REGISTRATION GUIDE

HEALTH EQUITY
the

PUSHING BOUNDARIES
Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC) 2010 Conference
June 10 & 11, 2010 Sheraton on the Falls, Niagara Falls, Ontario
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
HEALTH EQUITY
the
PUSHING BOUNDARIES
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
REGISTRATION
3:00 pm WELCOME RECEPTION FOR CENTRES’
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
All Board of Directors’ members from
Community Health Centres, Community
Family Health Teams and Aboriginal Health
Access Centres are cordially invited to attend
this reception and meet other Board members
from across Ontario.
6:30 pm ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
In a break from the norm, we welcome you to a conference with
a difference. Throughout these two days, many of the topics on
which we will be working will be introduced through the use of
drama. Two of the plenary sessions will feature dramatic
story-telling. At various points there will be ‘snapshots’, brief
pieces of theatre or tableaux. A significant part of one plenary
will be interactive.
8:30 am OPENING PLENARY
The Curtain Rises: Act I: The Players
DRAMATIC PRESENTATION: Six people,
six stories
Welcoming remarks from Joan Lesmond,
President, AOHC
Building on the sector’s creation of a Charter
based on the Model of Care, in the course of
this conference there will be moments when
participants will be invited to provide your
thoughts and input towards the creation of a
charter on health equity. A Charter team will
be working with your input and, in the final
session, we will unveil the results.
Colour Coding: Tracing Canada’s story
Mitch Miyagawa, Dr. Wanda Thomas
Bernard, Others TBA
Our Canadian story of racism, of colour
coding and exclusion is both universal and
peculiar. Mitch Miyagawa will guide us
through parts of our history that we would
sometimes prefer to forget.
■ Snapshot: Speak white, eh?!
9:45 am Break
10:00 am WORKSHOPS A
12:00 pm LUNCHEON
Live Music: Halton Blues Society
1:00 pm PLENARY II
Act II: Stigma: marked, labelled,
disappeared
■ Snapshot: I’m Still here…
Pulling Back the Veil on Stigma
Facilitator TBA
What is it? Becoming conscious of stigma,
whether stigmatised or stigmatising, how it
impacts on our delivery of care.
DRAMATIC PRESENTATION: Profiles in pain:
bullied, labelled, disappeared
2:30 pm Break
2:45 pm WORKSHOPS B
4:45 pm NETWORKING SESSIONS OR TOUR
NETWORKING SESSIONS: CFHTs, eHealth/
IM Professionals, Health Promoters, LGBTQ,
New CHCs, Nurses/Nurses Practitioners,
Physicians, Program Managers, Social Workers
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
TOUR: This year’s tour will take participants to
two places: the newly-opened Niagara Falls
Community Health Centre and the 20-year-old
Centre de santé communautaire Hamilton/
Niagara which is located in Welland, about 15
kilometres from the Falls. Along the way, you
will hear collaborative colour commentary
detailing the changing neighbourhoods and
the history of the area.
6:30 pm AWARDS BANQUET DINNER and DANCE
Special guest Ken Medema,
Singer-Songwriter
Friday, June 11, 2010
8:45 am PLENARY III
Act III: Paedagogy of the Privileged
With the help of Dr. Margaret (Peggy)
McIntosh, celebrated author of ‘Unpacking the
Invisible Knapsack’ and Professor at the
Wellesley College Center for Research on
Women (Massachusetts), participants will
examine what privilege, unearned merit, looks
like and how it gets in the way of breaking
down the barriers we want down.
■ Snapshot: Life in a wheelchair: Look me in the eye
■ Snapshot: Unearned privilege: I’m OK
10:30 am Break
10:45 am WORKSHOPS C
12:45 pm LUNCH
Speaker: Hon. David Onley,
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (Invited)
‘Invisible Disabilities’
2:00 pm PLENARY IV
Act IV: So What??
PANEL
Where to from here? Taking leadership in
Health Equity in Ontario
Health equity is the latest attempt to capture
in a few words what we have been attempting
to create for our clients and the communities
in which they live for more than thirty-five
years. It is both distinct from and builds on
the notions of anti-oppression and cultural
competency. Health equity seeks to:
“…increase access, participation, equity,
inclusiveness and social justice by eliminating
systemic barriers to full participation and
differences in health outcomes that are avoidable,
unfair and systematically related to social
inequality and disadvantage.”
The panel will address what the Ministry of
Health and Long-Term Care is looking for in
the creation of ‘Health Equity Plans’, what
they are attempting to measure, what still
needs to be done and how this sector can
take leadership in health equity in Ontario.
Hon. Deb Matthews, Minister of Health
and Long-Term Care (Invited)
REFLECTIONS ON THE CONFERENCE
Marc Dumont, Vice Chair North East LHIN,
Bob Gardner, Wellesley Institute
Wanda Thomas Bernard, Professor,
Dalhousie School of Social Work
THE CHARTER: Unveiling the charter
Joan Lesmond, President, AOHC
Adrianna Tetley, Executive Director, AOHC
HOTEL INFORMATION
The Sheraton on the Falls has set aside a block of rooms for
conference delegates at a special rate of $159 single/double
occupancy plus applicable taxes. This special rate is available
on a first-come, first-served basis until Friday May 7th.
