6.4 Kitchen Table Talk Process Design
Kitchen Table Talk Process and Framework:
- Likely 8 focus group sessions (4 youth, 4 seniors)
- 5-10 participants per session
- 1.5–2 hrs each session
- Youth age 16–24; Seniors age 55+
What to set-up:
- Flip chart with paper and markers
- Chairs for participants
- Participant feedback forms (one per person)
- Consent forms (one per person)
Introductions
- Begin by introducing staff from the Social Planning Council
- Give an overview of the project – why there are here:
We define social and economic inclusion as both a process and a goal:
- As a process, it welcomes individuals and groups who have been left out of the planning, decision-making and policy development processes in their communities.
- As a goal, it empowers people by offering them opportunities, resources, and supports to promote participation in their communities.
Health Canada has funded the Social and Economic Inclusion project to study issues of inclusion in our community. In the Central West region (which includes Kitchener-Waterloo, Brant, Cambridge and North Dumfries) we are looking at how lack of inclusion, or isolation, affects two particular age groups, youth (ages 16-24) and seniors (aged 55+).
We have three main goals for today:
- We want to hear about your experiences in this community – what you like, what you dislike, what you would change, how these changes could be made.
- By listening to your experiences, we hope to gain a better understanding of how people are being included in the community as well as the barriers that exist.
- At the end of this session, we would like to encourage you to consider further participation in this project by joining with other participants from these sessions to discuss ways to process the feedback and to discuss strategies for addressing some of the issues we’ve raised.
The next two hours will be very unstructured – we have a few questions we’d like to ask and we’ll make some notes up on the chart. This will be an open, informal discussion so feel free to share any thoughts or questions at any time.
This part of the project will be wrapping up at the end of the summer. If you like, we can send you a summary report of the information we’ve collected. A sheet will be circulated at the end of the session asking you if you are interested in that or in further participation.
- What questions do you have at this point?*
Before we start we have a form that we need you to sign which says that you agree to participate (hand out form). Please take a moment to read through the form and, if you are OK with it, sign it and we’ll collect it at the end of the session.
*[Start to record ideas at this point]*
How many of you live in urban areas? How many in rural areas? (record numbers)
Question 1: Community Assets
What do you like about your community?
What’s good about your community for you or others your age?
Probes:
- Where are the places you go and spend time away from home?
- Where do you feel you belong?
- What are you involved in?
- What activities, programs, events, clubs, and groups are you involved in?
- How are systems and supports in the community perceived?
- How do seniors feel about the health care system?
- How do youth feel about their employment opportunities?
- How often do you use public spaces (churches, school, community centres)?
- Do you participate in community forums?
- What helps you feel belonging in your community?
- Question 2: Community Challenge*
What do you dislike about your community?
What’s not good for you or others your age?
What’s missing in terms of services or programs to meet your needs?
Probes:
- What are the downfalls of living your area?
- Do you have access to transportation?
- Do you have access to desired community services/activities?
- Are there places you don’t feel welcome? Why?
- Are there places you avoid? Why?
- Are there public space closings that you know of? If so, are you affected?
Question 3: General Thoughts on Inclusion
How do you think the rest of the community perceives youth/seniors?
How do you think youth/seniors perceive the rest of the community?
What are your thoughts on the differences between urban and rural communities, especially in terms of inclusion?
How does migrating from one to the other affect feelings of belonging or social/structural support systems?
What are the factors that influence your independence (e.g., health, social support, status, family support)?
Question 4: Community Change
What could be changed about your community to make it better for you or others your age?
Who do you think could make these changes?
Do you know of groups that are trying to make these changes?
Closing:
THANK PARTICIPANTS
As we mentioned at the beginning of this session, we would be interested in your continued involvement in this project. In a few months, we will hold a community forum to discuss the information we’ve gathered from this project to date. Perhaps you’d like to be involved in that, or in other sessions such as these to follow-up on some of the thoughts we’ve learned.
If you are interested, please fill in this form (hand out form). If you’d like a copy of the summary report, you can indicate that on the form as well.
For youth only: Make sure you hand us your volunteer form and we will fill in the time you’ve spent here for you volunteer hours.
For seniors only: If you would like to participate in another project that’s running through Wilfrid Laurier University, you have that opportunity right now! Angela is currently doing her Master’s of Social Work and is collecting information from community members to assess well-being factors. To participate, all you need to do is fill out this survey. It takes about 30 minutes to do so… (let Angela take interested folks aside)