In the spring of 2010, Val Morrison completed the Issue Mapping Webinar Series given by the CogNexus Institute.

A wicked problem: many factors contribute to lower life expectancy in lower-income neighbourhoods.

This course is an introduction to mapping "wicked problems." Some of the issues provisionally mapped through the course included the resurgence of bedbugs and what might be required to best resolve the problem, and a more general mapping of the very complex (and wicked) issue of health inequalities and the various ways of reducing them.

At the NCCPH Spring Training session in Niagara-on-the-lake, Val and François-Pierre Gauvin facilitated a workshop showcasing both deliberative dialogues and Issue/Dialogue Mapping as tools in dealing with wicked problems. (To read about that presentation, click here.) We intend to continue to develop this angle as a tool for combating health inequalities.

Beginning in the summer of 2011, Anika Mendell and Val Morrison, along with collaborators from the NCC for Determinants of Health, will be compiling a portrait of equity tools and/or lenses as well as applications of Equity-focused Health Impact Assessments currently used in Canada.


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© iStockphoto.com/ kajetan