When contacting the hotel, please request the special
convention rate for Association of Ontario Health Centres.
Reservations: 1-800-519-9911.
TRANSPORTATION TO NIAGARA FALLS
Niagara Air Bus can be booked individually for transportation
from Pearson International Airport or Hamilton Airport. Please
use Conference Reservation Code 478. This code will give you a
10% discount from retail airport transportation fares, and you
will receive an additional 10% discount if you book on-line at
least 72 hours in advance of your first pick up date and time.
www.niagaraairbus.com
SPECIAL NEEDS
If you have special dietary requirements or other needs such as
wheelchair transportation, please be sure to let us know in
advance. Space is provided on the registration form.
AOHC has a scent free policy.
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
You can download the registration form at
www.aohc.org/conference
Registration Deadline: Friday May 28th, 2010.
Any questions can be forwarded to cory@aohc.org
WORKSHOPS AT A GLANCE
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
Session A
Thursday, June 10th 10 am-12 pm
A1 Board staff dialogue: facilitating
beyond diversity
A2 Everything boards need to know
about the Accessibility for
Ontarians with Disabilities Act
A3 Poverty excludes participation:
one board’s initiatives to
reinforce authentic participation
A4 How to win advocacy campaigns
for positive social change
A5 A place to go when you have
no voice: evaluating a Family
Mentor Program
A6 Engaging and supporting
ethno-cultural communities
in health equity work
A7 Every one has a voice at the
table: sharing the journey of
SEOCHC to become an inclusive
organization
A8 Youth feel it, too! Programming
for youth who feel oppressed
A9 Is this your Canada?
Challenging the systemic racism
affecting First Nations children
A10 Growing Healthy: connecting
services to priority families
with young children
A11 Reviewing and revising BHO
Accreditation Program
Standards: What do you think?
A12 Le modèle de l’anti-oppression:
son application dans une
perspective Francophone,
gaie et séropositive.
Session B
Thursday, June 10th 2:45-4:45 pm
BOARD WORKSHOPS
B13 BOARD SUMMIT
B14 Root causes: poverty and racism
and the impact on health
B15 Un/Settling: creating space
for hope, safety and belonging
through expressive arts therapy
programming with LGBTQ
newcomer women
B16 Hidden secrets in your CHC
B17 Health for all
B18 Strengthening mental health in
cultural linguistic communities
B19 Engaging residents in
leadership training
B20 The successes of the South Asian
Diabetes Prevention Program
B21 Newcomer Women’s Services
(NEW) – a sharing circle on
reproductive health
B22 “Check it out: queer women
need paps, too!”
B23 Connecting services to the
uninsured: how to create
agreements with hospitals.
B24 Addressing culturally
and linguistically rich
communities: Best Start
Session C
Friday, June 11th 10:45 am-12:45 pm
C25 DiverseCity on board
C26 Community governance and
health equity: the role of
board in setting and monitoring
an equity agenda
C27 French language health
services: Informing health
equity in the LHIN environment
C28 Measuring progress towards
LGBT cultural proficiency
C29 Accessible AIDS treatment
and community empowerment
strategies for newcomers and
the uninsured.
C30 Getting ready for the new
Accessibility for Ontarians
with Disability Act
C31 Drugs, homelessness and
health: homeless youth speak
out about harm reduction
C32 Liberated communities:
bringing anti-racism back
C33 Using research to inform
and increase equity
C34 SexAbility
C35 Anti-Oppression 101
C36 Building on what we know:
developing a strategy to
support collective learning and
innovation in health equity
across the CHC sector
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
SESSION A: Thursday, June 10th 10:00 am-Noon
A1 Board staff dialogue: facilitating beyond diversity
Centretown CHC: Alex Roussakis, Vice President;
Christina Marchant, Director of Community Health
Promotion & Early Years
Active and engaged board and staff are essential elements
in enabling Community Health Centres to improve cultural
competence and diversity.
This workshop presents a method to facilitate board-staff
dialogues about cultural competency and diversity.
Participants will explore a process used in 2009 which
enabled staff and board members to directly acknowledge
when racism occurs, and assisted them to engage meaning-
fully in conversations about race.
The workshop is based on a process Centretown Community
Health Centre applies annually to encourage a more
inclusive workplace. Workshop presenters will describe the
planning steps; the role of staff team facilitators; and
tools used to facilitate discussion. They will also describe
community context that shaped discussion, as well as the
lessons learned and recommendations to improve the
process.
A2 Everything boards need to know about the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
Tracy MacCharles, Past Chair of the Accessibility Standards
Advisory Council of Ontario
This workshop offers an overview of the new Accessibility
for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), as well as the
implications for health providers as new standards covering
customer service, buildings, transportation, employment,
information and communications are introduced. This
workshop will provide practical advice and discussion
opportunities on how to prepare and implement compli-
ance with the many changes required under the new Act.
