A healthy region in which all Northwestern Ontario residents experience the conditions that support good health, created by:

• Increasing the number of programs that embrace evidence & address the fundamental conditions that affect health.
  
  
• Improving overall health outcomes related to the public health mandate.
  
  
• Increasing social inclusion in our communities.

Program Description 

We all want to belong.  Belonging - to a family, a community, a society - is one of the most important things in life.  It makes us feel good.  It makes us healthy.  Belonging makes our communities healthy too.

Unfortunately, many of us dont feel like we belong.  We might not feel like we belong for many reasons - we might lack the money necessary to belong, we might have the wrong colour of skin to belong, or we might lack the skills and education required to belong.  All of these things lead to many of us being excluded from our communities.

An increasing body of evidence supports the importance of belonging to overall health.  Belonging, or social inclusion, is one of several social determinants of health . We now know that the social determinants of health are key factors for determining why some people are healthy and others are not.

Building on this, were trying to work with others to make our communities more inclusive so that more of us feel like we belong.  Belonging means that more of us will be healthy.   Our communities will be healthier, too.  

To help do this, weve put together a Creating Caring Communities strategy which is a 4-year (2006-2010) plan for our Chronic Disease, Injury and Substance Abuse Prevention programs.   The plan reflects changes in our programming, and helps to highlight the relationship between inclusion and health.  With this strategy, were moving away from programs that try to 'tell' people how to be healthy, and are moving toward programs that help all of us to be heard, so that together we can decide how to increase belonging and make our communities healthier.

What might a caring community look like?

• Clean and safe physical environment.
  
  
• Peace, equity and social justice.
  
  
• Adequate access to food, water, shelter, income, safety, work and recreation for all.
  
  
• Adequate access to health care services.
  
  
• Equal opportunities for learning and skill development.
  
  
• Strong, mutually supportive relationships and networks.
  
  
• Workplaces that are supportive of individual and family well-being.
  
  
• Broad participation of residents in decision-making.
  
  
• Strong local cultural and spiritual heritage
  
  
• Diverse and vital economy
  
  
• Protection of the natural environment
  
  
• Responsible use of resources to ensure long term sustainability