Abstract

Closing the Distance - Bridging the Gap between People and Public Policy

Joey Edwarth, Janet Gasparini and Maureen McDonald

Social and economic inclusion (SEI) is based on the belief that a variety of conditions and factors interact to exclude or “leave out” many people and groups in our society. SEI is about to become the new buzzword as a strategy for change at multiple levels to reduce inequities in society. But does it work? Using a population health approach, the Population and Public Health Branch, Ontario/Nunavut Region recently established social and economic inclusion as a priority area for its Population Health Fund. This initiative is designed to demonstrate how communities in six geographic areas of Ontario are mobilizing community participation and inter-sectoral collaboration on various population health concerns (e.g., Aboriginal, Francophone and Anglophone communities in Sudbury working together on the future well-being of their children).

This workshop will present the strategies and challenges of this initiative inherent in applying a population health approach through a social and economic inclusion lens. It will also demonstrate how various communities can be supported to identify and analyse root causes through this lens with the goal of influencing healthy public policy. Further, Health Canada’s work at the regional level with communities to engage in such a comprehensive approach to addressing the determinants of health will be discussed. A description of the project research and community capacity process as a means of working ‘upstream’ will be woven through this presentation.

Bios

Dr. Joey Edwardh is Executive Director of the Halton Social Planning Council and Volunteer Centre. Born in Alberta, she studied at Syracuse University in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where she earned her doctorate in Human Geography and a Certificate in Gerontology.

Dr. Edwardh’s career has been dedicated to work in the area of social and health sciences, social research, policy analysis and community development both in Canada and internationally. Dr.Edwardh brings to the Halton community experience in a range of service, planning and advocacy organizations which include grass roots community organizations, agencies of the voluntary sector, universities, municipal government and the United Nations. She has written extensively on productive aging, issues of poverty and income equity, the social implications of the privatization of health and social service and the need for a strong and vibrant civil society. Her role as a volunteer in a number of community agencies marks her commitment to her community. She brings her understanding of how divisiveness, fear, economic insecurity and opportunism are overcome in the process of building healthy communities.

Maureen McDonald coordinated the Parkdale Parents Primary Prevention Project at St. Joseph’s Women’s Health Centre for ten years. Prior to this, Maureen developed and coordinated the interactive exhibit demonstrating the nature and science of early child development for the Ontario Science Centre and for The American Psychological Association in its Smithsonian Exhibition .

Through her leadership in the Parkdale CAPC Project, Maureen cultivated and provided community responsive health and social support programs and successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of multi-sectoral partnerships working toward improving the health and well being of young children and their families in the community of Parkdale, throughout Ontario and across Canada. Her interests in addressing the broad determinants of women’s and children’s health are reflected in the practical applications of the various programs and projects which she is involved.

Maureen’s has presented a paper to The Federal Standing Committee on Children’s Health in 1996 and was recognized in the report recommendations in “Towards Well-Being , Strategies for Healthy Children” April 1997. She has also participated in round table discussions on ‘The Future of the Federal Government and the Voluntary Sector’ and The National Centre’s of Excellence for Young Children. Maureen completed her first secondment with Health Canada in 2001 where her role focussed on training over 1000 community based health and social services across Ontario on how to implement a Population health framework within the context of logic model development. She is presently a Project Consultant with Health Canada, Population and Public Health Branch Ontario and Nunavut Region working with communities across Ontario on the Social and Economic Inclusion Project. She is a graduate student at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.

Janet Gasparini is the Executive Director of the Social Planning Council of Sudbury. She has facilitated community development work and social research in Sudbury with an emphasis on children’s issues and homelessness. As well under Janet’s Direction the SPC has been heavily involved in the Social Planning Network of Ontario’s Social Capital Project. The community garden project facilitated by the SPC was a case study in the SPNO’s initial social capital study and currently Janet is directing one of five local projects that is part of a provincial project on social and economic inclusion funded by Health Canada.

Janet also directs the Sudbury chapter of the National Coalition Building Institute. NCBI is a volunteer based, international organization that develops chapters within organizations, colleges and universities and communities that trains and enables community leaders to provide training in welcoming diversity. The NCBI model is based in a principle that all groups count and all groups must be part of creating inclusive community.

The Sudbury Chapter of NCBI, through Janet’s leadership, has provided training in a number of community organizations including educational facilities, social service agencies, health care agencies, Sudbury Regional Police, the Canadian Mental Health Association and others. Due to her leadership in diversity training Janet was asked to participate on a twenty member national team that was brought together after the referendum in 1996 and spent two years with “Peak Fires” in a national campaign to promote grassroots community dialogue about the future of Canada.

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