A3 Poverty excludes participation: one board’s
initiatives to reinforce authentic participation
Lanark Health and Community Services: Jean Dunning,
Chairperson; Mary Gilmour, Past Chairperson; Kara
Symbolic, Hinda Goldberg & Donna Davidson (LHCS Staff)
This interactive workshop explores the actions taken by a
community-governed board to address inequities caused by
poverty. One of the poverty committee’s goals is to make
recommendations to the Board that include actions to
empower community members living in poverty so they
can fully participate in decisions about their own health.
The workshop will outline the mandate, goals, progress and
lessons learned by the Board committee. It will also offer
details on developing an organizational poverty audit.
Participants will be invited to discuss how the boards at
other organizations might design similar action plans.
A4 How to win advocacy campaigns for positive
social change
LAMP Community Health Centre: Russ Ford, Executive
Director, LAMP
Building successful advocacy campaigns without enjoying
the benefits of political, financial or social power forms the
theme of this workshop. Participants will explore a range of
case studies and will also learn about an advocacy frame-
work that can be applied in any community situation
where a campaign for positive social change is required.
Presenters will also provide an overview of resources and
literature that can be used when planning winning advo-
cacy strategies.
A5 A place to go when you have no voice:
evaluating a Family Mentor Program
Barrie Community Health Centre: Lorna Avery Cooper,
Community Health Worker – Coordinator of Mentor Program;
Students from Lakehead University’s Department of Social Work
Learn about an evaluation of a program that matches
young parents with mentors. The mentors enable the
parents to access information on basic parenting skills,
community services and programs. Mentors also accom-
pany families to appointments, and to programs and
services throughout the community. Program participants
tend to be young moms who request assistance and support
to maneuver through our various social systems. This
workshop will provide an overview of the program, the
evaluation methodology and the results of an evaluation
conducted by four placement students from Lakehead
University’s Department of Social Work.
A6 Engaging and supporting ethno-cultural
communities in health equity work
Jointly presented by Kitchener Downtown Community Health
Centre, Kitchener & Pinecrest Queensway Community Health
Centre, Ottawa.
Empirical studies and experience have shown that engaging
and empowering ethno-cultural communities is one of the
most effective tools in achieving access and equity for these
communities. For many organizations today, the question
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
is how to engage ethno-cultural communities / get engaged
with them in the health equity work. This interactive
workshop will present three working models that have
successfully addressed this question by building on com-
munity strengths and wisdom. Participants will learn about
culturally competent engagement strategies for volunteer
leaders as well as appropriate anti-oppressive and culturally
competent workplace practices needed to ensure a safe and
respectful work environment and experience for everyone.
The second half of the workshop will focus on engaging
and supporting ethno-cultural youth and will also provide
practical tools that may be used to initiate similar programs
at your CHC. Come, listen to ethno-cultural volunteer
leaders who are determined to push the boundaries to
increase health equity and equitable access for their
communities.
A7 Every one has a voice at the table: sharing
the journey of SEOCHC to become an inclusive
organization
South East Ottawa CHC: Leslie McDiarmid, Executive Director;
Mohamoud Hagi-Aden, Community Connections Coordinator
South East Ottawa Community Health Centre continually
strives to be an inclusive organization and uses a multi-
faceted approach to achieve this outcome. This workshop
will outline the process and the pitfalls to becoming an
inclusive organization where Every One feels that he/she
has a voice and can contribute to the vibrancy and effect-
iveness of the organization.
The SEOCHC journey had a number of distinct but comple-
mentary approaches to “inclusiveness” that included:
consultation with key stakeholders during our strategic
planning process (e.g. community members, partners, staff,
volunteers); compilation of a community profile to inform
hiring, program planning, implementation and evaluation;
organizing multicultural community forums; completion of
a yearly staff survey to determine a linguistic and cultural
profile of staff and identify competencies and gaps; organ-
ization of yearly staff training on cultural competency and
diversity; a comprehensive and systemic review of policies
and procedures particularly those pertaining to diversity;
and the formation of Multicultural Advisory Group to
advise Board and management on policy development,
hiring practices, and access of services, etc. The Centre
embarked on this journey to create a welcoming and
inclusive environment where Every One feels as though
they Matter. While these endeavours have been successful,
the Centre continues to challenge itself to further improve
its service delivery capacity and create a healthy and
equitable environment for all.
A8 Youth feel it, too! Programming for youth
who feel oppressed
Jim Clendinning, Registered Social Worker; Elizabeth Russell,
Registered Nurse; Amy Nagel, Health Promoter; Ellen Jones,
Registered Social Worker, The Youth Centre
Youth readiness to access health care can be impeded by
mechanisms of oppression, domination and injustice.
