while addressing chronic diseases, infectious diseases, and injuries through collaborative strategies. We promote healthy growth and development, oral health, mental well-being, and vision health by building partnerships that strengthen programs and services, supporting health equity. These efforts also reduce health hazards, and enhance initiatives for immunization, injury prevention, substance use reduction, and violence prevention. Working together ensures that public health actions are inclusive, coordinated, and effective.  

We collaborate with schools, workplaces, health care providers, governments, Indigenous communities, and local organizations. These partnerships help us strengthen programs and reach people where they live, learn, and work.   

• Health Promoter  
• Public Health Nurse  
• Registered Dietitian  
• Strategic Communications Staff 

• Community coalitions focused on health priorities.  
• Partnerships with schools, workplaces, and local agencies.  
• Collaborative projects that promote equity and well-being.  

We manage and distribute essential community health supplies and resources to ensure people and partners have the supports they need to promote and protect health.  

• Maintain an up-to-date inventory of community health resources.  
• Forecast needs and plan for timely replenishment.  
• Coordinate distribution to ensure resources reach the right people and places.  
• Promote equitable access, especially for underserved populations.  

• Use inventory management systems to track and allocate resources efficiently.  
• Work with community partners to coordinate logistics.  
• Follow quality and safety standards for all supplies. 

We distribute essential community health resources to support programs that prevent disease and promote well-being. This work helps reduce mortality, improve oral health, prevent infectious diseases, and support healthy growth and development, advancing health equity. This work also addresses risks related to substance use and violence by ensuring equitable access to critical supplies.  

We make sure health supplies reach families, health care providers, pharmacies, and other local organizations that help people in need.   

• Public Health Nurse  
• Program Support Staff 

• Distribution of educational materials for community health campaigns.  
• Public health medications, vaccines, and supplies for public health clinics and outreach programs.  

We enforce mandated public health laws and influence policies that support the health of our community.  

• Ensure adherence to public health legislation through education, monitoring, and enforcement when needed.  
• Analyze health impacts of existing and proposed policies when requested for input and when aligned with local public health units’ mandate by the Ministry of Health.  
• Collaborate with partners to integrate public health perspectives into broader policy decisions, where applicable. 

• Monitor compliance with laws like the Immunization of School Pupils Act and Smoke-Free Ontario Act.  
• Offer technical expertise and data to inform policy development, where applicable.  
• Work with municipalities, school boards, and other agencies to advance health-focused policies, where applicable.  

Policies have great influence to ensure healthy and safe environments for all. By enforcing public health legislation and shaping policies aligned with public health units’ mandated work under the Ministry of Health, we reduce mortality, prevent chronic and infectious diseases, and promote healthy growth and development. These efforts also address injuries, mental health, oral health, health hazards, and social determinants of health, while supporting immunization, nutrition, physical activity, and substance use prevention.  

We work with schools, workplaces, governments, and community organizations to create shape policies that support health and safety, where applicable.

• Health Promoter 
• Enforcement Officer  
• Public Health Nurse 

• Enforcement of the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.  
• Compliance monitoring for school immunization requirements.  
• Providing data to inform local policy-makers, where applicable.