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VOICE in Health Policy As part of the VSI, funding was allocated to support Sectoral Involvement
in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD). These funds were to be used
for strategic, short-term activities that would enhance policy development,
improve service delivery to Canadians and strengthen communities across
Canada. During the fall of 2000, Health Canada undertook consultations
with voluntary organizations working in health (VOWH) to develop a project
proposal for funding through the SIDPD component of the VSI. The project
was aimed at building VOWH policy capacity and enhancing joint collaboration
on health policy issues. Organizations were encouraged to comment on
the draft proposal through a series of plenary meetings, workshop discussions,
and/or submission of written comments. Once funding was approved in
July
2001, Health Canada issued a call for proposals to national VOWHs to
determine a host organization to lead, manage and coordinate the project
on behalf
of the voluntary health sector. The current sponsoring organization
is the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA). The name VOICE in health policy (VOICE stands for Voluntary Organizations
Involved in Collaborative Engagement) was chosen because the project is
about voluntary organizations working together to build their capacity
and to affect change in public policy in health. From the project's inception,
VOWHs have been involved in the implementation and design of the VOICE
in
health policy project. This initiative offers opportunities for VOWHs
to build on existing expertise and share policy capacity knowledge with
other
organizations. It also provides an important opportunity for members of
the voluntary health sector to bring their expertise and perspective to
health policy issues and engage in discussions with Health Canada about
policy development. Phase 1: Building Policy CapacityThis phase addressed the significant diversity in the policy capacity of VOWH. Activities included: Regional roundtables: Between January and April 2003, over 950 organizations
and individuals participated in 60 roundtables held across Canada.
Through the facilitation of six voluntary organizations, the roundtables
assessed
capacity issues as well as an identification of the resources and/or
policy tools considered useful. For a full report on the roundtables,
click
here.
The development of policy tools: The inventory is an online searchable
database that houses policy resources. It includes assets, tools,
materials and resources
focusing on policy capacity and partnership building. To view the
inventory of public policy resources, click
here.
National training sessions: Roundtable participants identified the need for clarity on the federal policy process, health jurisdiction and how to effectively influence health policy. Training workshops were then delivered across Canada between January and March 2004. Phase 2: Application of Learning This phase provided an opportunity to apply skills and knowledge gained
through the capacity building activities. In this phase, ‘policy development
models' are being pilot tested on federal health policy issues. In
total six organizations are undertaking pilot projects, which commenced
in mid-November and will be completed by August 2004. On March 8 and 9,
the VOICE in health policy project hosted a mid-point symposium to support
the activities of the Demonstration Project participants. For more information
on this event, click
here. Phase 3: Sustaining the LearningThis phase is designed to objectively assess the success of this initiative. As part of the last phase, a national summit will be held on November 29th and 30th, 2004 to share conclusions and develop an action plan to continue enhancing policy collaboration between VOHW and Health Canada. For more information regarding the VOICE project, visit their website at
www.projectvoice.ca Jacqueline Payne |
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Last updated: 2004-07-20 |
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