A Canadian Paradox: Public Opinion and Health Care Reform - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 11
About This Presentation
Title:

A Canadian Paradox: Public Opinion and Health Care Reform

Description:

but many Canadians see a crisis in the system and may support solutions that ... Canadians ARE NOT so disillusioned and dissatisfied with their health care model ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:70
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 12
Provided by: amai4
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: A Canadian Paradox: Public Opinion and Health Care Reform


1
A Canadian Paradox Public Opinion and Health
Care Reform
  • Antonia Maioni
  • Director
  • McGill Institute for the Study of Canada

2
A Canadian Paradox
  • There is considerable support for the principles
    of public health insurance
  • but many Canadians see a crisis in the system
    and may support solutions that seem incompatible
    with these principles

3
Public Opinion and Health Care Reform
  • Why is Public Opinion Relevant?
  • What do Public Opinion Trends Tell Us About the
    Future of Health Care?
  • What Drives Change in Public Opinion about Health
    Care?
  • Where is the Health Care Future?

4
Why is public opinion relevant?
  • Public opinion tends to be structured around core
    beliefs upon which citizens can rely to make up
    their minds about complex issues, even if
    knowledge is limited
  • Public opinion on major issues tends to be stable
  • It responds to objective changes in the policy
    environment and to the way information is
    conveyed about policy alternatives
  • The public has the capacity to perceive crisis
    situations in health policy and to seek
    alternative solutions
  • The presence and relative power of viable
    alternatives are crucial elements in setting the
    policy-making agenda

5
What Does Public Opinion Tell Us?
  • The past ten years have seen a considerable
    erosion of confidence in the health care system
  • Canadians ARE NOT so disillusioned and
    dissatisfied with their health care model that
    they are willing to try anything
  • Canadians ARE worried about the long-term
    viability of the system and, in a context of
    crisis, they are willing to consider alternative
    solutions

6
Citizen Views of the Health Care System, 1988
1998
  • minor changes fundamental changes completely
    rebuild
  • 1988 1998 1988 1998 1988 1998
  • Canada 56 20 38 56 5 23
  • U.S. 10 17 60 46 29 33
  • Source Commonwealth Fund International Health
    Policy Survey, 1988 and 1998.

7
What Drives Change in Public Opinion?
  • Demands for reform tend to be driven by a
    perception of crisis at the macro level rather
    than individual considerations
  • At the individual level, most Canadians remain
    satisfied with the care they receive
  • At the societal level, discontent is fueled by
    fiscal woes, the media's scrutiny of the system's
    ailments, and the inroads made by policy
    alternatives

8
What Drives Change?
  • Opinion is not shaped primarily by experience
    with the existing system, but more significantly,
    on how people view the long-term viability of the
    system to respond to their prospective needs
  • It is of crucial importance to understand that
    individuals' own experience, including his or her
    anxieties about the future, may be the real
    triggers in demands for political change

9
Where is the health care future?
  • The consensus around the existing model was built
    steadily over time but is not immune to change
  • There exists a cognitive dissonance between the
    types of ideas embodied in the public model
    such as equality, solidarity, and distribution of
    resources according to need that are at odds
    with dominant neo-liberal themes espoused by
    governments and influential opinion leaders
  • In this context, policy alternatives at odds with
    the existing model may find receptive
    environments in public debate and on policy radars

10
Health care future?
  • If the system does not deliver on its promises...
  • If dissatisfaction about the quality of care
    grows...
  • If the systems caretakers do not succeed in
    establishing confidence in the ability to meet
    future needs
  • Then, the public is likely to become more vocal
    in advocating change
  • In such a context, radical departures, however
    inappropriate, may be perceived by as a panacea,
    and those interests that can successfully ride
    the wave of public discontent are likely to win
    the day

11
Conclusions
  • The health care system is facing a crisis of
    confidence
  • Public discontent is driven not simply by
    dissatisfaction with how the system actually
    works, but by uncertainty about the systems
    ability to meet future needs
  • In the long term, we must not lose sight of the
    publics primary concern, which is the viability
    of the existing health-care model
  • In the near future, what matters most is to find
    credible solutions that are compatible with the
    guiding principles of the Canadian model if not,
    people will become more open to support solutions
    that may ultimately be incompatible with these
    principles
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com