Building Equitable Partnerships Symposium Goals and Objectives 2008

The Building Equitable Partnerships Symposium has flowered through the efforts of partner agencies CAAT, CAMH, CMHA-Toronto Branch, MIAG and Sistering and mental health advocates and participants from the community, as part of the Building Equitable Partnerships with Diverse Communities and Groups Project. The goal of the project, initiated in 2004, is to increase access to health services and positively impact the health of marginalized and diverse communities and groups.

Equitable partnerships are those that are formed on the basis of equity and respect. We recognize the varying levels of power, and the imbalances that may result, when large organizations enter into partnerships with smaller community-based agencies or with diverse and marginalized communities. We recognize that with power differentials also come varying types of oppression. Oppression can be defined as, or may include: discriminatory practices, imbalances of power affecting decision-making -and- the inequitable distribution of resources to marginalized individuals, populations or smaller organizations.

Symposium Goal

The goal of the symposium is to provide a forum for dialogue among groups and individuals that have a stake in the delivery of culturally competent mental health and addictions services, and related health care. Our aim is to increase understanding and connections between stakeholders that will result in sustainable actions around building equitable partnerships, at a number of levels – among policy makers and agencies, among larger and smaller agencies and among diverse communities and health service providers.

Delegates can explore why we need to build equitable partnerships, how we can build them and who is currently practicing positive partnerships for equity. The symposium offers opportunities for agencies and members of marginalized and diverse groups to share their ideas and experiences around building equitable partnerships through interactive workshops, panel discussions, presentations, poster sessions, music, media and networking.

Each workshop session will be reserving time to collaboratively develop one or two recommendations for policy makers to build and strengthen equitable partnerships with diverse and marginalized communities and groups. These recommendations will be gathered and presented at the end of the symposium.

Symposium workshops, presentations and have been designed around three key theme areas:

How do we initiate and build equitable partnerships?
Organizations, funding bodies, community and consumer groups recognize the importance of partnerships in the delivery of accessible, quality services but may not have the tools to initiate a process of equitable partnership building. Workshops and presentations will share models and tools, research and direct experiences that demonstrate the necessary ingredients to prepare for equitable partnership development.

Why do we need equitable partnerships?
Can equitable partnerships have a transformative effect on institutions - for the better? How can equitable partnerships between organizations or service users and service providers affect health inequities? What evidence do we have from experience or research that tells us that equitable partnerships make a difference?

What elements and strategies are required to address the challenges of building equitable partnerships?
Workshops and presentations will reflect on existing and past partnerships. What key elements sustained the partnership? What strategies were in place to ensure that the partnership not only achieved the end goal but also maintained equity among the partners? What were the challenges along the way and how were they addressed in moving forward? What valuable “lessons learned” do front line workers, managers and service users have to share about their partnership experiences?

BEP Project Objectives

Building on the work of BEP partners from 2004, namely, the Hong Fook Mental Health Centre, Sherbourne Health Centre and the Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario (ERDCO) and CAMH, the current partners set out the following objectives to guide their work in the development of the Symposium and beyond:

a) Promote organizational change with accountability (real change/effective responses) by demonstrating how organizations can address the issue of equitable partnerships with follow up actions and by cultivating diversity competency with staff

b) Offer opportunities for agencies representing and members of marginalized and diverse groups in the GTA to share their ideas and experiences around building equitable partnerships

c) Encourage dialogue and build connections between/among mainstream health organizations and agencies and groups representing diverse populations

d) Create a transformative learning experience for participants

e) Promote organizational change and effective responses in mainstream organizations to increase access for diverse and marginalized communities

f) Encourage the development of accountability measures and benchmarks for increasing equitable partnerships with diverse and marginalized communities

g) Explore the potential for organizing additional activities and developing resources to build system capacity around equitable partnerships

h) Deliver a well-organized event that will break even or create revenue to be put towards future initiatives

i) Develop a transformative process for both mainstream organizations and diverse groups and communities – not merely a knowledge dissemination of information and resources.

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