From the inception of the company in 1998, we have offered consulting services to non-profit, non-governmental organizations. Throughout the years, our dynamic, multidisciplinary and all female team has partnered with these organizations to mobilize civil society for system change with a goal of creating more responsive, effective, equitable and empowering services.
The Quaich’s consulting services have been grounded in concepts illustrated in the Circle of Health, a unique health promotion framework developed on PEI (1996) that visually illustrates how all requirements for health and well-being (broadly-defined) are connected, encouraging a population health and integrated service delivery approach. The Circle of Health is built on values of social justice, respect, caring, balance, and sharing and was the first health promotion framework to include gender and culture as determinants of health. The Circle of Health is now available in English, French, Spanish, Serbian, Portuguese, and German and in use in several countries. It is well tested and serves as a tool for education, planning of policy and programs, and engagement of intersectoral partnerships and has been the key instrument in export activities. I was privileged to provide leadership to the development of the Circle of Health in 1996. The Quaich has served as publisher and distributor since 2001. We have published a Facilitator Handbook and created a number of supportive tools, including a website http://circleofhealth.net. The Quaich’s consulting services have been grounded in concepts illustrated in the Circle of Health, a unique health promotion framework developed on PEI (1996) that visually illustrates how all requirements for health and well-being (broadly-defined) are connected, encouraging a population health and integrated service delivery approach. The Circle of Health is built on values of social justice, respect, caring, balance, and sharing and was the first health promotion framework to include gender and culture as determinants of health. The Circle of Health is now available in English, French, Spanish, Serbian, Portuguese, and German and in use in several countries. It is well tested and serves as a tool for education, planning of policy and programs, and engagement of intersectoral partnerships and has been the key instrument in export activities. I was privileged to provide leadership to the development of the Circle of Health in 1996. The Quaich has served as publisher and distributor since 2001. We have published a Facilitator Handbook and created a number of supportive tools, including a website http://circleofhealth.net.
Since 2007 I have been offering and refining online workshops, offering onsite workshops and consulting services based on the Circle of Health. Noteworthy are international experiences facilitating a summer school on the Circle of Health in Divčibare, Serbia for the Serbian Public Health Association (2009) and three visits to Brazil to facilitate workshops for public health organizations in that country (2008, 2009, 2016). In February 2018, I engaged in a partnership with the European Union Public Health Association (EUPHA) offering online Circle of Health workshops to their membership; and presented at the EUPHA annual conference in Slovenia (November 2018). In June 2018, I was invited to adapt the online workshops for an elective course to be offered through Furtwangen University, Germany. I have since offered the course to five cohorts of undergraduate and graduate students. In February 2020, I coached a European project, MiG to pilot the German version of the Circle of Health. Since presenting at the EUPHA conference, I have been invited to submit articles to European journals and to speak at the Nursing Congress in Rome, Italy in September 2020. Most recently I was invited to submit a chapter on the Circle of Health to an International Handbook on Teaching and Learning, published by Springer and launched at the International Union of Health Promotion and Education Conference (2022).
Examples of Consulting Work Follow
Project Management:
Since 1998 I have provided a wide variety of project management services for large-scale projects, including project design, definition of role and responsibilities, delivery of programs, budget management and reporting, supervision of staff, and supporting networks and partnerships. Key accomplishments include:
- Successfully bid for and coordinated the 6th Global Forum on Health Promotion with the theme Health Promotion at the very heart of sustainability – successfully delivered in Charlottetown PEI, October 2016. The Forum celebrated 30 years of the Ottawa Charter, explored the links with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and produced a civil society declaration entitled the PEI Declaration, which evolved to be called the Charlottetown Call to Action. This call to action was presented to the 9th WHO Conference on Health Promotion in Shanghai (Nov. 2016) and endorsed by the Alliance for Health Promotion (Jan. 2017). Coordination included facilitating program development with an international committee, establishing terms and engagement with speakers, managing registration and promotions, and coordinating events onsite. The event was led by the Alliance for Health Promotion (Geneva, Switzerland) with Canadian partners – PEI Dept. of Health and Wellness, The Quaich Inc. and Groupe Enterprise en Santé. During the planning of this project I served as a speaker at the Geneva Health Forum (2016) and the IUHPE Conference in Curitiba, Brazil (2016).
