Prioritize quality of life
PROMOTE PREVENTION THROUGH COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

Several problems

Health is not limited to care provided in the hospital environment. Health is determined by a combination of social factors: education, income level, security, workplace incentives, diet and consumption habits, physical activity levels, community services, a sanitary environment, a clean-living attitude, recreation, etc. For some time we have shared a reductive level of discourse in relation to our problems in the area of health. The financing of health management, in a hospital context, will forever seem a poorly funded abyss if we do not strive for sickness prevention and the establishment of a better quality of life for our families and communities.

Within Health Canada, thoughts have already turned towards the social determinants of health. However, this discourse has yet to materialize realistically in terms of practice, programs or government priorities.

In the same way, the federal government has undertaken consultations around the volunteer and community sectors. Priorities have yet to be established, but the willingness of the federal government to engage with its partners in the community is promising. However, there is as yet no clear direction.

Some solutions

We believe that it is possible to work together with autonomous community organizations in order to achieve a greater quality of life with regards to the social determinants of health.

During a first mandate, we will create financial programs for community organizations which will assist local initiatives related to personal quality of life, particularly for the less affluent. We intend however for this to be done in a manner which is respectful of the autonomous and original nature of these organizations, through programs of long-term financing. It behooves government to develop practices which profit from the expertise and innovative approaches of these organizations emerging from civil society, in response to needs.

Our main priorities will be the following:

• Housing
• Literacy
• Workplace security
• Social reintegration of delinquents, particularly of youth
• Education and reduction of misdemeanors concerning the problem of drug addiction
• Day-care centres
• Specific services for women
• Specific services for men facing crisis

We will, moreover, create a special financial program for community health centres (such as CLSC's in Québec), which play a vital role in the promotion of sickness prevention. It is our intention that this program come to the support of existing initiatives and structures rather than creating new ones. In this situation, as in others, we will firmly apply the principal of cooperative and asymmetrical federalism, in a way which is careful not to interfere in existing resources in the provinces.