Kahan, Barbara

Barbara Kahan (1951–) is a Canadian writer, publisher, and retired researcher in the field of health promotion. From 1997-2009, Kahan worked with the University of Toronto’s Centre for Health Promotion where, through her role in the Best Practices Working Group, she took an active role in the development of a best practices approach to health promotion.

Kahan was born in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972.

After completing undergraduate studies, Kahan worked for several non-profit community groups in Saskatchewan, Montreal, and Toronto. In Toronto, Kahan was employed as an Intake Worker (1975-1977) at the Neighbourhood Information Centre (NIC), a non-profit information and referral centre serving the East York community of Toronto. Following this, Kahan worked in the book and publishing industry, first in London, England, at the Women in Print feminist printing collective (1978-1979), then in Regina, SK, at Tumbleweed Books, a community bookstore collective (1980-1983).

From 1984 to 1996, Kahan worked on various contracts in health and social issues research, evaluation, teaching, and policy analysis, including at Saskatchewan Health and the University of Regina. In 1995, Kahan earned a Certificate in Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University. Throughout this period, Kahan produced several publications including the book Healthier Children (1990) and served as the Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Publishers Group (1992-1996).

In 1996, Kahan began graduate studies at the University of Toronto Graduate Department of Community Health where she received the James A. McNab Award (1996-1997) and an Open Master’s Fellowship (1997-1998). She graduated with a MHSc in Health Promotion in 1998.

Before completing graduate studies, Kahan joined the University of Toronto Centre for Health Promotion’s Best Practices Working Group where she performed preliminary research on continuous quality improvement (CQI) and best practices in health promotion. Shortly after graduating in 1998, she accepted the role of Member at the Centre. In this role, she co-led the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive conceptual framework called the Interactive Domain Model (IDM) Approach to Best Practices (BP) in Health Promotion. Kahan published numerous articles and facilitated many workshops on health promotion and the IDM throughout her time with the Centre.

Following the completion of her MHSc, Kahan returned to Saskatchewan where, in addition to her work for the Centre for Health Promotion, she continued her career in health and social issues consulting. She retired from health and social issues research ca. 2012.

In addition to her career in health promotion and community services, Kahan is a writer who has published several poems, plays, and a novel, Elemental Eve (2023). She serves as Editor at the small press publisher Wild Sage Press. Barbara Kahan lives in Saskatoon with her partner, Evan Morris. Together they have two children and two grandchildren.

The way archival record creators identify themselves and are identified by others is key to understanding the perspectives and content of their records. Barbara Kahan uses she/her pronouns. Additional information from the creator about identity was not provided. Kahan is socially understood to be white.

Kahan, Barbara. “About.” Accessed March 2024. https://barbarakahan.com/about/.