- Managed a series of large multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary projects for the Atlantic Summer Institute on Healthy and Safe Communities: Moving Forward: Creating a Healthier and Safer Atlantic Canada, National Crime Prevention Centre (2006-2009), value $447,950; Fostering Innovation in Social Development: Health Meets Safety in Atlantic Canadian Communities – a one year project funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (2007), value $150,700; Building Leadership Capacity Amongst Women and Girls In Atlantic Canada – a three year project funded by Status of Women Canada (2010-2014), value $300,000. Currently managing Mobilizing Intersectoral policy for Upstream Investment in Infant, Child and Youth Mental Health in Atlantic Canada – a one-year project funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada Intersectoral Action Fund (2022-2023), value $249,000; and Investing Upstream: Placing Infants, children and youth at the forefront of lifelong mental well-being – a shift in policy direction for Prince Edward Island (2022-2025), value $300,000.
- Managed an environmental scan and literature review for scaling up mental health promotion in Atlantic Canada, which provided ground work for a scale-up strategy for the Canadian Mental Health Association Nova Scotia (CMHA-NS), funded by Public Health Agency of Canada (2012-2013), value $150,000.
- Completed a 211 PEI implementation plan on behalf of United Way PEI for submission to PEI Government as part of the poverty reduction strategy (July, 2018); with funding approved, implemented a community engagement strategy (Feb. – Sept. 2019)
- Developed a detailed project implementation plan and evaluation framework, conducted an environmental scan for a 3-year Healthy Communities project on behalf of Special Olympics PEI (Jan-Oct. 2018). Completed evaluation of the project each year (2018-2021).
- Contracted by the National Collaborating Centre on the Determinants of Health to collaborate in conducting a situational analysis related to digital equity for mental health and addictions in Nova Scotia (January – March 2021) and subsequently contracted to facilitate an online workshop to share the report. Funded by Health Nova Scotia.
- Completed an evaluation of SPELL (Sector Partnership Enhanced Language Learning) pilot project, managed by the YMCA Centre for Immigrant Programs, YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth (November 2020-March 2021). The project was to provide healthcare sector-specific language training that would help newcomers navigate the pathway to their long-term career goals and create a meaningful sense of connection between participants and local labour markets.
Partnership Development:
I have substantial experience in engaging groups in strategic and operational planning, facilitating partnerships focused on a shared vision resulting in innovative projects, proposals and products. Much of its work has taken place in the non-profit sector, working with Boards and groups of volunteers. Experience includes:
- Serving as a founding Board member of the Atlantic Summer Institute on Healthy and Safe Communities (2008-present), an organization formed to develop capacity in Atlantic Canada for intersectoral action on underlying conditions that impact communities in the Region putting the Circle of Health in action; facilitated program development and bilingual delivery of the summer program 2003 – 2019, including a youth leadership and children’s program. Worked with regional and national groups to mobilize a Call to Action on Promoting Child and Youth Mental Health in Atlantic Canada (2017-2018) and to develop a policy brief Upstream Investment: Placing infant, child and youth mental health promotion at the forefront (2020-2021). Currently I am reaching out through broad networks and continuing the conversation in Atlantic Canada and with national partners to mobilize the policy brief.
- Facilitated the development of a vision document “Inter-provincial Collaboration on Scaling Up Social and Emotional Learning Programs in Atlantic Canada” with a core group of the Atlantic SEL Scale up Advisory Committee, a component of the SEAK Project, CMHA NS (2013-2014). The process included representatives of the four departments of education in Atlantic Canada and the document served as the foundation for a three-year mental health promotion scale-up project funded by Phase 3 of the Innovation Strategy, Public Health Agency of Canada (2015-2018).
Engaged the Board of Directors of the Active Living Coalition for Older Adults in strategic planning (2008); Board of Directors of the Canadian Breast Cancer Network in strategic planning and national consultations (2004-2008).