Youth are often thwarted by adultist, social and economic
forces. In an adult-driven culture, youth have little voice to
identify their needs and are sometimes silenced by stereo-
typical views and systemic barriers. Societal views of teenage
pregnancy are critical of the individual decisions each
women makes. LGBT youth feel oppressed by the dominant
heterosexist views of what normal sexuality is. Young males
demonstrate a gender-based stereotypical identity that values
toughing it out and avoiding health care involvement. In a
communication-obsessed culture, shy youth are disadvan-
taged, unable to adequately connect with their peers. The
stigma of associated with mental illness discourages mentally
ill youth from seeking treatment.
The Youth Centre emphasizes the development of programs
and services to address the barriers that impede youth
access to participation in health-promoting activities. The
Centre’s programs and services positively affect youth’s
learned views of adult health care providers and improve
their resiliency in oppressive circumstances. Programs to be
highlighted include: Pride Prom, Conversation Skills Group,
Young Parent Support, Young Males’ Health workshop,
Talking About Mental Illness in schools and clinical
programming.
A9 Is this your Canada? Challenging the systemic
racism affecting First Nations children
Melanie Ferris, Aboriginal Health Promotion Consultant,
Best Start Resource Centre at Health Nexus
This session will help participants better understand the
systemic barriers that First Nations people face in trying to
lead healthy lives in Canada. It will also provide insight
into how governments allow these barriers to continue
despite their adverse effects on the health of Aboriginal
children, their families and their communities. The work-
shop will offer concrete steps ordinary Canadians can take
to support Aboriginal People’s fight for equity. A major
focus of the workshop will be the groundbreaking work
being done by Dr. Cindy Blackstock who has been a leader
in challenging the federal government’s inequitable
practices. Through a partnership with the Assembly of First
Nations, Dr. Blackstock has launched one of the very first
human rights tribunals against the federal government.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
A10 Growing Healthy: connecting services to priority
families with young children
Tara Templin and Wanda Romaniec, Carlington CHC; Annie
Lachance, Overbrook-Forbes CRC
There is strong evidence to support the effectiveness of
early childhood health and social programs. They promote
children’s healthy growth and development, and allow for
the early detection, prevention and treatment of illness
and developmental delays. Despite the availability of these
services in Ontario many families do not access them,
which possibly accounts for at least some of the continued
disparities in early childhood developmental outcomes. A
two-year “Growing Healthy” pilot project was conducted in
two Ottawa communities, selected according to specific
health and development outcomes that can be influenced
by intervention. This workshop will present and discuss the
evidence from the pilot project, which aimed to improve
equity and access to preventive services for priority families
through inter-organizational integration. Participants will
hear how targeted organizational and system level integra-
tion interventions have improved priority families’ access
to care.
A11 Reviewing and revising BHO Accreditation
Program Standards: What do you think?
Barbara Wiktorowicz, Executive Director, COHI
The Building Healthier Organizations (BHO) Accreditation
Program Standards and processes are currently being
reviewed and revised. This workshop is an opportunity for
those participating in BHO to provide input about how the
BHO Standards and processes should be revised, focusing in
particular on how they could be enhanced to better support
organizations in efforts to provide services equitably. This is
a participatory workshop. Key questions will be posed to
stimulate participants’ discussion, along various dimen-
sions, including policy/leadership level measures, service
accessibility measures and HR measures that impact the
promotion of equity. Participants will have an opportunity
to hear and discuss each other’s recommendations.
A12 Le modèle de l’anti-oppression: son application
dans une perspective francophone, gaie et
séropositive (in French)
Marcel Grimard M.Ed. D. Ed (abt), coordonnateur en santé
sexuelle; Francoqueer-Action Positive
Lorsqu’il vient temps de définir un modèle d’intervention
pour les organismes en santé et services sociaux, plusieurs
intervenants en viennent à penser que le modèle anti-
oppression est le plus approprié dans les environnements
sociaux définis par la multiplicité des identités.
Or plusieurs analysent ou, nous devrions dire, limitent
l’application du modèle à quelques marqueurs identitaires
qu’ils rencontrent le plus fréquement dans leur pratique
quotidienne tels que la race, le genre, le statut socio-
économique. Ce réflexe est plus que compréhensible
puisque les intervenants de première ligne travaillent le
plus souvent avec les individus s’identifiant aux marqueurs
ci-haut mentionnés.
Cependant, limiter le modèle anti-oppression prouve une
incompréhension dans son application.
Cette conférence démontrera comment le modèle de l’anti-
oppression s’applique aux communautés francophones
minoritaires, puis s’attardera à démontrer son application dans
une perspective de l’intersection des marqueurs identitaires de
l’orientation sexuelle, des handicaps, de la race, du niveau
socio-économique, et géographique. Bref, nous présenterons
une approche fondée sur la géographie des identités.
SESSION B: Thursday, June 10th 2:45-4:45 pm
B13 BOARD SUMMIT
Board members of Community Health Centres, Community
Family Health Teams and Aboriginal Health Access Centres
will have an opportunity to talk about issues of concern.
