OTTAWA, November 27, 2002 - Results of two on-line public consultation exercises initiated by the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada were posted to the Commission's web site (www.healthcarecommission.ca) today.  These results round out a comprehensive, broad-based public consultations program that included 21 days of public hearings, televised in-studio policy debates with health care experts, 12 policy dialogues at Canadian universities, a Forum on Aboriginal Health and deliberative dialogue sessions with Canadian citizens in 12 cities across Canada. More than 30,000 Canadians took the time to participate in the Commission's two consultation surveys.

"I think the high participation rate in these surveys tells us a lot about how important the health care debate is to Canadians and how much they want to be involved," said Commissioner Roy Romanow. "I want to thank Canadians for their willingness to be challenged and engaged by the Commission, and for their participation in this innovative on-line survey method. I hope they see their values and their perspectives reflected in our Final Report."

Because both surveys involved self-selected respondents who were not randomly selected from the Canadian population, the Commission notes that the results are not statistically significant.  However, both surveys provide a window on the viewpoints of Canadians who were engaged in a dialogue with the Commission about the future of health care in Canada. The results reinforce the findings of the Citizens' Dialogue, a deliberative dialogue exercise, conducted for the Commission by the Canadian Policy Research Networks. That exercise found that Canadians wanted to keep the core principles of the Medicare model that accorded with their strongly held values of universality, equal access, solidarity, and fairness.  But they also stated very clearly that the current uses of health care resources do not correspond to their values of efficiency and accountability.

Survey results are contained in the following two reports:

Public Input on the Future of Health Care: Results from the Consultation Workbook (Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN) and Ekos Research Associates Inc.)

These results analyze public feedback in reaction to the Commission's Shape the Future of Health Care Workbook. Between March 7 and May 31, 2002, the workbook was available in hard copy via the Commission's toll-free information line and was posted on the Commission web site, where it could be downloaded or completed on-line. In less than three months, close to 18,000 workbooks were completed.

The workbook and its survey challenged Canadians to consider four scenarios for renewal and reform of the health care system: more public investment; a system that shared costs with users; more choice available from private sector health care providers, and; a reorganized service delivery.  Results were gathered and analyzed by Ekos Research Associates Inc., and their final report looks at the methodology behind the workbook, the profiles of the people who participated and the types of judgments the participants formed.

Public Input on the Future of Health Care: Results from the Issue/Survey Papers (POLLARA)
Canadian polling company, Pollara assessed the input the Commission received regarding nine issue/survey papers about the top issues in health care.  These papers also provided the foundation for a series of televised policy dialogue sessions, involving health care experts, the Commission convened across the country. Each paper was developed by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, and included a survey that could be completed on-line or in writing. Via the issue/survey papers, Canadians were asked to provide their views on issues ranging from pharmacare and globalization to homecare requirements and the relevance of the Canada Health Act.  The papers were released to the public in three waves, between May and September.

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Public Input on the Future of Health Care: Consultation Workbook These results analyze public feedback in reaction to the Commission's Shape the Future of Health Care Workbook.

Public Input on the Future of Health Care: Results from the Issue/Survey Papers (POLLARA) Canadian polling company, Pollara assessed the input the Commission received regarding nine issue/survey papers about the top issues in health care.