By Patsy Beattie-Huggan | President and Principal Consultant, The Quaich Inc.
The moment I met Paola Ardiles at a Networking Lunch in Vancouver on April 10, 2014 I had a sense of connection abounding with synergy. The Bridge for Health website outlined a philosophy and beliefs so congruent with my own that I thought “I could have written this”. This immediate connection set the stage for a desire to work together – and an invitation to write this blog. So here I am, realizing that this introduction was yet one more amazing chapter on the journey of developing and working with the Circle of Health.
The Circle of Health is a health promotion framework and values based planning tool that is hand-held, moveable, shaped by theory and context, and built through a consultative process incorporating principles of adult education, community development and qualitative research that drew on right and left brain thinking. Dr. Terry Mitchell has said that the theoretical strength of the Circle of Health is that the process of its development models the way in which it is applied. Launched in 1996, the Circle of Health still resonates with learners and practitioners today – and it is hard to imagine that a framework developed to meet local needs on Prince Edward Island, Canada is now translated into five languages and has travelled to countries all over the world, engaging academics, policy makers and community members!
The journey began in 1995, when I was in the role of Director Community Development for the Prince Edward Island (PEI) Health and Community Services Agency. At the time, I was working with regional health authorities and community groups to embrace a health promotion philosophy as the foundation for programs and system change – in a newly reformed health system that had embraced justice, housing, hospitals, social services and public health. During that same year, the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) was conducting consultations on the future of health promotion in Canada. Building on the results of that consultation, the PEI Health and Community Services System, Women’s Network, Canadian Health Promotion Network Atlantic, CPHA NB-PEI shared mailing lists, resources and time and initiated a two day process to adopt a health promotion framework for PEI. Since it was a follow-up to their consultation, CPHA national made a funding contribution to what was to be the first day of the development of the Circle of Health©. Irv Rootman and Larry Hershfield from the Centre for Health Promotion Research at the University of Toronto and Tariq Bhatti, Health Canada brought their expertise to this process. The consultation process was replicated and validated in Northern Ireland by an Irish colleague, Leslie Boydell who participated in the PEI process. All assisted with the validation, evaluation and dissemination that followed. In reflection, we were pioneers in the movement now called social innovation.
As I began to observe the process of discovery and engagement that took place each time people used the Circle of Health, the value of the tool became more evident. Increasingly, it became clear to me that there was a need for similar tools that could be used by the system and community together to achieve social good. In 1998, I founded The Quaich Inc., a health company focused on consulting and marketing of health innovations. Through gathering the stories of how the Circle of Health has been applied in engaging communities to take action on social and health issues, colleagues and I have developed a growing body of knowledge which we share through our website at www.circleofhealth.net , development of educational products, and through our online and in person workshops.
This year, the Circle of Health Online Workshop Series will run throughout November and we hope you will join us. The workshops are a great way to refresh your knowledge about health promotion, and an opportunity to develop skills in partnership development, planning, education and facilitation. As an affiliate to Bridge for Health, you are eligible for a 15% discount. There are group rates for others in your organization who may want to join you.
For more information, visit www.thequaich.pe.ca/workshops.asp or contact me directly by email at patsy@thequaich.pe.ca or phone at 1-800-898-1066. If possible, please circulate information about the online workshops to others in your networks.
If you are already using the Circle of Health, I would really like to hear from you to learn how you are using the Circle of Health – the successes and the challenges. If you would like to receive our regular newsletters, please click here: http://fluidsurveys.com/s/request-for-consent/
I look forward to continuing our work with Bridge for Health. Working together for social good, we can do great things!
Patsy Beattie-Huggan | President and Principal Consultant, The Quaich Inc.
902-894-3399 | 902-626-3221 (Fax)