The CHSSN applies a best practices partnership model consistent with the World Health Organization approach for bringing together all the stakeholders that work to improve the health of a population.
Our program has established 18 community networks across Quebec as a focal point for addressing the needs of English-speaking communities. Over 40 health and social services centres delivering primary care—these are the public institutions in Quebec—along with youth protection agencies and other institutions meeting special needs, now participate on partnership tables with community networks.
I will give you one example of how a network works. In the Gaspé, a group called the Committee for Anglophone Social Action decided it wanted to reach out to isolated seniors who live in historically English-speaking communities in an area known as Cascapédia-Saint-Jules.
Through its community network, it was able to partner with the local health and social services centre and run a biweekly wellness centre for 23 seniors in the area. Animators run physical and mental exercise classes, the local chapter of the Women's Institute cooks lunch, and the public health and social services centre provides transport for the seniors and access to health promotion professionals.
Thanks to the road map investments, approximately 3,000 English-speaking seniors, youth, and families in the Baie des Chaleurs area are directly impacted through health promotion activities.