B14 Root causes: poverty and racism and the impact
on health
Denise Brooks, Hamilton Urban Core Community Health
Centre; Floydeen Charles-Fridal, Black Health Alliance;
Alexander Lovell, Research Associate; Simone Atungo,
Community Development & Integration, Mount Sinai Hospital
The Inner City Health Strategy Working Group is an initia-
tive of Hamilton Urban Core that brings together commun-
ity agencies, advocates, researchers and representatives across
four communities of common interest. The Strategy is
focused on the impact of poverty, racism and the racializa-
tion of poverty on health and well-being. The pernicious
effects of poverty represent a significant health barrier.
Critical as it is as a determinant of worse health outcomes,
poverty alone does not explain – and, indeed, denies – the
lived reality of the tens of thousands who are also affected by
racism. The workshop will help to advance understanding of
the “inner city” context and the interplay between racism,
poverty and health. It will engage participants in a discus-
sion of the findings and implications of a recent Inner City
Health Strategy Working Group study that examined the
impact and lived experience of racism and poverty on the
health of individuals in four inner city settings: Hamilton’s
downtown urban core and the communities of Malvern,
Parkdale, and Rexdale in the City of Toronto.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
B15 Un/Settling: creating space for hope, safety
and belonging through expressive arts therapy
programming with LGBTQ newcomer women
Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services:
Roxanna Vahed, Community Health Worker/Stepping Up
Project Coordinator
This workshop will introduce participants to an expressive
arts-based program for newcomer, immigrant and refugee
lesbian, bisexual, queer, questioning women – inclusive of
cisgender, transgender and transsexual women, as well as
women with trans experience in Toronto. This program,
part of the Stepping Up project, has engaged service
providers and community members in identifying anti-
oppressive, inclusive practices for implementing arts-based
programming to address the needs of LGBTQ women
(including isolation, experiences of violence, migration
and exclusion).
A key focus of the workshop will be Access Alliance’s
comprehensive care pathway approach that combines
individual support, community development and com-
munity health programming often conducted in partner-
ship with other community-based agencies. The workshop
will share selected key research findings that have emerged
from the program. Participants will leave with a greater
understanding of key considerations for developing and
implementing programs for LGBTQ newcomer, immigrant
and refugee women.
B16 Hidden secrets in your CHC
Wendy Talbot, Executive Director, NorWest CHC
The staff in your Community Health Centres is one of your
most important assets. Do you know who they are? Our
health centres are diverse and complex. They represent
many cultures, levels of education, income and accessibility
challenges. Within health centres, there is one population
that may be hiding, unrecognized, marginalized, or worse,
discriminated against. These people are in your staff teams,
they are your clients. They come in all colours, genders, ages,
shapes and sizes. They are gay, two-spirited, lesbian, bi and
Trans and are everywhere.
CHCs are leaders in dealing with differences, so why is this
population still marginalized? Why is it okay to discriminate
against us and why do some CHCs make excuses for it?
Religious or cultural differences are not an excuse. If we
condemn discrimination based on skin colour, the shape
of ones eyes or language then why is it still okay to malign,
hate and hurt LBGT people? This workshop will address
these issues.
B17 Health for all
Abeer Majeed MD CCFP, Family Physician, Queen St West
Community Health Centre; Ritika Goel MD, PGY-2 Family
Medicine, University of Toronto
Currently, only a small percentage of uninsured people in
Canada can access health care services. Health care is being
transformed into an apartheid system in which immigra-
tion status determines exclusion or inclusion.
This workshop explores the role health professionals can
play in working for positive change, using a social justice
and human rights framework. Current systems, policies
and regulations as they impact the health of uninsured
migrants will be juxtaposed with the right to health
legislated by international law. The extent to which
international law is incorporated into Canada’s constitution
and provincial legislation will also be analyzed, particularly
as it affects the health of migrants. Present restrictive
federal and provincial policies will be contrasted with
Canadian values concerning the importance of universal
access to health care.
B18 Strengthening mental health in cultural
linguistic communities
Kitchener Downtown Community Health Centre: Gebre
Berihun, Health Promoter
This workshop focuses on a project targeted at seven
cultural-linguistic communities in the Waterloo Region.
The project promotes mental health through capacity
building, leadership training, education and empowerment.
Its outcome: positive change for the cultural linguistic
communities, mental health practitioners, and those
involved in planning for the health and social system.
A major focus of the workshop will be the encouragement
of community mental health leadership and the use of
mental health navigators. The workshop will also feature
lessons learned concerning the role of culture in mental
health, and the importance of building reciprocal collabora-
tion between mental health organizations/practitioners and
cultural linguistic communities.
B19 Engaging residents in leadership training
New Heights CHC: Judith Otto, Community Health Worker;
Maleda Mulu, Community Health Worker
Participant Testimonials: Community Residents Denise Earle,
Said Mohammed and Daffodil Davis
This workshop focuses on a leadership training program
designed to offer local residents support addressing the
critical issues in their lives. In addition to providing
support, the program also encourages community building
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
by igniting resident engagement with institutions, polit-
icians, local businesses and other neighborhood residents.
