Community-Based Health and Social Services: Conference Report

Raj S. Gandhi is a professor of sociology at the University of Calgary.

How to develop and deliver socially and culturally viable alternatives to traditional institution-based services is one of the major challenges facing community-based health care and social service providers. This report, prepared by Kathryn Randal, outlines the central issues and themes to emerge from a three-day conference, Improving the Delivery of Community-Based Health and Social Services, held in Ottawa in November 1985.

The crisis in these services, a common feature of capitalistic systems, is further complicated by government spending restraint and often unpredictable public and charitable funds. And though the need for human services is local and real, the public still demands well-funded institutions with the tops in technology. A last-minute transplant that dramatically saves a child’s life is worth more media space (and more public cost) than assisting several senior citizens to live happier, more satisfying lives outside expensive residential institutions, or than diverting a few troubled youths from a life of abuse, crime, and addiction. Decision makers are literally “between a rock and a hard place,” with expanding demand and decreasing revenues.

Not all of the answers to these dilemmas were found at the conference, but the issues were clearly defined and some progress was achieved, as reflected in the report. However, the issues did not fade with the memories of the conference, but require a continuing focus and dedication to development.