Collins Patricia A, Resendes Sarah J, Dunn James R
Assistant Professor, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen's University, Kingston, ON.
Business Connector - The Prince's Charities Canada, Toronto, ON.
Healthc Policy. 2014;10(1):14-29.
Unlike traditional primary care centres, part of the Community Health Centre (CHC) mandate is to address upstream health determinants. In Ontario, CHCs refer to these activities as Community Initiatives (CIs); yet, little is known about how CIs operate. The objective of this study was to examine the scope, resource requirements, partnerships, successes and challenges among selected Ontario CIs.
We conducted qualitative interviews with 10 CHC staff members representing 11 CIs across Ontario. CIs were identified through an online inventory, recruited by e-mail and interviewed between March and June 2011.
Most CIs aim to increase community participation, while addressing social isolation and poverty. They draw minimal financial resources from their CHC, and employ highly skilled staff to support implementation. Most enlist support from various partners, and use numerous methods for community engagement. Successes include improved community relations, increased opportunities for education and employment and rewarding partnerships, while insufficient funding was a commonly identified challenge.
Despite minimal attention from researchers and funders, our findings suggest that CIs play key capacity-building roles in vulnerable communities across Ontario, and warrant further investigation.
与传统的初级保健中心不同，社区健康中心（CHC）的部分任务是解决上游健康决定因素。在安大略省，社区健康中心将这些活动称为社区倡议（CIs）；然而，对于社区倡议如何运作却知之甚少。本研究的目的是调查安大略省选定的社区倡议的范围、资源需求、伙伴关系、成功之处及挑战。
我们对代表安大略省11个社区倡议的10名社区健康中心工作人员进行了定性访谈。通过在线清单确定社区倡议，通过电子邮件招募，并于2011年3月至6月进行访谈。
大多数社区倡议旨在增加社区参与，同时解决社会孤立和贫困问题。它们从社区健康中心获取的财政资源极少，雇佣高技能工作人员以支持实施。大多数倡议获得了各种伙伴的支持，并采用多种方法促进社区参与。成功之处包括改善社区关系、增加教育和就业机会以及建立有益的伙伴关系，而资金不足是普遍存在的挑战。
尽管研究人员和资助者对此关注甚少，但我们的研究结果表明，社区倡议在安大略省的弱势社区中发挥着关键的能力建设作用，值得进一步研究。