During the workshop, participants in the program will
provide an overview of the process. There will be case studies
and visual presentations from the Lawrence Heights com-
munities as well as an analysis of why resident engagement
in leadership training is so important in building commun-
ities and facilitating effective leadership. Beyond learning
about the required components for capacity building,
workshop participants will also have a chance to build
action plans to apply in their own community settings.
B20 The successes of the South Asian Diabetes
Prevention Program
Flemingdon Health Centre: Heba Sadek, Manager, Health
Promotion and Neil Stephens, Project Coordinator
Learn the details of a successful program that prevents
diabetes in the South Asian community and ensures
equitable access to diabetes prevention services. The project
is mounted in collaboration with Social Services Network
and is funded by Toronto Central LHIN. Some features of
the program to be explored include mass screening for
pre-diabetes; language specific and culturally relevant
workshops; referrals to locally available services and
resources; and a strong commitment to overcome transpor-
tation barriers that keep community members from
accessing the diabetes prevention services they need. The
workshop will shed light on the potential of this program
to serve as a framework for implementing targeted, com-
munity-based, prevention-focused programs through equity
and diversity lenses.
B21 Newcomer Women’s Services (NEW):
a sharing circle on reproductive health
Maya Roy, Newcomer Women’s Services and Angela Byam,
Newcomer Women’s Services
This workshop focuses on a community-based, highly
participatory peer-led program that uses a “sharing circle”
to engage newcomer immigrant women of colour on the
sensitive topic of reproductive health. The workshop’s
format reflects the program’s approach: participants will be
invited to join a sharing circle to talk about the use of
feminist methodologies when working with newcomer
immigrant women of colour as well as the systemic barriers
standing in the way of newcomer women of colour access-
ing female reproductive health services.
This workshop will demonstrate how a sharing circle can
serve as a safe space for newcomer immigrant women and
will explore the potential of this approach to improve
access to services for newcomer immigrant women of
colour. It will also draw out wider implications for settle-
ment and health service workers, as well as for Canadian
health and social policies overall.
B22 “Check it out: queer women need paps, too!”
Arti Mehta, Women’s Programming Coordinator, Planned
Parenthood
Learn about a health promotion campaign that challenges
the homophobia and heterosexism in primary health care
settings which all too often prevents lesbian, gay, bisexual,
queer and other women from accessing Pap testing. The
campaign educates service providers in delivering culturally
competent care and empowers LGBQ women. Workshop
participants will gain a thorough understanding of how an
anti-oppression lens can create high impact health promo-
tion campaigns. They will learn inclusive practices for
working with LGBQ women and explore the latest research
finding on LGBQ women and Pap tests. Through role play
they will also learn concrete skills.
B23 Connecting services to the uninsured:
how to create agreements with hospitals.
Simone Atungo, Director, Community Development &
Integration, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto; Rick Edwards,
Director, Community Engagement & Urban Health, St. Joseph’s
Health Centre, Toronto; Linda Gardner, Diversity & Community
Access Coordinator, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto; Sarah
Hobbs, Executive Director, Planned Parenthood, Toronto;
Anthony Mohamed, Diversity and Special Projects Coordinator,
Inner City Health Program, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto;
Angela Robertson, Director, Equity & Community Engagement,
Women’s College Hospital, Toronto; Planned Parenthood,
Toronto; St. Joseph’s Health Centre, Toronto; St. Michael’s
Hospital, Toronto; Women’s College Hospital, Toronto
Tens of thousands of people living in Ontario lack any kind
of health coverage. Most are newcomers, either waiting to
clear a mandatory three-month waiting period for OHIP
coverage or waiting to claim residency status. CHCs are
currently the only primary health care setting in Ontario
that receives funding to provide the uninsured with access
to primary care and health promotion services free of cost.
This workshop explores scenarios in which these uninsured
clients require expensive hospital care.
Facilitators will present examples of five Toronto hospitals
forging agreements with CHCs so clients can access hospital
services at reduced rates. This session will cover the de-
velopment and challenges of developing these agreements.
It will also explore the evolution of a Toronto-wide agree-
ment designed to institutionalize the hospital/CHC rela-
tions and build service consistency for the uninsured client
population. A sample agreement will be circulated and
participants will work through a preliminary plan to
prepare for their own hospital/CHC agreements.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
B24 Addressing culturally and linguistically rich
communities: Best Start
Dani Grenier-Ducharme, Children’s Services Manager;
Anne Batisse, Chair, Aboriginal Network
Since it’s inception in 2005, the Timiskaming Best Start
Network has identified a culturally competent service system
for children as one of its major priorities. Timiskaming was
chosen as a Best Start Demonstration Site due to being
northern and culturally and linguistically rich, with vibrant
Francophone and Aboriginal communities. For the past five
years, the Timiskaming Best Start Network has embraced the
concept of full recognition of language and culture. More
recently, a community plan has been developed to achieve
full cultural and linguistic competency. We are not entirely
there yet, but we would like to share lessons we’ve learned
and some tools that could assist your community in em-
barking on this challenging, but exciting journey.
