Sudbury, April 15, 2016 – The Réseau du mieux-être francophone du Nord de l’Ontario held its first forum for the Carrefours santé and Health Tables in Northern Ontario. Fifteen Carrefours santé and Health Tables took part in this virtual meeting through the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN).
The forum provided the opportunity to over 60 participants to share their success, challenges, and identify new courses of action for the Carrefours santé and Health Tables.
Although Francophone communities face many challenges such as, distance between communities, limited understanding from the Anglophone leaders on the importance of French language services and recruitment and retention of Francophone health care professionals, the Carrefours santé and Health Tables are perceived as being a valuable asset in our communities. Their success can be seen at various levels: creation of a web site; creation of an interpretation service; organization of Francophone workshops; awareness of French language health services to health services providers; collaboration with community partners on projects related to Francophones and networking and information sharing with community groups and health service providers.
“The Carrefours santé and Health Tables represent the voice of Francophones in a community. They are recognized across the North for being the go to group to consult regarding the health care needs of Francophones.” explains Diane Quintas, Executive Director with the RMEFNO. “ The forum showcased the importance of their contributions and help identifying new courses of action to assist them in moving forward with their networking and community engagement role.”
The Carrefours santé and Health Tables highlighted the importance of working together in identifying common issues and solutions. As stated by Guylaine Scherer-Comtois, member of the Carrefour santé of Kapuskasing. “This forum allowed us to make a first step between Carrefours santé and Health Tables as to what is happening in their area. Communication, sharing of best practices and the development of a mechanism to allow for an ongoing exchange of information are key for the ongoing success of the Carrefours santé and Health Tables.”
According to Elsa St-Onge, Planning and Community Engagement Officer responsible for the Carrefours santé and Health Tables, “The experience of participants to this first forum was very enriching and informative. We are very encouraged by the results and by working together we can achieve our goal of cultivating a platform that will allow for a continuous exchange of information between the Carrefours santé and Health Tables.”
Facts on the Carrefours santé and Health Tables:
- They are a group of Francophones from a community working together to identify the health care needs of their community and find solutions to improve access to French language services.
- They have existed in Northern Ontario since 2011.
- They are recognized as the go to group to consult regarding the health care needs of Francophones.
- They act as a networking group.
- They are often the mechanism used to raise awareness with health service providers on the importance of French language services.
If you are interested in becoming a member of a Carrefour santé or Health Table, please contact the RMEFNO at 1 866-489-7494.
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Source of information:
Monique Rocheleau, Associate Executive Director
mrocheleau@rmefno.ca
(705) 477-0160