Exploration of opportunities for building a virtual community for health policy makers using social media

1. Building Virtual Communities and Social Networking Applications for Health Care Policy Makers Don Juzwishin PhD JCI, Edmonton, Alberta Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Victoria September 18, 2009 www.ideastoaction.ca

2. www.ideastoaction.ca Character of health information in a contemporary world Health Data Health Information Knowledge

3. What are the primary predictors of adult-onset diabetes, heart attacks, stroke, and many other diseases? The social determinants of health the socio-economic conditions that shape the health of individuals, communities, and jurisdictions as a whole. Social determinants establish the extent to which Canadians possess the resources to identify and achieve personal aspirations, satisfy needs, and cope with the environment. This perspective is the key to understanding patterns of health and illness in Canada today. Move to a public policy approach that sees the mainsprings of health emerging from the social distribution of resources. Dennis Raphael, Social Determinants of Health www.ideastoaction.ca Move from institutional model to social determinants model

4. Health policy is not just a process that simply requires management of health care facilities and human resources. It is a public policy area that is driven and influenced by social, political and economic forces Consider the political, economic, and social forces that shape both health care policy and health Aim to effectively utilize the processes and means of producing health policy in the service of health Toba Bryant, An Introduction to Health Policy www.ideastoaction.ca The Health Policy Maker Redefined

5. www.ideastoaction.ca What are examples Help for Health Care Providers Putting Policy into Practice http://www.gapminder.org

6. www.ideastoaction.ca

7. www.ideastoaction.ca

8. www.ideastoaction.ca

9. www.ideastoaction.ca

10. www.ideastoaction.ca

11. www.ideastoaction.ca

12. www.ideastoaction.ca

13. Assurance of security and confidentiality Management of risk Widespread acceptance in practice, education and research Assurance of quality, credibility & authority Demonstrated effectiveness Does it work as it was designed? Demonstrated outcome & impact Does it make a difference? Demonstrated value Allocative efficiency www.ideastoaction.ca What do health policy makers need from Web 2.0 and 3.0?

14. Medium for accessing and assessing public opinion Create reservoirs of data, information & knowledge Sharing information and interacting with the public and health care providers Public and provider education – move from curative model to population health orientation Shaping public opinion Mobilizing the public www.ideastoaction.ca What can Web 2.0 and 3.0 do for health care policy makers?

15. Provide another medium of interaction with the public Provide transparency and accountability on policy agenda, instruments, design, implementation, communities and evaluation Encourage best practice and benchmarking in policy making Provide an opportunity for ubiquitous dynamic visualization of health and health care issues and problems www.ideastoaction.ca How can Web 2.0 and 3.0 improve health care policy making?

16. Speaking truth to power Separate the wheat from the chaff Preserve the public interest Avoid manipulation by interest group interaction and dynamics Identifying the “truth” Preserve legitimacy and authority www.ideastoaction.ca Challenges for Policy Makers

17. Embrace the Web 2.0 and 3.0 platforms but with caution Move toward people centered health (care) Create, link and make available anonymous and secure databases Pilot innovative technologies – publish successes and failures www.ideastoaction.ca Recommendations