Excellence in Health Services Planning: Case Studies from Three Canadian Regional Health Agencies

A PublicForum Webinar - Tuesday, 6 April 2010, 13:00 Eastern/17:00 GMT (90 minutes)
Registration closes Sunday, 4 April

Presented by PublicDecisions and the Canadian Institute for Public Engagement

Effective health services planning is a growing challenge around the globe. According to a recent World Health Organization report, health systems today must provide services that respond to people's expectations and changing needs: "Few would disagree that health systems need to respond better—and faster—to the challenges of a changing world."

This PublicForum webinar highlights three award-winning Canadian regional health agencies that provide a model of excellence in responding to their respective communities' needs and interests: Vancouver Coastal Health (Vancouver, BC); Capital Health (Halifax, Nova Scotia); and the North West Local Health Integration Network (Northwestern Ontario).

Our panel of experts from these agencies will focus on best practices for health services engagement from a Canadian perspective. Among the themes to be covered are:

1. Key insights into engagement as a culture change mechanism within Canadian health services planning organizations.
2. The importance of context in health services planning, including legislative requirements for consultation, rural/urban issues and issues of literacy.
3. The values that drive approaches to healthcare engagement, particularly as they relate to trends of an aging population, financial pressures and advances in technology.
4. The value—and challenges—associated with building engagement skills and capacity among health services agency staff and providers.

Richard Delaney, president of Delaney & Associates Inc. and a founding member and former executive director of the Canadian Institute for Public Engagement will moderate. With 18 years experience in federal and provincial public service, Richard has led numerous organizations for Public Works Canada, National Defence, and Transport Canada. A management consultant since 1996, Richard holds a Masters of Public Administration from Carleton University (Ottawa), a certificate with the Global Facilitation Service Corps and the National Issue Forum Institute, and is a licensed trainer for the International Association for Public Participation. A certified professional facilitator (International Association of Facilitation), Richard has designed and facilitated more than 300 public and stakeholder engagements at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels.

Guest Panelists

•  Lucie McNeill, Margreth Tolson, and Belinda Boyd of Vancouver Coastal Health, which was recognized by the International Association for Public Participation as the 2006 Organization of the Year in its annual Core Values Awards program.

     •  Lucie McNeill, Director of Community Engagement, has extensive experience and a lifelong commitment in making community voices heard in public debate and decision-making. She joined VCH in 2009 after working in communications and international development assistance for many years. Lucie was a radio journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for over a decade before moving to Beijing in 1993; in 1996, she made the transition to international development assistance and continued to work in this field after her return to Canada. Lucie is a graduate of McGill University and the University of British Columbia.

     •  Margreth Tolson has been with VCH Community Engagement since 2005. She has worked in the health sector since 1993, focusing on community-based education and peer support programs with a wide range of populations, including homeless and prisoners' groups (Canada), brothel communities (Indonesia), nomadic families, and paramilitary neighbourhoods (Ireland). Her international experience helped VCH Community Engagement recognize the need for multilingual engagement in Vancouver's ethnically and linguistically diverse environment. Her current work focuses on public and patient involvement in hospitals across the region, supporting improved access for vulnerable communities.

     •  Belinda Boyd has been a member of the VCH Community Engagement team since 2004. With more than 25 years experience in the not-for-profit health sector and community based volunteering, she is acutely aware of the social determinants of health and the mechanisms needed to improve health outcomes. Belinda's extensive experience in partnership development and community capacity building, as well as her advocacy for the inclusion of the community voice in shaping all of our health services to meet the needs of residents, make her a dynamic Community Engagement Leader with VCH.

•  Susan Dunn is Senior Strategy Advisor (Citizen and Stakeholder Engagement) for Capital Health in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which won the 2008 IAP2 Core Values Project of the Year Award. Prior to joining Capital Health, Susan worked in adult education and broadcasting. Her diverse career background had its beginning in radio and televison, with over 15 years experience at the local CBC and CTV affiliates. After making a career change, she was employed by the Nova Scotia Community College and the Nova Scotia College of Early Childhood Education, coordinating and facilitating programs for adults in career transition. Susan also has experience conducting professional development workshops for a variety of clients including the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia. Most recently, Susan completed the IAP2 Certification in Public Participation and has been a Community Health Board Coordinator for Capital Health, a position which involved extensive community engagement.

•  Kristin Shields is a Senior Consultant (Planning and Community Engagement) with the North West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) in Northwestern Ontario, which won the inaugural 2009 IAP2 Core Values Innovation Using Technology Award. This award recognized North West LHIN's Share your Story, Shape your Care project, which engaged communities in Northwestern Ontario in health care planning and delivery through the use of social media strategies and web-based tools. Kristin holds a BSc in Life Sciences from Queen's University, a Masters of Public Health and a Graduate Diploma in Health Services and Policy Research from Lakehead University. She has also completed a certificate in Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement through Fielding Graduate University and a certificate in public participation through IAP2.

Agenda

13:00-13:05	Welcome and Introductions
13:05-13:15	Overview: The Canadian Health Services Sector
13:15-14:00	Panel Presentations (15 minutes each)
	• Vancouver Coastal Health
	• Capital Health
	• North West Local Health Integration Network
14:00-14:30	Q&A/Discussion

Times shown are Eastern Daylight Time. Check your local time at WorldTimeServer.com.

About PublicDecisions & CIPE

PublicDecisions is the premiere provider of online, "live" training, professional development events and conferences on stakeholder engagement. Our international registrants include professionals in the planning, transportation and environmental sectors; community health workers and other health professionals; school administrators, librarians and nonprofit/NGO leaders. PublicDecisions programs—such as our PublicForum book talks and webinars—feature state-of-the-art best practices and leading-edge ideas for successfully engaging stakeholders today.

The Canadian Institute for Public Engagement (CIPE) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to building and improving best practices in public engagement. Located in Ottawa, with representation across Canada and international connections, the Institute reports to an experienced Board of Directors and receives input from a dedicated and knowledgeable Advisory Committee. The Institute is building its membership base and will be seeking input from members along the way.

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