Deliberative Dialogue 2019

On November 21, 2019, PAN, in partnership with the Afro-Canadian Positive Network of BC (ACPNet) hosted the Stigma Reduction Interventions Deliberative Dialogue at the Best Western Chateau Granville in Vancouver, BC.

Attendees of the Deliberative Dialogue included people with lived experiences, staff and service providers at community-based organizations, policy-makers (including funders), and academics from across BC, as well as one attendee from Alberta.

The Deliberative Dialogue was rooted in work coming out of the BC People Living with HIV Stigma Index. The BC People Living with HIV Stigma Index is a community-based research project that interviewed 176 people from across BC about their experience with HIV-related stigma. The BC People Living with HIV Stigma Index was not meant to be solely a research project but a tool for moving findings into action and for supporting planning for interventions, initiatives, programs and services. The Deliberative Dialogue was an important first step to ground the next phase of work in community consultation.

Image of Intersectionality

The Deliberative Dialogue also centred the concept of intersectionality. Kimberlé Crenshaw explains in a National Association of Independent Schools video that “Intersectionality is … a metaphor for understanding ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage sometimes compound themselves … intersectionality isn’t so much a grand theory, it is a prism for understanding certain types of problems” (Crenshaw, What is Intersectionality?, 2018). We are all complex beings with multiple characteristics. Some come from a place of advantage within our society and some from a place of disadvantage. The interconnected nature of social characteristics such as race, class, and gender create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. Intersectionality was also a focus of the Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2019 (view the report here).

PAN gratefully acknowledges that the Deliberative Dialogue was funded by the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) and the Community Action Initiative (CAI).

 

View the full report on the Deliberative Dialogue here (includes evaluation of the event, summary of discussion, and mapping exercise responses).

 

Pre-Work

Deliberative Dialogue attendees were provided with a ‘homework package’ prior to the Dialogue. Click below to view orientation materials, including:

Setting the Stage Presentations

The Deliberative Dialogue opened with presentations from organizations around the province about the stigma reduction work they are doing. Click here to view presentation slides and learn more about stigma reduction work in BC from:

  • Afro-Canadian Positive Network of BC (ACPNet)
  • The Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Community-Based Research Collaborative Centre (AHA Centre)
  • CBRC
  • Community Action Initiative (CAI)
  • Pacific AIDS Network (PAN)
  • Pacific Hepatitis C Network (PHCN)
  • PIVOT Legal Society

Consultant Marla Steinberg also gave a presentation, entitled “What do we know about stigma reduction interventions” (click here to view presentation slides).

Mapping Exercise

Deliberative Dialogue attendees were asked to think about existing stigma reduction interventions in BC, and map them on a grid, identifying at what level the intervention works at (individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and/or policy/legal/structural), and whether the intervention focuses on those being stigmatized, or those enacting stigma.

Click here to review a summary of mapping exercise responses.

Big Ideas

At the end of the day, participants were asked to come up with ‘big ideas’ of what work could be done in future around stigma reduction interventions. Participants then engaged in ‘dotmocracy’ to vote on their favourite ideas.

 

Next Steps

PAN is moving planning forward the “Big Ideas” from the Deliberative Dialogue by engaging and working with partners who are best placed to support action or change in each area. PAN will also be identifying an intervention that aligns with our mission and mandate to develop and will seek additional funding to support. PAN will communicate with key stakeholders to explore potential partnerships to move other “big ideas” forward.

Stigma Intervention Evaluation Working Group

PAN, in partnership with the CAI and a working group of engaged community and stakeholder members, is exploring how we can better evaluate stigma reduction interventions. The working group will be developing harmonized evaluation tools. Marla Steinberg presented What we know about Evaluating Stigma Reduction Initiatives as a way to ground our initial conversation. This working group will be meeting regularly until the end of March 2020 to move this work forward.

Additional Resources

Addressing Stigma: Towards a More Inclusive Health System. The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2019.

Stigma Reduction Initiative Planning Guide, developed by Marla Steinberg