About community engagement at Vancouver Coastal Health

At Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), community engagement is the structured facilitation of public input to help inform health care policies, programs, services, and facilities. 

Community engagement can take many forms and will always have defined objectives, scope and a commitment from VCH as to how public input will be used. 

VCH believes that everyone should have a say when it comes to their health care. 

Through community engagement, VCH is able to better understand the lived experiences of those who access our health-care sites and services. Engagement enables VCH to identify challenges, opportunities, and deliver more patient-centered care. 

This approach ultimately improves the access, quality and safety of care for communities we serve. 

A dedicated Community Engagement team collaborates with departments across VCH to design, develop, and deliver public engagement programs.

VCH engages with relevant community partners around health-care projects, including but not limited to: 

• Indigenous communities
• Civic organizations
• Health care organizations
• All levels of government
• Social service organizations
• Members of the public

Note: community engagement is typically externally focused; however, VCH also incorporates staff and medical staff input on relevant projects, where appropriate.

VCH provides health services to 14 First Nations across the region and is committed to creating long-lasting, trusted relationships with First Nations, Metis and Inuit Peoples.

Engagement is a key part of that commitment, and VCH engages regularly with relevant Indigenous partners to advance reconciliation and culturally safe care.

In general, VCH strives for early and meaningful engagement with Indigenous partners to help build trusted relationships as well as help inform process, timelines, and a shared vision for success.

Learn more about VCH’s approach to Indigenous Health, including the communities we serve and guiding principles. 

Community engagement at VCH adopts the widely accepted standard of practice developed by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and embraces IAP2 core values, including that public participation:

• Is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. 
• Includes the promise that the public's contribution will influence the decision. 
• Promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision-makers. 
• Seeks out and facilitates the [equitable] involvement of [all] those potentially affected by or interested in a decision. 
• Seeks input from participants in designing how they participate. 
• Provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way. 
• Communicates to participants how their input affected the decision. 

The IAP2 public engagement spectrum illustrates the relationship between the level of public participation and the goal of the engagement.