Mississauga Halton LHIN Citizens' Reference Panel 2009 from MASS LBP on Vimeo.

The release of the Mississauga Halton Local Health Integration Network’s (LHIN) Integrated Health Services Plan represents the culmination of MASS LBP’s most ambitious engagement process to date.  From April to June 2009, close to one thousand health service providers, physicians, community leaders and local citizens had a chance to weigh in on health care priorities for their region.  MASS LBP designed an innovative engagement model to capture this diverse range of voices.  Here’s how we did it:

Session 1: Engaging diverse community leaders
We invited leaders of ethno-cultural groups and associations to meet with representatives of the LHIN to provide advice on increasing access to health care services.

Session 2: Engaging Francophone community leaders
We facilitated a French-language session dedicated to the health care needs of the Francophone community.

Session 3: Community Health Service Providers
We gathered over 100 health service providers from hospitals, community centers, mental health and addictions support networks, and long-term care homes to learn about the LHIN’s strategic priorities and provide recommendations for meeting the region’s diverse health needs.

Session 4:  Talking With Physicians
We sat down with physicians at the Trillium Health Centre to discuss better access for patients seeking treatment at the community level.

Sessions 5 & 6: Citizens’ Reference Panel on Local Health Priorities
Finally, we used our Citizens’ Reference Panel model to select thirty-six citizens at random to learn about health care delivery in the Mississauga Halton region and recommend community-centered priorities for the 2010-2013 plan.  

These sessions helped determine priorities for $1.8 billion in annual health care spending and gave the Mississauga Halton LHIN a strong mandate for moving forward. 

You can read more about our work, the process and <its recommendations here.