Edmonton SPC outlines social health indicators.

An Edmonton Social Planning Council report, Focus on social health key to a more inclusive city, outlines social health indicators that measure whether Edmonton is becoming a more inclusive city. The report is part of Edmonton's contribution to the Inclusive Cities Canada initiative. For the past three years, ICC has been developing strategies to make cities more inclusive for all of their citizens.

Phil O'Hara, the author of the report states, "Poor health status is closely linked to conditions like inadequate income, substandard housing and food insecurity." He adds, "Despite the current economic boom, if we fail to address the root causes of ill health, we will become a more socially divided, rather than inclusive city".

"Governments and the health sector have often been reluctant to champion policies to improve underlying social conditions like poverty. The report's purpose is to bridge this divide by developing tools to measure Edmonton's progress in becoming a more socially inclusive city," says O'Hara, who now works as a human services consultant.

"The outcomes and indicators outlined in this report were largely developed from recommendations in a March 2005 Inclusive Cities Canada report that involved broad consultation with Edmontonians," says John Kolkman, ESPC Research and Policy Analysis Coordinator. He points out that the ICC has already made a significant contribution to several initiatives including: a City of Edmonton office of diversity and inclusion, a strategy to attract more immigrants to Edmonton, an urban aboriginal accord, and the, Cornerstones affordable housing strategy.

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