Facilitation & Innovation:
- Since 2007, The Quaich has collaborated with Active Aging Canada in the development of health promotion resources for older adults. See activeagingcanada.ca Most recently served as a facilitator for Active Aging Canada in a project entitled Public Awareness and Education on the use of Cannabis with Older Adults (2019-2020), funded by Health Canada. This two-year project resulted in Be Wise a resource to support older Canadians in the use of cannabis. In 2021 I served as a facilitator and developer of train the trainer materials for online facilitation of Your Personal Passport to Healthy Living, an updated resource for older adults, funded by Seniors Community Grant Program of the Government of Ontario.
- From 2002-2016, I brought my personal experience as a breast cancer survivor to my professional work and with the support of The Quaich team, served as a speaker, facilitator and evaluator of numerous provincial, regional, national and international consultations and conferences that increase the voice of breast cancer survivors. Organizations include the provincial breast cancer partnerships in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Canadian Breast Cancer Network, the World Conference on Breast Cancer, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. I established partnerships with key stakeholders in PEI to launch information kits for newly diagnosed women; facilitated and conducted focus testing for development of an Advanced Breast Cancer Navigation Guide; and in 2012, I facilitated creation of guides for women with other cancers in British Columbia and New Brunswick.
- From 2010-2013, I served as a coordinator and manager of a 3-year project Building Leadership Capacity Among Women and Girls in Atlantic Canada sponsored by the Atlantic Summer Institute on Healthy and Safe Communities and funded by Status of Women Canada. The project was guided by an Advisory Committee with representatives from the four provincial Women’s Secretariats and Advisory Councils on the Status of Women. It involved an environmental scan, creation of workshops focused on Gender and Community Leadership and facilitator training and development of a model that could be applied in internationally in diverse communities. Feedback from participants reinforced the core leadership requirements, and adaptability in content and processes for creating the project deliverable, an Integrated Model of Community Leadership for Women and Girls. The project engaged Aboriginal and First Nations women, immigrant women, and Inuit women, women disadvantaged by poverty and abuse, women in non-traditional jobs, young women, women leaders committed to social change (through not-for-profit leadership), and the men and is documented in a video on YouTube http://youtu.be/Bxvhw4kPXtc This work continues to influence programming of the Atlantic Summer Institute asi-iea.ca
Health System Consulting:
The Quaich Inc. has also been engaged by a number of Provincial Departments of Health and Regional Health Authorities, and private sector pharmacies for applied research and facilitation, strategic planning and health system redesign, and to develop new tools and processes for improved health promotion and person centered care.
- Marketing Plan – Living a Healthy Life, Health PEI, (2018)
- Evaluation Cultural Competency Training, Health PEI, (2017)
- Planning and facilitation on healthy public policy, Healthy Communities Partnership, Hastings and Prince County Health Unit, Belleville Ontario (2014)
- Research and proposal writing for Integrated Chronic Disease Prevention and Management for Aboriginal people, both on and off reserve – Health PEI (2012-2013)
- Design and facilitation of a provincial PEI Forum: Youth and Substance Abuse (2008)
- Business case for pilot of delivery of private sector pharmacy services in long term care setting, Friendly Pharmacy, (2007-2008)
- Evaluation MAWI Mental Health and Addictions Telehealth Project (using the internet to link the Everett Chalmers Hospital with Tobique First Nations), River Valley Health (Sept. 04 – August 05)
- Facilitated introduction of a case management model for addiction services, East Prince Health (February – March 2002)
- Facilitated strategic planning for senior management East Prince Health (Apr – July 2001)
- Facilitated redesign (BPR) of Mental Health Services East Prince Health (Sept: 99-Mar 2000).
- Coordinated the PEI CoCo[1] Contract for the Atlantic Centre for the Study of Human Health; facilitated a BPR pilot project applying the COBRA BPR Methodology to redesign pharmacy services in East Prince Health Region
- Completed a study on succession planning for nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Charlottetown (1998)
[1]CoCo -Coordination and Continuity in Primary Health Care was a consortium of 8 European countries and Canada- the highest funded health telematics project in the European Union Research and Technology 4th Framework Programme.