SESSION C: Friday, June 11th 10:45 am-12:45 pm
C25 DiverseCity on board
Maytree Foundation: Cathy Winter and Mona Elsayeh
To achieve health equity and better address the unique
health care issues of ethno-racial communities, governance
boards must reflect the populations they serve. In this
workshop, participants will learn about a joint project of
Maytree and the Toronto City Summit Alliance, who are
committed to changing the face of public and non-profit
boards to reflect the diversity of the populations they serve.
The workshop will present statistics that make the case for
board diversity and provide resources for finding qualified
candidates and making decisions about appointments.
Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on, and
identify, the skill sets required for their board and develop
profiles for board positions. They will learn how boards can
use a more transparent, inclusive selection process.
C26 Community governance and health equity:
the role of a board in setting and monitoring
an equity agenda
Michael Harris, Chair; Mike Shaub, Board Member; Hersh
Sehdev, Executive Director, Kingston CHC
Kingston CHC is an umbrella organization that bridges
divides and reduces disparities in an urban centre. This
interactive workshop will reveal how the centre’s board has
led the transformation of the CHC from a single north end
clinic into a multi-site, multi-service organization which is
now a leader and change agent in the city.
Presenters will share our successes and challenges. They will
show how the policy governance board keeps staff and
volunteers engaged by using statements on vision/mission/
values to develop a “can do” culture, even in the midst of
increasing administrative burden. The workshop will
examine the role of the CHC in coordinating community
activities and partnerships with other agencies, the munici-
pality and academia with a goal to achieving equity for the
marginalized population in Kingston.
C27 French language health services: informing
health equity in the LHIN environment
Jocelyne Maxwell, Executive Director, CSC du Témiskaming
In this workshop, Board members will examine how the
integration and engagement mandates of LHINs and the
new French Language Planning Entities will impact the
delivery of French language health services across Ontario.
Participants will strategize on how best to influence the
implementation and enhancement of services, and will
discuss key messages for inclusion in a developing AOHC
policy statement on health equity for Francophones.
Invited speakers include: Marc Dumont, North East LHIN
Board member; Marcel Castonguay, Executive Director,
CSC Hamilton/Niagara and Chair of the French Language
Advisory Council
C28 Measuring progress towards LGBT cultural
proficiency
Jean Clipsham Nurse Practitioner, Sexual Health and Needle
Exchange Program, Halton Health Dept. with other members
of PHA for LGBTTTIQQA Equity; Public Health Alliance for
LGBTTTIQQA Equity, a work group of the Ontario Public
Health Association
This workshop focuses on increasing participants’ knowledge
of the needs of LGBT communities for accessible and
equitable health care and developing their skills in evaluat-
ing LGBT sensitivity and inclusivity in their practices and
health care agencies. A variety of teaching strategies will be
used including lecture, group discussion and case scenarios.
The workshop will be based on community research and
participants will receive an evaluation manual. The tools
provided in this workshop will enable health providers to
measure their progress, on an ongoing basis, towards LGBT
cultural proficiency.
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010
C29 Accessible AIDS treatment and community
empowerment strategies for newcomers and
the uninsured.
Regent Park Community Health Centre; Maureen Owino,
Program coordinator, Committee for Accessible AIDS
Treatment (CAAT); Derek Yee, Legacy Project coordinator,
CAAT; Alan Li, M.D. Co-chair, CAAT
This workshop explores the success of Community for
Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT), a network of legal,
health, settlement and HIV service organizations and
affected communities committed to breaking down barriers
faced by newcomer and non-insured people with HIV/AIDS.
CAAT has pioneered many ground-breaking initiatives
which have improved access to services for this population.
It has also transformed itself from a network driven by
providers to one driven by community members. The
workshop will look at processes and structural considera-
tions in developing equitable partnerships amongst service
providers and service users, development of a peer leader
mentorship program for people with HIV/AIDS and
development of a knowledge transfer ambassador program
through CAAT’s community-based action research study on
improving mental health service access for immigrant and
refugee PHAs. Transferable models and tools will be shared.
Participants will be invited to share their insights and
experiences on the topic.
C30 Getting ready for the new Accessibility for
Ontarians with Disability Act
Fran Odette, Program Manager and Penny Schincariol,
Accessibility Consultant, Springtide Resources Inc. (formerly
Education Wife Assault)
This workshop focuses on how to get ready for the new
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act. It will
highlight lessons learned from the Women with Disabilities
and Deaf Women’s Program of Springtide Resources which,
for the past four years, has designed and delivered access-
ibility audits to woman abuse services. Through the audits,
agencies can begin to identify strategies to implement
Customer Service Standards and Information and
Communication Standards. Using case studies, workshop
participants will identify structural and organizational
barriers that impact on access to services for people with
disabilities/Deaf people. They will also be invited to share
their own best practices that break down barriers to access.
