EMPOWERMENT
Empowerment refers to the capacity of individuals and communities to exercise the power they require to improve their health through increasing their control over the determinants that are important to their health. IHSs should make every effort to increase the degree of control that the rostered community and the individual clients have over the determinants that effect their health.
Ensuring that rostered communities are involved in a meaningful way in the design and operations of IHSs is fundamental in this regard. Flexibility in the Ministry’s legislative framework is also necessary to allow for local-level decision-making around the design and operation of each IHS. By devolving certain responsibilities for resource allocation, strategic planning, and structure to IHSs while establishing and enforcing critical provincial wide standards, the Ministry of Health can create the opportunity for, community empowerment, and free IHSs to best meet their rostered community’s needs.
To ensure an empowering approach to IHS design and operations, we recommend the following.