Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic Canada Indice de progrs vritable Atlantique Measuring Community

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Genuine Progress Index for Atlantic CanadaIndice
de progrès véritable - Atlantique Measuring
CommunityWellbeing Development JAG, Sydney,
6 June, 2003
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Community GPI based on simple questions How
healthy is our community? What kind of community
are we leaving our children?
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Uncertain Answers More possessions, growth, but.

• Stress, obesity, asthma, environmental illness
• Insecurity, inequality, unemployment, child
  poverty
• Decline of volunteerism
• Natural resource depletion, species loss
• Less fish, condition of forests, soils
• Global warming

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E.g. Cape Breton in CCHS causes for concern

• High unemployment and low-income rates
• Much higher incidence of chronic illness,
  disability, and premature death than Halifax
• Highest age-standardized mortality rate in
  Maritimes
• Highest death rate from circulatory disease,
  heart disease in Maritimes 30 above nat.av.

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Of 21 Atlantic health districts, Cape Breton has
highest rates of

• Cancer death (231.8 per 100,000) 25 higher
  than the national average, lung cancer
• Deaths due to bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma
  (9.2 per 100,000) 50 higher than the national
  average
• High blood pressure 21.7, (24.3 women 19 men
  72 higher than the Canadian rate.

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Cape Breton highest

• Arthritis and rheumatism 31 of women, 23 of
  men
• Activity limitation (34)
• Life expectancy 72.8 years for men, and 79.4 for
  women. (Canada 75.4 years - men and 81.2 years
  -women

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Disability-free life expectancy

• Cape Bretoners have an average disability-free
  life expectancy of only 61.8 years, seven fewer
  than the national average, and the lowest of all
  the 139 health regions in Canada.
• This means that Cape Bretoners can expect to live
  considerably more years with a disability than
  other Canadians.

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Potential years of life lost

• highest number of potential years of life lost
  due to both cancer and circulatory diseases
• Cape Bretoners lose 2,261.9 potential years of
  life per 100,000 population due to cancer 41
  higher than the national average of 1,603.7
• and they lose 1,684 potential years of life per
  100,000 population due to circulatory diseases
  65 higher than the national average of 1,020.7

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Cape Breton lowest mammogram screening, highest
breast cancer rate
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Conventional measures of social progress
wellbeing send the wrong message

• Sickness, crime, pollution, resource depletion,
  long work hours (stress) make economy grow
  which in turn means we are better off??
• GDP can grow as poverty, inequality increase. GDP
  ignores work that contributes directly to
  community health (volunteers, work in home)
• We need better indicators of health wellbeing
  GPI values health and its determinants equity,
  livelihood security, education, environment,
  unpaid work, etc.

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Community GPI

• Initiative came from community groups. Many
  community partnerships include
• Cape Breton Wellness Centre, community health
  boards, regional public health authorities,
  Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Womens Health,
  NS Citizens for Community Development Society
• CB regional police, Glace Bay Citizens Service
  League, Rotary Clubs, Kings and Cape Breton
  Community Economic Development Agencies

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Community-Government-University Partnerships

• Federal Canadian Population Health Initiative,
  National Crime Prevention Centre, HRDC, Health
  Canada (PPHB Atlantic), Canadian Rural
  Partnership, Rural Secretariat, Statistics Canada
• University College of Cape Breton, Acadia U.
• Dalhousie Univ. Population Health Research Unit
  St. Marys University Time Use Research Program

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Tool for community health and wellbeing - Goals

• Community vision, mobilize, learn, act, assess
• Vision - community indicator selection
• Mobilize communities - common goals
• Learning about ourselves relationships among
  variables unique database
• Turn new-found knowledge into action
• Track progress

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Process as Result

• Indicator selection, creating survey
• Results and report releases bring together
  stakeholders and disparate groups
• Scan existing programs, identify gaps
• New ideas e.g. restorative justice,
  family-friendly work arrangements

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The Means

• 3,600 surveys - random, 15, confidential
• CI 95 /- 3 2 cross-tabulations
• Detailed 2 hrs Glace Bay 82 response
• Survey includes health, care-giving, time use,
  voluntary work, security, income employment,
  environmental issues
• Data entry cleaning, access guidelines

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Balance community-based research with
methodological rigour

• Statistics Canada oversight, advice, review
• Frame questions to compare results with
  provincial national averages
• Improve methods, indicators, survey tools, data
  sources - never a final product
• Model for other communities (e.g. Sydney, Whitney
  Pier) - template for adaptation

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Whats in the Glace Bay and Kings County GPI
Surveys?1) Demographics Employment

• Age, sex, household, marital, education, income
• Employment, unemployment, out of work
• Job characteristics - types of jobs (p-t, f-t,
  etc), benefits, work from home, occupation
• Work schedule, hours, shifts, job security,
  underemployment, job sharing - work reduction

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2) Health and Community

• Core values, caregiving, volunteer work,
  community service
• Stress, mental health, social supports,
  childrens health
• Weight, smoking, physical activity, screening
  (Pap, mammogram, blood pressure)
• Pain, disability, disease, medications, health
  care use

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3) Peace and Security

• Victimization and costs of crime
• Neighbourhood safety, fear, self-protection
• Opinions about police, courts, prisons
• Identify community problems - drinking? bullying?
  domestic violence? drugs? Etc.

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4) Time Use Diary

• Work Household work, paid work, voluntary work,
  caregiving, education
• How we spend free time - TV, reading,
  socializing, spiritual practice, sport, exercise
• Travel, personal activities, child care
• Window on quality of life

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5) Environment

• Energy use
• Transportation patterns
• Water quality
• Recycling and waste
• Food consumption - food diary and nutrition

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Community Action

• Community access to results - special software
  packages, news stories, etc.
• Meet to discuss results and identify policy
  priorities / actions
• Community prioritizes indicators for annual
  benchmarks of progress
• Community training - adaptations

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Emphasis on practical action - E.g

• Teenage smoking overweight exercise - e.g.
  promote school-based programs
• Screening rates - mammography, pap smears --
  notify health officials of needs
• Identify counselling needs - employment, domestic
  violence, mental health
• Education - nutrition, recycling, energy use
• Glace Bay police inspector vandalism focus

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Present Smoking Habits
(Non-smokers include both those who quit smoking
and those who never smoked)
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Current smokers by employment status
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Daily Cigarette Consumption and Employment Status