Unconventional Researcher

More Than Just an Apple a Day

Population health researcher Alan Shiell explores what makes people healthy.

By Laurie Wang

When Alan Shiell is researching health, he doesn’t work with test tubes and pipettes in a science lab; he works with people in neighbourhoods.

“Good health is not just created in the hospital or clinics. It’s outside these places—it’s in the way we live, where we work, our education, our neighbourhood, our friendships. Half of the difference in one’s life expectancy is in these factors,” says the Faculty of Medicine researcher and holder of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Chair in the Economics of Population Health.

The newly created chair is one of 14 CIHR Applied Public Health Chairs in Canada announced in June. Shiell will receive almost $925,000 over five years to study the economic value of health promotion programs and find ways to keep people healthy.

“There have been cost-benefit studies done on cardiac surgery and hip replacements,” he says. “Population health focuses on the cost benefits of keeping people from these things, away from the hospital altogether.”

“For example, in one of my current projects studying the ‘walkability’ of neighbourhoods, we surveyed people, asked them how much they walked, how attached they are to their community, whether they had a dog. Next we will map the neighbourhoods these people live in,” Shiell explains. “We’ll look to see whether there are trees, sidewalks, busy streets, if there are cafés to walk to; and whether these factors are associated with how active people are. Then we’ll evaluate the cost of making Calgary neighbourhoods more walkable.”

For Shiell, “healthy” can be defined two different ways.
 “It can mean being free of disease, but for me, it’s more than that. It’s having opportunities to fulfil your potential and finding value in the lives we lead,” he says.

A health economist at the U of C’s Population Health Intervention Research Centre, Shiell will also be publishing a report on the benefits of preschool.

“There’s a $3 to $7 benefit for every $1 spent on putting a child through preschool education, and that doesn’t count the personal benefits to the individual,” he says. “Children who get preschool education are more socially adept, tend to stay in school longer, get better jobs, earn more money and are less likely to get into trouble with the law.”

Shiell’s other projects include evaluating the cost effectiveness of nutrition programs for pregnant women and banning cellphones while driving. He’s also currently working on a systematic review of community-based intervention programs for people with diabetes.

“The CIHR’s investment in population health has shown that it is an area of priority for them. It has given me even more purpose in what I’m researching,” he says.

Shiell hopes to see more people invest in staying healthy.

“Everyone has a role in good health. It’d be nice to see the City of Calgary and the Calgary Board of Education take on greater roles in people’s health. It’s not just the responsibility of doctors and nurses; good health is everyone’s responsibility.”

Read more about Shiell’s walkable neighbourhood research project.