Public engagement - why bother? Exploring the conditions under which public engagement practices in local health care decision making matters

Abstract

<p>p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 11.5px Times}</p> <p>Public engagement is increasingly becoming an important part of equitable</p> <p>decision-making in healthcare. In particular, it is important to ensure that minority</p> <p>populations can be involved in policy forming activities, given Canada's growing</p> <p>diverse population. Therefore this research examines the nature and scale of</p> <p>public engagement occurring with visible minority populations in terms of</p> <p>enhancing their awareness and access to health care resources. This was explored</p> <p>within the contexts of general health care services organised through Local Health</p> <p>Integration Networks (LHINs) in Ontario, Canada, as well as more specialised</p> <p>health care services, provided through Cancer Care Ontario (CCO). Keyinformant</p> <p>interviews, focus groups and a document review were utilized to gain</p> <p>insight into institutional and community perceptions about engagement and its</p> <p>importance in accessing healthcare services. Findings highlight some of the</p> <p>barriers and facilitators for engagement of visible minority community members.</p> <p>The theoretical and policy contributions point to the need create opportunities to</p> <p>facilitate interrelationships between institutions existing at smaller spatial scales;</p> <p>therefore allowing community leaders, decision makers, activists and citizens to</p> <p>exchange skills and knowledge to aid in better understanding of the delivery of</p> <p>regional health care.</p>