Brant Social & Economic Inclusion Project - Community Partner Interviews
- Brief explanation of the project and purpose of today’s interview
- Remind them that the information they provide will be used only in a summary/aggregate form; their individual responses will be kept confidential and will not be linked to any other data or reports
- They will be able to review and edit a summary of this interview before it is used by us.
INITIAL OVERVIEW [read aloud]
As a Social Planning Council, we define social and economic inclusion as both . . .
- A process that welcomes individuals and groups who have typically left out of planning, decisions and policy development activities in their community;
- A goal that helps people empower themselves by offering opportunities, resources and supports to their participation in community
Health Canada funded the Central West Social and Economic Inclusion project to study issues of inclusion or isolation in our community. Here in Brant County, we’re looking at how social and economic inclusion affects two distinct age groups – youth (16-24) and seniors (over 55). We’re also interested in learning more about how living in a rural area may have an effect on inclusion. The current project will be completed by April, 2004.
[read aloud] Do you have any questions, or need clarification at this point?
*SECTION 1: Questions about the organization and their own interests in inclusion issues
1.1 What is your current role in (organization name)? Is this a paid or volunteer position?
1.2 Does the organization/group serve or work with:
- Youth (16-24)
- Seniors (55+)
- Both
1.3 In your opinion, in what way(s) does your organization/group create policies/rules/practices that specifically include or exclude (seniors, youth, both) from organizational decision making? [elaborate, if possible]
1.4 Does your organization have specific mandates, services or programs in place that specifically address issues of isolation or related needs? If so, please elaborate.
1.5 What kind(s) of barriers would you say exist that might prevent the (youth, seniors, both) you work with from participating in your organization?
- What success have you had in overcoming these barriers?
- How do you work with (youth, seniors, both) who don’t easily participate?
Please elaborate on any specific strategies you employ.
1.6 What things could help you to better understand what’s happening to (youth, seniors, both) out in the broader community?
1.7 We expect that what is learned from our current information gathering in the next few months will help us to create new resources or tools to help local community action on the issues of isolation and inclusion.
- What kind(s) of tools or resources do you use already that might be helpful to us?
- What tools or resources could be newly developed?
1.8 Do you have any program or service based data or information that you could share with this project? [e.g., program stats, studies, planning or audit tools]
1.9 Is your organization/group doing activities that might be similar to our own regarding social and economic inclusion? Please elaborate.
- How might you be willing to share what you learn with a larger learning network across Central West Ontario?
SECTION 2: Questions about the community
2.1 In your experience, is exclusion and/or social isolation a real issue for (youth, seniors, both) in our community? Why? What do you think contributes to this?
2.2 Who are the key organizations/groups that could help make things more inclusive for (youth, seniors, both)? How can they make these changes?
2.3 Who else do you know that might be interested in these issues, and that we could talk to?
2.4 In your experience, what does this community do well for (youth, seniors, both)? Not well?
2.5 How do you think the community could change to reduce barriers for (youth, seniors, both)?
2.6 What other projects or initiatives related to inclusion do you know of in our community? Who could we contact to find out more?
SECTION 3: Questions about Youth and/or Seniors
3.1 In your experience, what do (youth, seniors, both) say they want that would make a difference for them to feel included in the community?
3.2 In what way(s) do you think (youth, seniors, both) could contribute to increasing their own inclusion, or decreasing their social isolation for themselves? How about in your own organization? And the broader community?
HELPING WITH KITCHEN TABLE TALKS
- what would they like to learn from such talks?
- would they like to participate in these sessions?
- If yes, can they:
* Host their own informal discussion with their participants?
* Host a session and invite 8-10 members of their community to an informal discussion?
* Participate in a group processing of the information gathered from the sessions?
* Take part in a learning forum to discuss what was learned from the informal discussion in our community and other communities?
SUMMING UP
- any questions or other thoughts to add?
- reminder that summary of interview will be sent to them for review
- do they want a copy of final report?