Introduction
Social Inclusion is the focus of a provincial project funded by Health Canada. Within Ontario, there are five regional projects, each addressing an aspect of social inclusion, e.g., housing for marginalised populations (Kingston), immigrants and visible minorities (Peel County), children and families (Sudbury). The Elgin County research project (SEII-EC) is part of the Central West regional project (SEII-CW), which is addressing issues of social inclusion related to seniors and youth. The Central West project includes the Region of Waterloo and Brant County. SEII-EC is part of these regional and provincial initiatives, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Schematic of SEII project.
The West Elgin Community Health Centre (WECHC) is the organisational leader for the Social and Economic Inclusion Initiative project in Elgin County. The aim of the SEII-EC project is to build local capacity by examining conditions promoting social and economic inclusion for seniors and youth.
The purpose of this document is to report on the SEII-EC project and, in particular, upon the Table Talk sessions held in Elgin County during June 2003. Issues of social and economic inclusion are introduced by reviewing a poverty scan completed in Elgin County in 2002, followed by an overview of the provincial and regional SEII projects.
Poverty Scan: Towards a Population Health Approach
An environmental scan of poverty in rural areas of Elgin County was commissioned by seven agencies in Elgin County. The aim of the scan was to examine multiple perspectives of poverty and to design innovative methods to address matters of rural poverty. The scan was designed to review the resources of Elgin County (people, institutions, services, etc.) and to seek ways of assessing opportunities for changing conditions of poverty. Social inclusion emerged as an important issue. The research team recognised that several livelihood strategies (e.g., under-employment) represent forms of ‘exclusion.’ The following material is drawn from the research report: An Environmental Scan of Rural Poverty in Elgin County: Towards a Population Health Approach (Fuller et al 2002).
Poverty is an isolating experience. It can also be a very public experience. Both experiences lead to exclusion and illustrate the complex realities of people experiencing poverty. Diverse and hidden social and economic barriers may limit people’s opportunities for sustaining health and well-being. Thinking about the complexities of these barriers and experiences as livelihoods based on resources and opportunities shifts attention to people’s capacities to survive, endure, and change. Likewise, thinking about livelihoods rather than the deficits of poverty helps to reveal what people have that they can work with. Key aspects of building people’s self-reliance are:
- Recognise and develop the potential of the poor
- Increase their productive capacity
- Reduce social, economic, and environmental barriers limiting their participation in society.
The research team reviewed conditions of rural poverty in Elgin using an assets based approach, i.e., an approach that identifies resources rather than deficits. Some details of these conditions and resources are included in the section Community Profile of Elgin County of this report. While Elgin possesses many institutional and organisational assets to build upon, a diverse rural population presents both problems and opportunities for addressing social inclusion.
Three specific actions were recommended to enhance livelihoods in Elgin County.
- Adopt a social inclusion set of goals
- Adopt a population health approach to provide orientation and structure
- Operate from an assets methodology and perspective
A focus on social inclusion as a means to address rural poverty requires a change in perspective. Poverty, in a conventional sense of the term, denotes an inability to share in the everyday lifestyles of the majority because of a lack of resources. Correspondingly, poverty is usually viewed as a static measure of income and expenditures (disposable income). Alternatively to this view of poverty, social inclusion/exclusion emphasises a multi-dimensional perspective of ‘system failures.’
A population health approach focusses upon attaining the best possible health of an entire population. Emphasis is placed upon a range of health determinants that affect the whole group rather than a person. The overall goal of a population health approach is to improve and maintain the health of the entire population by reducing inequities in health between population groups. A population health approach, in conjunction with a focus upon social inclusion, is recommended as an innovative means of addressing rural poverty in Elgin County.