How lived experiences can help address our most pressing social challenges

Across Canada, there is a crucial need for agencies that have a social justice and/or community improvement approach that helps foster job skills and helps the people in our communities be successful. Cities are calling for a change in the conversation – for creating opportunities and looking for long-term solutions; however, they also recognize the value in diverse collaboration. As Kelly Ziegner, Chief Executive Officer for United Way Elgin-Middlesex, says, “A successful city is one where everyone matters.”

At the recent 2018 Mid-Sized Cities Researcher + Practitioner Roundtable, organized by Evergreen, held in London, Ontario, a panel discussion moderated by Ziegner explored how leaders in cities can work together to address two interconnected and urgent social challenges: widespread poverty and drug dependency.

When discussing social challenges like poverty and addiction, it’s important to understand that medical journals and policy papers don’t hold all of the information. Finding people with lived experience is essential to developing effective long-term solutions. Stephen Lynn, Coordinator of Social Planning for the City of Windsor, explains that “when you change the game from just presenting numbers to council, and you’re able to effectively communicate a story, it goes a long way … especially if it’s the individual who is receiving the support who’s there talking.”

Rhonda Brittan, Public Health Manager for the Middlesex-London Health Unit, added that having a balance between facts and storytelling is the ideal strategy. “The people with lived experience bring wisdom … When you have someone who has a lived experience of incarceration and substance use sit beside a deputy chief of police and tell their story, it starts to change the way everyone around the table views the issue,” she explains. It’s important to focus on having an evidence-based strategy and to look at the data, but “it’s a combination of the two that really will get us further in the end.”

However, ensuring that these voices and stories are heard is not an easy task. Sometimes, it’s a matter of picking up the phone and checking in; sometimes, it’s a matter of reaching out to areas in the country that aren’t traditionally included; and sometimes, it’s a matter of transportation and access. As Dr. Chris Mackie, MD, MHSc, CCFP, FRCPC, Medical Officer of Health and CEO of the Middlesex-London Health Unit, says, “Go out and post the meetings at various places where people with lived experiences are already accessing services. Give them a chance to give their perspective.” Above all, he stressed that “Tokenism – one person showing up to represent this entire diverse world – is inadequate.” There needs to be multiple people at the table with lived experience.

As suggested by the panel, the future of social health in our cities will be dependent on collaboration and communication between a diversity of voices, especially those with lived experience in poverty and/or addictions.  MW