A Model for an Introductory Dialogue on Abortion

Public Conversations Project.

The model described here was developed for the single session introductory dialogues on abortion that Public Conversations Project conducted in 1990-1992 (eighteen sessions) and 1995-1998 (ten sessions). Most of these dialogues took place on weekday evenings between 6:00 and 9:30 and involved four to eight participants who did not know one another ahead of time. Several participants were activists but few were highly visible leaders. All groups were evenly balanced with people who described themselves as ?“prochoice?” or ?“prolife.?”

A Public Voice '04: Examining Health Care

Milton B. Hoffman Productions.

Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org

A Youth Leader's Guide to Building Cultural Competence

Susan A. Messina.

Meet the challenges of providing HIV/STD and sexuality education to culturally diverse groups. Using a four-step model, this resource helps build the attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary to reach all groups of young people. Focuses on African American, Latino and lesbian, gay and bisexual teens. This publication was funded through a cooperative agreement (U63/CCU302752) with the Division of Adolescent and School Health, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Resource Link: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/guide/

Abortion Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

Where advocates on both sides see absolutes, the public seems to see conflicts and conditions, with solid majorities supporting a woman's right to an abortion if her reasons seem sound and if it's not too late in the pregnancy. On an individual level, medical technology is making the issue more complex. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=abortion

Americans for Informed Democracy's Organizers Toolkit - Global HIV/AIDS

Nearly 40 million people around the world live with HIV or AIDS. More than half of the infected reside in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. This global pandemic is affecting not only the health and well-being, but also the economy and security of countries around the world. Realizing the crucial role that young people can play in combating the global pandemic, Americans for Informed Democracy is focusing this February on global HIV/AIDS and the role that young people can play in combating it.

Resource Link: http://www.aidemocracy.org/globalaids.doc

Anna Scheleit, Artist

Anna Scheleit's public art piece "The State Hospital: In Memoriam" promoted civic dialogue about the mental health system in America through Habeas Corpus, a one time site-specific sound installation of J.S. Bach's Magnificat, making the abandoned building "sing in memory of the thousands of individuals whose lives were affected by the institution."

Resource Link: http://www.1856.org

Association for Community Health Improvement

The Association for Community Health Improvement is the premier national association for community health, healthy communities and community benefit. We convene and support leaders from the health care, public health, community and philanthropic sectors to help achieve shared community health goals, and work with hundreds of members to strengthen community health through education, peer networking and the dissemination of practical tools.

Resource Link: http://www.communityhlth.org

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is a multicultural company committed to performing innovative, collaborative works of dance-theater. The Company has distinguished itself through its teaching and performing in various universities, festivals and under the aegis of government agencies such as the US Information Agency (in Eastern Europe, Asia and South East Asia). Audiences of approximately 50,000 to 100,000 annually see the Company across the country and around the world.

Resource Link: http://www.billtjones.org

Boston Prochoice and Prolife Leaders Dialogue

The Public Conversations Project.

Read about PCP's groundbreaking 7-year abortion dialogue involving pro-choice and pro-life leaders in the Boston area. PCP has been doing dialogue work with Prochoice and Prolife activists and others since 1989.

Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resource_details.php?ref_id=97

By the People

By the People: America in the World, an initiative of MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, aims to energize and enhance the national conversation on America's role in the world through a series of national and local broadcasts and events that demonstrate the relevance of foreign policy issues to local concerns. The project includes three national PBS specials, two cycles of local programming to be produced by PBS stations in cooperation with community organizations, national and local forums for civic dialogue, and an interactive web site.

Resource Link: http://www.macneil-lehrer.com/btp/

Citizen Participation in Health (Care) Decision Making: What We Know and Where We Might Go

John B. Church, M. I. Wanke, L. D. Saunders, R. Pong, C. Spooner and M. Dorgan. Centre for Health Promotion Studies, 2001.

This paper examines the concept of citizen participation within the context of a series of basic questions from which decision makers might draw some policy relevance. These questions include: How is the organization/program accountable? Who should participate? What level of input could the community have in the decision-making process? In what types of decisions might citizens be involved? Given what we know, where might we go from here?

Resource Link: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/chps/publications_orders.cfm

Citizen Participation Partnership Project (CiPPP) Technical Report

John Church, Ollie Triska, Kent Rondeau, Doug Wilson, P. Susan Wagner, Bob McKim, Ray Lafleur, Karyn Gibbons, Josh Marko, Melanie Chapman, Aliyah Mawji, and Deborah Lafleur.

