Links
http://www.centraleastlhin.on.ca/
The Culture, Diversity and Equity Project
Integrated Health Service Plan (part 1)
Integrated Health Service Plan (part 2)
Equity Highlights
- In order to ensure “equal opportunity and good health for all,” Central East LHIN has developed the Culture, Diversity and Equity (CDE) Project
- The CDE Project is aimed at reducing health disparities by proposing: (1) policies for health service organizations, (2) a monitoring system through compliance and accountability agreements and (3) an educational framework for health service providers
- It is set to be completed in March 2010
- Project actions include: (1) an extensive literature review with a regional, national and international scope; (2) conducting 20 focus groups with diverse community members and health care professionals in Scarborough, Durham and the North East clusters and (3) conducting 3 community forums to share the findings and discuss proposed recommendations
- Projected outcomes include: (1) user guides for health service providers and newcomers to facilitate access to culturally and linguistically competent services and services for uninsured clients in Central East LHIN, (2) recommendations for the Central East board regarding culture, diversity and equity for policies, monitoring and education and (3) a policy implementation framework for health service organizations
IHSP
- The LHIN’s vision is achieved in part by recognizing the importance of equity, quality and safety
- Equity: the LHIN will recognize the diversity of communities and respond reasonably and fairly
- The community and the LHIN need to urge all sectors (health, education, housing, transportation, etc) to work together to improve individual and population health and reduce equity
- “Equity is a key component of an effective health care system and without understanding how cultural competence (and other factors) influence health status in our society, the chances of improving overall health of the population is near impossible” (page 55)
- One of the CE LHIN’s key focus points is: developing cultural competence through understanding the communities served and the cultural influences on their health beliefs and behaviours, as well as tailoring health care delivery to meet their social, cultural and linguistic needs
- In doing so, inequitable access and health disparities can be reduced and detection of culture-specific diseases increased
- The LHIN recognizes that culturally based disparities can be improved through interpreter services, recruitment/retention policies of minority staff, provider training in cultural competence, culturally competent health promotion, etc.
- Issues with respect to equity and fairness are the primary responsibility of the LHIN’s board
- The theme of cultural competency can be found throughout each priority for change in the IHSP
- The LHIN will also: (1) develop a publicly available list of services presently available to the uninsured, (2) create a publicly available inventory of existing culturally competent health services and (3) an inventory of linguistic competency will be created for French, Mandarin, Cantonese and Tamil speaking communities
The LHIN also developed a learning partnership with First Nations and aboriginal communities and with aboriginal health planning authorities