Better Health Matters Insight Report FAQ
What was the Better Health Matters Forum?
The Better Health Matters Forum was a one day community engagement event that was held on June 15, 2017. Hosted by the Healthy City Stewardship Centre (HCSC), the forum engaged over 200 residents and community partners across 92 organizations in the Region of Peel. The goal of the day was to come together to create a community definition of health, identify shared priorities, develop partnerships, and share what our community’s aspirations were for the health of our future residents.
What was the approach to engagement at the forum?
The Better Health Matters Forum was created using a human-centred design approach. Human centred design prioritizes what is meaningful to the community, specifically addresses human need, and mandates an approach that is respectful and accessible. The forum featured eleven customized design workshops that addressed different aspects of health, as well as varied approaches and strategies that could be used to build better health in the Region of Peel. Workshops were hands-on and designed to allow for objective analysis, to provide opportunities to reflect, to foster thought and interaction, and to gather data organically from participants.
How did you analyze the feedback received at the forum?
We used the actual feedback from participants at each of the workshops and did intensive analysis to look for themes – things that participants were bringing up over and over. When looking at all of the responses across all design workshops, we were able to identify themes at a higher level. After testing and discussing these themes with members of HCSC in July, we did further analysis and identified three clear priorities that participants believed needed to be areas of focus in order to build a healthier future for our community. The three priorities provide the foundation of the insights captured in the report.
Who wrote the Letter to Future Residents?
The Letter to Future Residents was actually written by participants at the forum using response cards from the “Letter to the Future” workshop. The responses were not edited, but were fitted together to create a powerful message that captures the hopes and dreams our community has for the future health of our residents.
What is the Better Health Matters Community Commitment?
The Better Health Matters Community Commitment is what our community believes is required of us to create a healthier future for residents in the Region of Peel. We are asking every resident, organization, and community partner to use the Better Health Matters Forum Insight Report and Letter to Future Residents as a guide, providing alignment, focus, and a template for building a collective approach to create better health in our region. The commitment is as follows:
1. We commit to adopting the Letter to Future Residents and will post it publicly on our website or in our offices to act as a beacon to guide our work.
2. We commit to adopting this report in principle and will use it to guide our organization as we continue to align, where appropriate, the three key priorities into our strategic plan and daily work.
3. We commit to sharing back on the collective progress we have made towards advancing the three key priorities.
4. We commit to working with others on the three key priorities.
What are HCSC’s plans to include this in their work?
One of the major themes at the forum was the theme of connection. In order to help support ongoing connection and partnerships, in 2018 the HCSC will host quarterly breakfasts designed to allow different organizations and people to connect around work that they are doing on the three key priorities identified in the report.
The HCSC will also identify a priority project in the coming months that will be the focus of its work over the next few years.
Will HCSC be taking a leadership role in the region to advance these priorities?
HCSC took a leadership role in providing an opportunity for people to come together to think more deeply about the opportunities and challenges that exist in our region around building better health. We envision this report as an important step towards galvanizing a movement that shifts our collective thinking about health in the Region of Peel. We want organizations to be able to take this report and think differently about how to align the three key priorities into their strategies, daily work, and key partnerships.
HCSC’s role is not to dictate how that work is done. However, we have provided a template of how to design for health in a way that is human-centred by including the 10 Design Principles as an appendix in the report. Using a human-centred approach to designing the forum also allowed HCSC to provide an example of how to lead meaningful, decision-oriented engagement differently with community partners, stakeholders, and residents.
Why are the 10 Design Principles in the appendix?
Some of the most important feedback we got from forum participants was that we need to design for better health in ways that we haven’t before. Our community needs us to think differently and make sure we involve residents in the planning process. The design principles can help guide any person or organization that is thinking about how to design a health product, program, partnership, or service.
What will the HCSC’s request be to Regional Council?
We are asking Regional Council to endorse the Insight Report, support the Better Health Matters Community Commitment both as council members and in member organizations, and to adopt the Letter to Future Residents (included in the report) and post it publicly as a beacon to guide future work.
Who attended the Better Health Matters Forum?
Advica Health
Alzheimer Society of Peel
Amadeus Consulting
AstraZeneca Canada
AxactSys Inc.
Canadian Mental Health Association – Peel
Canadian Red Cross
CARP
Catholic Family Services of Peel Dufferin
City of Mississauga
Community Door Mississauga
Community Living Mississauga
Credit Valley Family Health Team
Department of National Defence
Dixie Bloor Neighbourhood Centre
Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board
eMichael Medical Clinic
ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development
Ethnicity Multicultural Marketing + Advertising
Sheridan College, Faculty of Applied Health and Community Studies
Habitat for Humanity
Healthy Minds Canada
Heart House Hospice
Home Care – CCAC
Humber College
Indus Community Services
J. Walter Thompson
KPA Lawyers Professional Corporation
LAMP Community Health Centre
LHH Knightsbridge
Living Arts Centre
Malton Neighbourhood Services
Mantralogix
Medical Psychiatry Alliance
Mind to Body Yoga and Fitness
Ministry of Children and Youth Services
Mississauga Academy of Medicine
Mississauga Board of Chinese Professionals & Businesses
Mississauga Board of Trade
Mississauga-Halton LHIN
Newcomer Centre of Peel
Nexus Youth Services
Nucleus Independent Living
Nurse Next Door
Peel Aboriginal Network
Peel Children’s Aid
Peel District School Board
Peel Elder Abuse Prevention Network
Peel HIV/AIDS Network
Peel Institute on Violence Prevention
Peel Multicultural Council
Peel Newcomer Strategy Group
Peel Parenting Collective
Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy
Peel Public Health
Peel Regional Police
Peel Respite
Peel Senior Link
Sheridan College – Pilon School of Business
Port Credit Business Improvement Area Association
Punjabi Community Health Services
Region of Peel
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, Peel Chapter
Residents of Peel Region
Rise Asset Development
RNAO Community Health Nurses’ Initiative Group
Ryelle Group
Saldanha Health Centre
Senior Life Enhancement Care
Seva Food Bank
Sheridan College
Silver Links News
Social Planning Council of Peel
Solutions for HR
Spectrum Health Care
Spectrum Health Care – Peel Office
State Farm Insurance
Support & Housing Halton
TedX Mississauga
The Compass
The Dam (Develop, Assist, Mentor)
Toronto General Hospital
Trillium Health Partners
Trillium Health Partners Volunteers
Trillium Health Partners Foundation
Trillium-Summerville Family Medicine Teaching Unit
United Way of Peel Region
University of Toronto
University of Toronto Mississauga
University of Waterloo
UWPR/HCSC Youth Council
Victorian Order of Nurses
Wellness Lifestyle
Western GTA Summit
Yee Hong Centre
YMCA of Greater Toronto