C31 Drugs, homelessness and health: homeless youth
speak out about harm reduction
Lorraine Barnaby, Health Promoter, Central Toronto CHC;
Val Fuhrmann and Matt Johnson, Peer researchers
Learn about a community-based research study which
investigated a harm reduction needs assessment targeting
high-risk, substance-using, homeless/street-involved youth
in the GTA. The study used a mixed-method design (sur-
veys, interviews, focus groups and art-making) and a peer
researcher approach. Its goals were to investigate youth’s
risky substance use practices and health status; to identify
the gaps, barriers and needs in harm reduction, addiction,
health and social services; and, based on the youth’s voices,
make recommendations for improvements in youth-specific
programs and services, and policy reform.
C32 Liberated communities: bringing
anti-racism back
Rose-Ann Bailey, Health Promoter; Roma Beckles, Social
Worker/Therapist; Shawn Douglas, Community Health
Worker, TAIBU CHC
How does racism manifest itself in the everyday lives of
racialised youth living in Malvern, a racially and culturally
diverse community in the North-East section of Toronto?
Presenters will make the case that structural racism in
general and anti-black racism in particular undergirds
health inequities and serves as a primary pathway through
which other health determinants are experienced.
Workshop participants will gain an understanding of
racism’s impact on the physical and emotional health of
youth. It will outline TAIBU’s response – the development
of two youth-inspired initiatives developed using an
anti-racism/anti-oppression lens. “Liberated Minds” is
designed to equip young Black men with the understand-
ing, skills and self confidence to circumvent barriers created
by racism and “Bringing Sexy Back: A Sexual Health Guide
to Love, Sex and Relationships” uses theatre to influence
the sexual practices of racialised urban youth.
C33 Using research to inform and increase equity
Women’s Health in Women’s Hands; Wangari Tharao,
Programs and Research Manager; Marvelous Muchenje,
Project Coordinator
This workshop explores an evidence-based intervention to
support African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) women in
disclosing their HIV status to all relevant parties. The
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
AOHC CONFERENCE 2010

intervention helps reduce the stigma and discrimination
associated with HIV disclosure to increase access to services.
It comprehensively addresses the socio-cultural context of
non-disclosure, i.e., community concerns, partnership and
safety concerns and challenges experienced by ACB women
when accessing various service sectors, e.g., child protection
services, department of public health, health care and the
employment sector (often due to lack of specific systemic
information and individual rights). The intervention will
build support mechanisms to support women going
through the process of disclosure.
C34 SexAbility
Lynda Roy, SexAbility Co-ordinator, Anne Johnston Health
Station
SexAbility provides sex-positive, non-judgemental sexual
health information to people living with disabilities as well
as to service providers and students in the social service or
health care field. Historically, youth and young adults with
disabilities faced significant barriers of access to sexual and
reproductive health information. Myths and stereotypes
about people with disabilities being childlike, innocent and
either asexual or hypersexual resulted in systemic barriers
that either suppressed or completely denied the sexuality of
people living with disabilities. People with disabilities face
multiple forms of oppression at various intersecting points
(i.e. gender identity, gender expression, ethnicity, class,
sexual orientation). SexAbility provides a safe space for
participants to explore their level of comfort and knowledge.
This workshop will provide a history and evolution of the
program and what was learnt along the way.
C36 Building on what we know: developing a
strategy to support collective learning and
innovation in health equity across the CHC sector
Ken Hoffman, Community Health Consultant, Associate,
Wellesley Institute
CHCs arguably have more expertise in dealing with health
equity issues than any other part of the health system.
Collectively, they possess a huge amount of experience in
this area. This experience tends, however, to remain at the
level of the individual centres; it rarely gets more broadly
disseminated or integrated into “best practices” that can
prompt change across the CHC system.
How can CHCs make better use of their collective experi-
ence in dealing with equity issues? One challenge is in how
to translate this experience into knowledge that can be
used to strengthen the work across the system. Another is
how to foster a “learning culture” in CHCs that values
knowledge and supports innovation.
This workshop will be a participatory discussion that will
address the following questions: a) What are the opportun-
ities for creating a learning agenda for CHCs wth a focus on
health equity? What could this look like? How could it
benefit the collective practice of CHCs? b) What are the
main challenges in supporting the development of a
learning agenda for CHCs? c) What are some examples of
structures/approaches that could support collective learn-
ing? d) How could this process be moved forward?

C35 Anti-Oppression 101

Douglas Stewart, Consultant

What is anti oppression? What is anti-discrimination?

What is diversity & inclusion? What is anti-racism? What is
cultural competency? Are you trying to wrap your ahead
around these terms? Then this is a workshop for you.

There are a variety of frameworks being used by different

organizations. Defined as a set of assumptions, concepts,
values, and practices that constitutes a way of operating, a
framework determines the kind of analysis and approach
that can be used by an organization to address issues of
discrimination and/or oppression.

This workshop is an opportunity to enhance the discussion

and provide participants with a tangible understanding of
the differences and interconnections of these terms and the
frameworks in which they are embedded.