A peak into the BMHC

Second floor hallway where all the admin office are located

Needle exchange program. They also provide condoms and lube for free to promote safe sex

They have several bulletin boards that post use full information for patients regarding health
programs, job opportunities, community events and so forth

Triage

Doctors room

On site Dynalife diagnostic facility (it was Halloween the day I was there so all the staff were dressed up)

Health posters in different languages. This caught my attention because it shows how the BMHC takes into
consideration the different cultures and background of their patients and does not discriminate but rather
makes great effort to create a barrier free facility

Rules of the BMHC

On site dental facilities

Dental x-ray

Pamphlets available in the counselling office

 

Orientation

Today the BMHC CSL group had our first group orientation where we got to meet everyone on the project and discus our projects and roles. It was the first time I got to meet other class members that are working on interviews and literature reviews as part of their placement. I thought it was nice to get together and find out what the other group was doing and give each other feedback on each others projects and provide suggestions.

 

The group

 

The interview group from what I understand will be working on developing interview questions to ask BMHC staff and will conduct and transcribe interviews in the following weeks. The blog group which I am part of will have access to the interviews and we will be able to use them as part of our blog. The interview group will also be doing literature reviews on the history of the BMHC which will provide us with interesting insight into the development of community heath care in the community and hopefully will uncover some interesting information we can share with everyone.

 

As for my own group, we were able to discuss some great ideas for the blog as well as some projects we can do. One of the girls and I came up with an idea of developing a clothing drive at the university to collect clothes and hygienic supplies for women at the Kindred House. The Kindred House is a Boyle McCauley Health Center program located in downtown Edmonton that provides a safe place for women and transgendered individuals that are involved in street prostitution.

 

"Staff and volunteers work to provide a safe, supportive, non-judgemental environment, that enables us to respond to the most basic needs of the individuals who access our services" (taken from the Kindred House pamphlet)

 



We believe that this will enable us to interact more closely with the community and play a greater role in supporting the efforts of the BMHC. We have yet to figure out the details of this drive but we look forward to getting it started up.

In addition to this initiative, we were able to come up with some possible ideas of things to include in our blog including staff profiles, a virtual tour of the BMHC, some literature reviews, and facts and research on community health clinics in Canada and abroad.

Food for thought

How does a community based research and evaluation (CBRE) approach differ from other perhaps more conventional types of research approaches? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such an approach? What are some convergences between CBRE and CSL?

 

 A CBRE approach differs from conventional types of research approaches in that it is very qualitative based as opposed to quantitative types of research. A qualitative approach to research and evaluation requires deeper involvement with communities and within communities to better understand the issues at hand. It represents a participatory approach where researchers are involved in the process rather than an outsider looking in. Researchers are able to hear community concerns first hand as well as better understand issues and challenges from the peoples perspective. By working with communities and individuals at a personal level, it can encourage feelings of empowerment within the community and its members as well as promote social change. Community involvement can also make research more understandable to those involved.

 

Disadvantages to this type of research and evaluation can include the possibility of competing views between not just researchers and the community but between community members. Other issues involved in this approach could be that the goals of the researchers and the community do not align or are not of the biggest importance to the community. Overrepresenttiaon of specific groups of people in a community or community leaders can also create a misrepresentation  of overall community views or promote the opinions of a select few.

 

Convergences between CBRE and CSL primarily include the aspect of hands on involvement and participation with the community. Both also work towards the advancement of community knowledge and understanding. 

CSL Reflection

Why did you choose your particular word to describe your CSL experience?

 

"Communication, fun, overwhelmed, gradual, new, ideas, motivation, muti-disciplinary, understanding, liberate, eye-opening, initiative, creativity"

My word....reach

I chose the word reach to describe my CSL placement primarily because of the blog we are creating for the BMHC. The purpose of the blog is to create awareness for the center and its partner organizations as well as to create better understanding of the experiences of both its staff and patients. The concept of reach seems fitting because we are reaching out to the public and trying to expand knowledge and support of the BMHC to everyone. By using various forms of social media and creating an interactive blog, we hope to spread the message about the BMHC and the role in plays in the community and the importance of primary health care access.

Say What??

So I felt like expressing a bit of confusion over my placement at the BMHC...

The other day when we had the group meeting with Bavie there were two girls at the meeting that I had never seen before and I was confused to why I had never seen them in class. It turns out they are not in my CSL class but have been put onto the placement from other classes they are taking. This is completely fine of course, but it left me totally confused because here I was suggesting we all include out snapshot assignment on the BMHC when it turns out they were not in my class and had no idea what I was talking about and no one had told me (nor one of the other girls in my class that is also working on the project) that the BMHC placement would involve people from outside of CSL 100. It just made me feel like there is a bit of miscommunication in the project.

In addition to that, it turns out that the BMHC placement has actually been split into two groups, one working on the blog and the other working on literature review and research, and from it sounds like they will also be conducting future interviews. I knew that there was at least another girl from my class missing from the meeting the other week but it turns out she was missing because she was working on a completely different project. The fact that the project was split into two was not communicated nor was I given the option of which two projects I would like to work on. I am happy to work on the blog, but I am a little frustrated that there was so much important information that I feel I was left out of.

Blast from the Past

Bavie had mentioned that Boyle McCauley community had a community newsletter so I decided to check it out. The website is very well organized and better yet they have digitally uploaded all their newsletters into an archive. The archive goes all the way back to 1979 when the newsletter first came out. It also allows you to search the archive for key words which is very use full. I looked through a couple of the older copies and it was fascinating. I am personally fascinated by 'old things' so it was amazing to look at 'old' pictures (at least it was before I was born) and read through the headlines. I saw headlines that involved such things as homelessness, prostitution, the development of the Common Wealth Stadium, local accidents and crimes to things such as community events, the building of gates around homes, and the need for social housing. I particularly liked looking at old advertisements and evens saw some for the BMHC.

 

You can find the archive at http://bmcnews.org/ . It is an interesting way to get to know the neighborhood and learn a bit more about the history of such a historic and unique area of Edmonton. Additionally, it provides a glimpse at the history of social issues that this neighborhood has seen over the past several decades.

 



Advertisment for the BMHC from one of the newsletters from the 80's

 



CSL Community Project

Last week we had our first BMHC CSL meeting with Bavie to discuss the project we will be working on this semester. The project, originally called "Hearing the Stories, Changing the Stories" was to be an interactive project where we would be interviewing staff and well as clients to better document and understand their experiences at the center and increase awareness about about the services the BMHC offers. Ethics issues however have created setbacks in going forward with the interviews.

 

The project now is going towards developing a blog for the BMHC that hopefully will be turned into the official BMHC web page. I am proud to say that the current name of the blog was taken from my personal CSL blog (that your on right now). Yey!

 

We have decided that the blog will become a platform for connecting the BMHC with the public by way of blog entries, photographs, information on upcoming events related to the BMHC and its organizations, hopefully some client/staff stories, service information, as well teaching the public about the history of the organization. In addition to creating entries for the blog, we CSL students will also be developing and maintaining the site. I look forward to creating and contributing to the blog and hope that it becomes a popular part of the BMHC.

 

Here is the link: http://bmhcvoices.blogspot.ca/