The Women’s Health Institute Project Team has been busy meeting with individuals and groups from throughout the province. The feedback gathered from these sessions has been very useful and will inform the ongoing recommendations and reports made to the Minister of Health and Long Term Care over the coming year.

To date, the following elements of the plan have taken place or are in progress:

• Regional consultations have been conducted in:

  the Central Toronto Area
  Sudbury
  GTA Scarborough
  Windsor
  Ottawa (French)
  Peterborough
  Thunder Bay (with the Aboriginal community)

• A number of representatives from women’s organizations, disease-based groups, hospitals, CCAC’s, LHIN’s, community agencies, health centres, public health and the broader community have been interviewed. These in-person and telephone interviews are ongoing and will be completed in the next month.
  
  
• Group sessions have been held with university academics from the University of Toronto, Ottawa University, Laurentian University, University of Windsor and York University as well as the Gender Issues Committee of the Council of Faculties of Medicine and with community based researchers in Toronto. In addition to these group sessions, individual interviews are ongoing with University Deans, Researchers, in particular those holding Women’s Health Research Chairs, Community Based Researchers and representatives from Research/Policy Institutes, and expected to be complete in the next month.
  
  
• Key community leaders and government policymakers are being interviewed on an ongoing basis and additional input sessions will continue into the summer months.
  
  
• The electronic questionnaire is now active. (www.womenshealthcouncil.on.ca/whi)
  
  
• The public opinion poll questions are being formulated and will be included in the Omnibus Poll taking place in May.
  
  
• WHI Project Team members have attended a number of workshops including the Ontario Women’s Health Council’s Think Tank on Building Research Capacity and Conference on Enhancing Women’s Health Research, as well as the Ontario Public Health Association and Ontario Prevention Clearinghouse Conferences and the FAS/Women’s Health Policy Forum.
  
  

What We Are Hearing So Far….

• This is an exciting and important step in the future of women’s health in the province.
• The use of the word ‘institute’ in the name may not accurately reflect the mandate of the new organization.
• In terms of role prioritization, the WHI should look to focus on influencing policy and service delivery and advocating for change, including influencing legislation and educating policy makers.
• The WHI should consider the need to be autonomous and arm’s length from government.
• The WHI should ensure participation from across Ontario and consider the diversity and skill mix of individuals.
• In terms of WHI success factors, the following were seen as critical: demonstrated outcomes, skilled credible leader, adequate funding, clearly defined vision and mission, good marketing and visibility.
• The WHI should bring a gender focus or lens to all aspects of health research.
• The WHI should look to promoting evidence-based practice.
• The WHI should work to build long-term relationships and partnerships by first determining what their partnership model is.
• The WHI should capitalize on the opportunity offered by the Local Health Integration Networks and be as inclusive as possible, building relationships with multicultural communities and lower income sectors as well as universities/formal educational bodies.
• In terms of research priorities, health systems and health services research ranked high in importance as did population and public health research.
• Research areas with not enough attention/funding include: of women’s self care/caregiver role, gender analysis related to women’s diseases, determinants of health with a specific emphasis on poverty, and newcomer/immigrant populations.
• The one large policy issue cited as requiring attention is determinants of health, with specific reference to poverty.
• Service delivery issues requiring attention include: access to services in rural areas, access to primary care, access to reproductive choice, meeting the needs of diverse communities (incl. metis women), domestic violence, prevention and management of chronic illness, mental health (including post-partum depression), and older women’s and young women’s issues.

In Their Words….

“Everything from mental health to physical health will improve if we address the determinants of health – if women have adequate housing, enough food to eat, and their basic needs met.”
~ Women’s organization

“It seems to me if we don’t really spend some time learning how to influence the policy and political level, then what good does all the research in the world do?”
~ Disease-based Organization

“There’s a fine line between being a partner with lots of provider agencies, government included, and also being able to be a visible advocate for women. That’s the tension they’re going to have to balance if they’re going to be effective.”
~ Hospital

“A lot of women are unhealthy because they are poor, but nobody seems to want to talk about their poverty. If we don’t, they’re not going to be healthier.”
~ Researcher

“If there’s a segment of the health system in Ontario we should be ashamed of, it’s our mental health system. We’re not addressing it.”
~ Community Leader

There are great guidelines on response times to abnormal pap smears, but we’re seeing women who can’t get a pap smear. The issue is access to care.
~ Hospital

”We are really more diverse now -- we have so many newcomer communities. Do we know about these communities and how they interpret health? Do we use a very westernized type of system and values to look at providing health for women who are from diverse communities? Should we be looking at it differently?”
~ Community Agency

“We need to make it easier to access best practice. The Women’s Health Institute could focus in some areas, collect evidence, be a repository for it, communicate it, and provide easy access to the latest evidence and best practice in particular women’s health areas. “
~ Hospital

New Electronic Questionnaire

Your input is essential to our consultation process. If you would like to give us your feedback, please click on www.womenshealthcouncil.on.ca/whi and fill out our easy-to-use electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire will be available for input until May 24th.


New Web Page

The Ontario Women’s Health Council is hosting a temporary web page for the WHI project activities. Please click below for more information. www.womenshealthcouncil.on.ca/whi


Next Steps

The Women’s Health Institute Project Team is planning for a June Collaboration Workshop. This invitational working day will engage a smaller group of diverse stakeholders in the next step towards development of recommendations to the Minister.

The Project Team will summarize what has been heard throughout the consultation process and through other research for the group. A proposed framework with options for the WHI’s strategic role and priorities will be presented. The purpose of the workshop will be to work through these and come to agreement about the key directions for the Institute. This input will then be incorporated into the reports and recommendations which Diana Majury will be making to the Minister.

Copies of the consultation summary will be distributed to all stakeholders who participated in the consultations, if you would like to receive a copy please contact the Project Office at 416-326-6527.

For more information on the Women’s Health Institute Project or to provide input into this process, please contact Barbara Wiktorowicz, Senior Consultant at 416-326-6510 or email Barbara.Wiktorowicz@moh.gov.on.ca

The Women’s Health Institute Project is committed to ensuring positive communication with all stakeholders. Future Bulletins will aim to keep you informed of our ongoing progress.

To be added to the WHI Project’s Email list please contact Sera Weiss at sera.weiss@moh.gov.on.ca or via telephone at 416-326-6527.

Read Women's Health Institute Project -- Bulletin 1 Winter 2006

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