Oral health care in Canada--a view from the trenches.

Purpose: Concern is increasing over the effect of lack of access to oral health care on the oral health, and hence general health, of disadvantaged groups. In preparation for a national symposium on this issue, key informants across Canada were canvassed for their perceptions of oral health services and their recommendations for improving oral health care delivery. This paper reports the results of that survey.

Working with Toronto neighbourhoods toward developing indicators of community capacity.

Often the goal of health and social development agencies is to assess communities and work with them to improve community capacity. Particularly for health promoters working in community settings and to ensure consistency in the definition of health promotion, the evaluation of health promotion programmes should be based on strengths and assets, yet existing information for planning and evaluation purposes usually focuses on problems and deficits. A model and definition of community capacity, grounded in community experience and focusing on strengths and assets, was developed following a 4-year, multi-site, qualitative, action research project in four Toronto neighbourhoods.