Method: Table Talks

The idea underlying ‘table talks’ is to engage participants in discussions in a relaxed, informal setting. The aim of this approach is to encourage a free flow of thoughts, not to control discussions. SEII-EC is not a data-collecting project.

The objectives of the Table Talks, as defined by WECHC, are to create a network and to create a pool of resources. In so doing, the aims are to improve communications to create a more inclusive environment for seniors and youth and to share new lessons. As a starting point, bringing people together is a significant contribution to creating a network. Therefore, the sessions focus upon the second objective: to create a pool of resources. Toward this end, the project process was based on an assets-based approach. This means focussing upon the resources, skills, and ideas - the ‘assets’ - of people who are around the table and of other people and organisations.

We used an outreach process to recruit participants. West Elgin Community Health Centre contacted members of its network of organisations. These organisations were asked to host a Table Talk session. This required the host organisation to find a location and invite participants. As much as possible, these organisations were selected as hosts because they had extensive contacts with youth or seniors. This method of organising sessions and recruiting did not work well. For some locations, WECHC assumed responsibility for sessions when local host organisations were unable to meet expectations.

There was no attempt to target specific people or groups of seniors and youth identified as more excluded than others. A guiding assumption for the recruitment of participants was that everyone, in one form or another, is excluded. Hence, everyone who participates will have a story to tell and relevant perspectives to share.

Table Talks opened with introductions and a brief overview of the project. An initial task was to introduce the theme of inclusion/exclusion and to get people thinking about how to improve inclusion in order to make Elgin a great place to live. After introductions, participants broke into two groups, one group of youth and one of seniors.

The Table Talk discussions incorporated narratives prepared by the Central West project (see Appendix C for the text of each narrative). The narrative was printed out and distributed to participants at the start of each group session. To begin each group session, participants were asked to read the narrative: youth read the youth narrative; seniors read the seniors narrative.

We recognised that these narratives tended to focus on negative aspects of exclusion, on potential problems, and on what was missing or needed. The strategy was to use the negative tone of the narratives as a contrast to an assets-based approach. The format of the Table Talk sessions is provided in Appendix D. To ‘kick start’ discussions, participants were asked: How does it make you feel? What does it mean to you? What is your response? An open discussion followed. Facilitators for each session encouraged a creative discussion that focussed on positive aspects. Several questions were used to prompt discussions:

In addition, to encourage participants to think about others, youth were asked what seniors contribute to making Elgin a better place to live and seniors were asked what youth contribute. To close the discussion within each group, participants were asked to reflect upon the narrative: What do you think about the narrative now? Do you think [name of location of session] is a place where everyone (who so wishes) is included/participates/involved?

To end the session, participants reconvened as one group. One person, usually the group’s facilitator or recorder, presented a brief summary of the discussion for each group. This was used to invite additional thoughts from participants and to encourage an intergenerational exchange.

Throughout the process, service providers, who were invited by the host organisation, listened to the group discussions. Only a few service providers attended the sessions.