Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD)

Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD) is a $28.5M fund established through the Federal Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI). 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. In total, over 100 organizations are working with 17 government departments and agencies on projects covering a wide range of policy priorities, with both national and regional interests. It is expected these projects will be completed in 2005.

Six projects were approved for Health Canada, totalling $6M in contributions for fiscal years 2002 - 2005. The funds are managed by the Office of the Voluntary Sector and in some cases, by relevant areas within the Department under the terms and conditions of the Population Health Fund. Each project is directed by a collaborative steering committee, which include representatives from Health Canada.

Listed below are Health Canada's SIDPD projects:

(a) Voluntary Organizations Involved in Collaborative Engagement (VOICE) in Health Policy (National)

The goal of this project is to enhance the policy capacity of voluntary organizations working in health and includes the development of tools and joint collaborations on selected policy pilot projects. The words “collaborative engagement” were chosen to make explicit the nature of both the process of building policy capacity and effective models for public policy engagement. This project involves voluntary organizations working together to learn from each other and to work on defining, applying and sustaining policy development processes. 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 about policy development. To effectively reach the goals and objectives, this project was divided into three phases:

Phase 1 - Building Policy Capacity: This phase addressed the significant diversity in the policy capacity of VOWH. Activities included regional roundtables, the development of an inventory of policy tools and resources, and national training session sessions.

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

Phase 3 - Sustaining the Learning: This 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 29^th and 30^th, 2004 to share conclusions and develop an action plan to continue enhancing policy collaboration between VOHW and Health Canada.

For more information, please visit the VOICE in Health Policy project website at www.projectvoice.ca.
Lead: Canadian Public Health Association

(b) Integrated Prevention System - (National)

This project is meant to develop and sustain a co-ordinated, national movement for an integrated population health approach to chronic disease prevention. Its goal is to increase the policy capacity of both the sector and the government, working horizontally to create credible and inclusive policy. Collaborative leadership for this project is provided by the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (CDPAC) steering committee, which includes representation from the Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Council for Tobacco Control, Coalition for Active Living, Canadian Diabetes Association, Dietitians of Canada, and Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. In January 2003, CDPAC launched it's website at www.cdpac.ca to promote information exchange on chronic disease prevention initiatives from across the country. Within Health Canada, the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control is the primary partner.
Lead: Canadian Cancer Society

(c) Proposal for a Multicultural Coalition for Equity in Health and Well Being - (Regional, Alberta)

This project was designed to create a multicultural health coalition consisting of leaders from ethnic minority communities, government and community organizations who are committed to equity in healthcare. The coalition will become an organizational vehicle through which ethnic minority communities can articulate a policy agenda for health, and create space for progressive and meaningful participation.
Lead: Multicultural Health Brokers Co-op

(d) Citizens for Mental Health - (National)

This project was aimed at developing meant to develop integrated policy options and collaborative working alliances across a broad range of mental health issues. It was designed to strengthen the policy capacity of voluntary sector stakeholders so that they could identify options and recommendations on mental health issues.
Lead Organization: Canadian Mental Health Association

(e) Ontario Seniors' Participation in Health and Housing Policy - (Regional, Ontario)

This initiative provided an opportunity for seniors to actively engage themselves in a process for renewing the health care system. Through knowledge development and information sharing, it explored alternatives to institutional long-term care, such as supportive housing and other aging in-place initiatives. The project not only aimed to enhance the policy capacity of the voluntary sector but also to create a sustainable health care alliance network.
Lead Organization:
Ontario Society (Coalition) of Senior Citizens' Organizations

(f) Aboriginal Health Planning in the North Okanagan - (Regional, BC)

The project was designed to develop a framework for collaboration between aboriginal communities, voluntary sector organizations and regional stakeholders. It is was meant to identify processes for the meaningful engagement with stakeholders in addressing relevant health issues.
Lead Organizations: Social Planning Council of the North Okanagan

For more information on the SIDPD Projects listed above, contact
Susan McCunn
Senior Program Analyst
Office of the Voluntary Sector, Health Canada
613-954-8671
susan_mccunn@hc-sc.gc.ca

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