CES Study Circles Pilot Project (Feb – Apr 2004)

1. Background

In 2003, the CES Board of Directors was looking for new ways to encourage and facilitate civic participation. One of the ideas raised was the “study circles”, which have been used in many western democracies to engage their citizens in dialogue and action.

Simply put, a study circle is a small group of people (anywhere from 8-12) who come together to focus on the study of civic issues and explore solutions to these issues. These circles are usually led by facilitators who remain non-partisan in the process of discussion, so that the participating citizens can express and exchange their views and opinions in a safe and non-hostile environment. Study circles are designed to be inclusive and tolerant occasions for dialogue, and are often issue-specific.

The Study Circles Resource Centre in the US provides useful information about study circles.

(Click here to find the study resources used in the project.)

2. Objectives

In January 2004, the CES Board of Directors agreed that a pilot project should be conducted to assess the value of the study circle method for the work of CES. A group of devoted directors and members participated in this pilot. We have determined that CES study circles aim at:

• providing a supportive environment where, as a group, we help one another in learning about an issue
• building a knowledge base to allow us to speak on certain issues with more solid foundation and authority
• sharing the knowledge base with interested citizens and providing guidance in their learning

Thus, the current focus is more on understanding civic issues, than on deriving solutions or taking actions. Nonetheless, we believe that an adequate understanding of civic issues will provide a rational foundation for action.

3. Topic of Study

To arrive at a topic of study, the participants were first asked to each recommend 2-3 topics. A list of recommended topics was then compiled and sent back to all the participants. Each of them had to choose 3 topics from the list and rank them. Topics that were ranked #1 were given 3 points, #2 with 2 points, and #3 with 1 point. After the points were added, “health care” was chosen as the topic of study.

4. Progress

First Meeting – February 7, 2004

At the first meeting, participants agreed that even “health care” was too broad a topic to be manageable in this pilot project. After much discussion, we were able to narrow the topic down to “senior health care”.

In the end, this topic was broken in smaller areas of focus:

• Aging/quality of life – philosophy of senior care
• What services are provided for seniors
• Direction of government policy in 3 to 5 years
• Funding/Budgetary issues
• Accessibility issues
• Affordability (user perspective)
• Pharmacare – the changes in the new policy and its impact on seniors
• Support service/system
• Patient rights
• Assessment of service quality/standard

Participants divided themselves into smaller groups and chose the areas of focus that interested them to study. Each group would report their study results in the second meeting, scheduled for March 13, 2004.

5. Resources of Study

The following list represents only a small number of resources about health care in Canada and BC.
Politics website backgrounder

• Mapleleafweb.com – This politics website has a very good backgrounder on health care in Canada. Look for “Health Care” on the Features page.

Government policies, budgets, reports, etc.

• Health Canada (federal)
• Ministry of Health Services (BC)
• BC Health Authorities (link to the 5 BC regional health authorities)

Fiscal aspects

• Investing in Canada’s Health Care System – Budget 2003, Department of Finance, Canada
• Population Aging, Health Care Spending and Sustainability: Do we really have a crisis?, Joe Ruggeri, September 2002, Caledon Institute of Social Policy ( www.caledoninst.org)

Patient’s Bill of Rights

• The BC Nurses Union has published a Patient’s Bill of Rights.
• Compare with the European Charter of Patient Rights.

Performance evaluation

• BC Health Performance, September 2002, BC Ministry of Health Planning
• BC Health Performance (Summary), September 2002, BC Ministry of Health Planning

Selected Document about Senior Care

• A Guide for the Development of a Comprehensive System of Support to Promote Active Aging (2003), developed as part of the horizontal collaboration between Mexico and Canada with support from the Pan-American Health Organizations (PAHO), presents a conceptual framework, principles and operational guidelines of implementation, as well as assessment questions.
• Statistics Canada published a survey report in 2002 called Caring for an Aging Society. The report uses data from the 2002 General Social Survey (GSS) to provide a picture of caregiving and receiving for the aging Canadian population.