{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T15:02:29Z","timestamp":1790089349211,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":13,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778112000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778112000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Can J Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic, Nova Scotia faced significant gaps and barriers in access to testing, particularly in underserved communities and areas experiencing outbreaks. In the fall of 2020, the Public Health Mobile Units commenced as part of Nova Scotia\u2019s provincial emergency response.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Intervention<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Implementation involved the procurement and development of 10 vans, equipment, staffing, and processes to deliver COVID-19 testing services across the province. The Public Health Mobile Unit composes a collaborative practice model functioning as a provincial team with a focus on geographic zones. These roles include Public Health Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Emergency Support Aides, Drivers, Secretaries with support from leadership, and health promoters.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Outcomes<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Embracing an equity-based approach, Public Health Mobile Units offered testing in communities not otherwise easily accessed through existing Nova Scotia Health pathways, areas experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks, and priority groups that may be at risk of severe illness. The Public Health Mobile Unit (PHMU) work expanded to include supporting public health\u2019s COVID-19 response with immunization, community rapid testing, negative results, and navigating community to COVID-19 resources. Additionally, the rapid services and flexibility of the Public Health Mobile Units supported Nova Scotia during times of need in hurricanes, wildfires, and floods.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Implications<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The successful evaluation and engagement highlighted the trust and confidence built with the community and partners throughout the pandemic response. Thus, enabling the Public Health Mobile Units to continue delivering preventative health services as the Public Health Mobile Unit has received permanent funding and has continued as a provincial public health program since the fall of 2024.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.17269\/s41997-026-01210-0","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T15:52:29Z","timestamp":1778169149000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Driving change in Nova Scotia: The lasting impact of Public Health Mobile Units beyond COVID-19"],"prefix":"10.17269","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-0250-4321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Haley","family":"Glazebrook","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Desiree","family":"Gregory","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marie","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beth","family":"Gillis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mary","family":"Lewis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Holly","family":"Gillis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"1210_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.23750\/abm.v91i1.9397","volume":"91","author":"D Cucinotta","year":"2020","unstructured":"Cucinotta, D., & Vanelli, M. (2020). WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Acta Biomedica, 91(1), 157\u2013160. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.23750\/abm.v91i1.9397","journal-title":"Acta Biomedica"},{"key":"1210_CR2","unstructured":"Government of Canada. (2023). Canadian drugs and substances strategy. https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/health-canada\/news\/2023\/10\/canadian-drugs-and-substances-strategy.html"},{"key":"1210_CR3","unstructured":"Government of Nova Scotia. (2020a). State of emergency declared in response to COVID-19, seven new cases. https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2020\/03\/22\/state-emergency-declared-response-covid-19-seven-new-cases"},{"key":"1210_CR4","unstructured":"Government of Nova Scotia. (2020b). Federal-provincial safe restart agreement finalized. https:\/\/news.novascotia.ca\/en\/2020\/09\/16\/federal-provincial-safe-restart-agreement-finalized"},{"key":"1210_CR5","unstructured":"Government of Nova Scotia. (2025). Speak up for healthcare: What we heard report. https:\/\/novascotia.ca\/docs\/speak-up-for-Healthcare-what-we-heard-report.pdf"},{"key":"1210_CR6","unstructured":"Health Canada. (2024). Canada\u2013Nova Scotia agreement to work together to improve health care for Canadians (2023\u20132024 to 2025\u20132026).\u00a0Retrieved August 24, 2025, from\u00a0https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/health-canada\/corporate\/transparency\/health-agreements\/shared-health-priorities\/working-together-bilateral-agreements\/nova-scotia-improve-care.html"},{"issue":"2","key":"1210_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.17269\/s41997-024-00956-9","volume":"116","author":"A Jeevakanthan","year":"2025","unstructured":"Jeevakanthan, A., Roubos, S., Hong, C., Hender, A., Granger, M., Khan, S., Shahid, M., LeBlanc, S., O\u2019Connell, J., & Gilbert, N. L. (2025). Routine vaccination coverage at ages 2 and 7, before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from the STARVAX surveillance system. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 116(2), 284\u2013289. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17269\/s41997-024-00956-9","journal-title":"Canadian Journal of Public Health"},{"key":"1210_CR8","unstructured":"Nova Scotia Health. (2021). Addressing racial injustice within Nova Scotia Health: Summary of conversations and discussion of next steps. https:\/\/www.nshealth.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Racial%20Injustice%20Summary.pdf"},{"key":"1210_CR9","unstructured":"Nova Scotia Health. (2024). Public Health Mobile Unit engagement report. https:\/\/ehq-production-canada.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/2a66d34bc8d19688587b2330310e77f0d0070e78\/original\/1715621825\/e112103348cd221c55ffa8ed6555732a_6b30ed632450f75240a38e23ba8268d8_2024-04-05_PHMU_Engagement_Report_Final.pdf"},{"key":"1210_CR10","unstructured":"Nova Scotia Health. (2025). Immunizations. https:\/\/www.nshealth.ca\/public-health\/immunizations"},{"key":"1210_CR11","unstructured":"Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub. (2023). Public Health Mobile Unit evaluation report 2023. https:\/\/ehq-production-canada.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com\/8f23ccd9bd617724b725f6b7f2c4c35d2738d3ed\/original\/1715611424\/97274daa061daec45681cff3c114be90_PHMU_Evaluation_Report_2023.final_%28003%29.pdf"},{"key":"1210_CR12","unstructured":"Statistics Canada. (2024a). Health characteristics, annual estimates, by province and territory, 2023. (Table 13\u201310\u20130701\u201301).\u00a0https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/n1\/daily-quotidien\/250305\/dq250305a-eng.htm"},{"key":"1210_CR13","unstructured":"Statistics Canada. (2024b). Health characteristics, annual estimates, by rural and urban population, Canada, 2023. (Table 13\u201310\u20130701\u201301). https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/n1\/pub\/82-570-x\/2024001\/section2-eng.htm"}],"container-title":["Canadian Journal of Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.17269\/s41997-026-01210-0.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.17269\/s41997-026-01210-0","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.17269\/s41997-026-01210-0.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,22]],"date-time":"2026-09-22T14:21:04Z","timestamp":1790086864000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.17269\/s41997-026-01210-0"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]]},"references-count":13,"alternative-id":["1210"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.17269\/s41997-026-01210-0","relation":{},"ISSN":["0008-4263","1920-7476"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0008-4263","type":"print"},{"value":"1920-7476","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]]},"assertion":[{"value":"4 July 2024","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"20 April 2026","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"7 May 2026","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"24 September 2026","order":5,"name":"change_date","label":"Change Date","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"Update","order":6,"name":"change_type","label":"Change Type","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"This article was updated to make it Open Access.","order":7,"name":"change_details","label":"Change Details","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.","order":1,"name":"Ethics","label":"Ethics approval","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent to participate","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","label":"Consent for publication","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","label":"Conflict of interest","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}]}}