Citizen participation is considered a key building block of primary care within our health care system. Community Health Centres (CHCs) are community-based health organizations which provide a range of health and social services through professional teams. CHCs are known for their emphasis on community care and citizen participation in decision making. Currently, regional health authorities (RHAs) across Canada are developing CHCs to address the health reform objectives of government. This study compared citizen participation in CHCs in eight Canadian provinces in relation to the characteristics of the communities served and the characteristics of the CHCs.

Resource Link: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/chps/pdfs/technical_report_06-001_web.pdf

Citizens Health Care Working Group

Established by the US Congress in 2003, the Citizens Health Care Working Group is mandated to create a nationwide public debate about improving the health care system to provide every American with the ability to obtain quality, affordable health care coverage. Congress is expected to vote on the recommendations that result from the debate. The group is holding a series of small and large-scale public meetings throughout 2006 aimed at engaging the American public in establishing the values and priorities that must drive health care reform in 2008 and beyond.

Resource Link: http://www.citizenshealthcare.gov

Community Health News

The Association for Community Health Improvement is the premier national association for community health, healthy communities and community benefit. Community Health News is a weekly e-newsletter available to anyone who wishes to subscribe for non-commercial purposes. Currently, 2,000 subscribers receive weekly announcements of health trends and statistics, prevention programs, policy initiatives, funding opportunities, tools and best practices.

Resource Link: http://www.communityhlth.org/communityhlth/news/newsletter.html

Day of Dialogue: A community conversation about alcohol

Greek Summit - Sponsor: NASPA's Fraternity/Sorority Knowledge Community.

This dialogue guide introduces a model for discussing issues related to alcohol and alcohol-free housing.

Deliberations about Deliberative Methods: Issues in the Design and Evaluation of Public Participation Processes

Julia Abelson, Pierre-Gerlier Forest, John Eyles, Patricia Smith, Elisabeth Martin and Francois-Pierre Gauvin. Social Science and Medicine, 57, 239-251, 2003.

This article addresses the questions "What are deliberative methods and why have they become so popular?" and "What are their potential contributions to the health sector?" This critical review of the literature is used as the basis for developing general principles that can be used to guide the design and evaluation of public involvement processes for the health-care sector in particular.

Resource Link: http://www.chepa.org/research/01-04.pdf

Developing and Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: A Skill-Building Curriculum

The Examining Community-Institutional Partnerships for Prevention Research Group, 2006.

This evidence-based curriculum is intended as a tool for community-institutional partnerships that are using or planning to use a CBPR (Community-Based Participatory Research) approach to improving health. Each of the 7 units in the curriculum includes: learning objectives, in-depth content information about the topic(s) being presented, examples & interactive exercises designed to trigger discussion and help better understand the concepts being presented, and citations and suggested resources.

Resource Link: http://www.cbprcurriculum.info

Evaluation Report: California Mediated Public Policy on Physician-Assisted Suicide and End-of-Life Issues

Center for Collaborative Policy, 2002.

At the request of the California State Assembly Select Committee on Palliative Care, a group of nineteen stakeholders and interested individuals assembled in a mediated process to discuss end of life issues. This group met beginning November 1, 2001, and convened nine times before ending in June 2002 with a final report. This report is an evaluation of the dialogue using a methodology appropriate for such consensus seeking dialogue processes.

Resource Link: http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/Devolution_CCP_2004.pdf

From Stuck Debate to New Conversation on Controversial Issues: A Report from the Public Conversations Project

Carol Becker, Laura Chasin, Richard Chasin, Margaret Herzig and Sallyann Roth. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 7 (1-2), 143-163, 1995.

This article presents the four guiding objectives of PCP's work and describes practices that support each of those objectives, drawing case examples from their introductory dialogues on abortion.

Resource Link: http://www.publicconversations.org/pcp/resources/resource_detail.asp?ref_id=69

Health Care Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

Once again, the nation's health care system is under the microscope. The system is undergoing a level of scrutiny not seen since the early 1990s, when Congress scrapped the Clinton administration's complex plan to overhaul health care. Since then, employers have acted on their own to control health costs, largely by requiring employees to join managed-care programs, such as health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=healthcare