Abstract

ADDRESSING POVERTY AS A DETERMINANT OF HEALTH IN CALGARY

Advisory Committee on Poverty and Health, Calgary

In a country whose citizens enjoy a quality of life that ranks among the highest in the world, there are many Canadians that struggle to maintain both basic necessities of living and personal health. Over the past few years, understanding of the magnitude and nature of the problems caused by health inequalities and the health of the poor has increased due to a recent explosion of interest in the topic (Kaplan & Lynch, 1997; Gwatkin, 2000). "As the third millennium begins, there is an incipient renewal of concern for poverty and equity in health." (Gwatkin, 2000, p.5). Last year the National Council of Welfare (2001) argued that in Canada there has been a lack of success in combating poverty in the past 20 years, and that a new nation-wide approach is required. Governments need to recognize the health impacts of economic and social policies. This recognition challenges the values and principles on which government and economic policies are built and the understanding of how progress is made (Wilkinson & Marmot, 1998).

In 2001 a group of public and voluntary sector organizations in Calgary began to address these issues more directly through collaboration. The goal of the Advisory Committee on Poverty and Health is to positively impact the quality of life of economically disadvantaged Calgarians through building the capacity for public and voluntary organizations to address poverty as a determinant of health. The committee’s initial work has focused on a project to intended to increase awareness of the linkages between poverty and health, and develop a collaborative action plan to better address these concomitant issues.

The paper will highlight the findings from this project. The project has included completion of a systematic literature review to be used for information and advocacy purposes; analysis of quantitative data from the 2001 Canadian Community Health Survey; and qualitative data acquired through interviews and focus groups with those directly involved in service delivery and/or impacted by poverty in Calgary. The latter strategy includes interviews with key decision-makers from poverty and/or health based organizations, interviews with front-line staff that deal with poverty and health issues on a daily basis, and focus groups with low income clients that experience the linkages between poverty and health on a daily basis. From this data comes concrete knowledge of the linkages between poverty and health, as well as ideas about how to more effectively address the two issues concurrently.

A primary focus of the presentation will be on the conclusions drawn from the findings, with policy implications for collaboration between government at various levels and non-profit organizations in the voluntary sector. In particular the paper will outline the development of the strategies required to improve health status and reduce poverty through an enhanced partnership between public and voluntary sectors.

References

Gwatkin, D. R. (2000). Health inequalities and the health of the poor: What do we know? What can we do? Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 78, 3-18.

Kaplan, G. A. & Lynch, J. W. (1997). Whither studies on the socioeconomic foundations of population health? American Journal of Public Health, 87, 1409-1411.

National Council of Welfare (2001). The Cost of Poverty. Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada [On-line]. Available: http://www.ncwcnbes.net/htmdocument/reportcostpoverty/Costpoverty.html

Wilkinson, R.G. & Marmot, M. (1998). Social Determinants of Health: The Solid Facts. World Health Organization [On-line]. Available: http://www.who.dk/document/e59555.pdf

Bios

Dr. Jackie Sieppert’s professional experience includes social work practice experience in short-term adolescent care, probation, hospital and program planning settings. His primary research interests and activities focus on evaluation and accountability mechanisms in social policy and administration of human services. He is currently Associate Dean, Research & Partnerships in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary.

Dr. Sieppert has directed or co-directed numerous projects for government and non-profit organizations, such as: Evaluation of Parenting after Separation Seminars in Alberta; Where Are They Now? Assessing the Impact of Welfare Reform on Former Recipients in Alberta; Social Services Alternatives for the 21st Century; and Evaluation of Family and Children’s Services in Mental Health.

He is also the author of a number of journal articles and book chapters, and has presented at numerous conferences nationally and internationally. In 1998 he co-edited a book titled Doing Health Promotion Research: The Science of Action, and is the co-author of a recent book called Practice Evaluation for the 21st Century, which focuses on the use of single system research designs to evaluate social work practice.

Dr. John te Linde has twenty years of research and management experience in both academic and applied settings. His background includes work in business planning, social planning, social policy, community development, family therapy, information services, population surveys, needs assessments, program evaluations, computer programming, and experimental psychology.

Dr. te Linde is currently Manager of Policy and Planning in Community Strategies within Community Vitality and Protection. This position involves management and coordination of the business planning, research and policy development functions across several departments in the Community Vitality and Protection portfolio of The City. He has published research articles, reports and book chapters in the areas of psychology, program evaluation, needs assessment, social planning and social policy. His awards include academic scholarships from the Province of Alberta and University of Western Ontario, and two post-graduate scholarships from the National Research Council. In addition, John has been awarded post-doctoral research fellowships from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the University of Calgary. John is a Chartered Psychologist in the Province of Alberta since 1982.

Gayle Rutherford is a Registered Nurse with a Masters degree in Nursing. Her background includes practice, education and research with a focus on public health nursing, community development and health promotion. She is Project Coordinator for the project titled, "Addressing Poverty as a Determinant of Health". Gayle currently works as a consultant and as a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. She also volunteers as a board member of the Alberta Public Health Association.

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