In the weeks leading up to Community Health and Wellbeing Week AOHC will feature a series of stories that describe the work of community-governed primary care centres addressing the domains of life that have a major impact on health and wellbeing. The need to take action was highlighted recently in the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) Ontario composite report: How are Ontarians Really doing? Our stories will demonstrate how AOHC member centres are leading by example with community initiatives that are improving these domains of life.

Today marks Day 1 of the Community Health and Wellbeing Summer Institute taking place at Lakehead University’s Orillia Campus. Approximately 50 representatives from Ontario’s Community-Governed Primary Health Centres and the Association of Ontario Health Centres gathered to unpack ways to enhance community health and wellbeing development practices and community initiatives.

In June 2007, I heard Roy Romanow speak about the CIW at the annual Association of Ontario Health Centres conference, and I got REALLY excited! For the first time ever, I felt there was a systematic, evidence-based, credible tool that – despite its national scope - could readily and appropriately be applied to the community level; a tool that could measure the type of work that our CHC does in partnership with so many other agencies and groups (many of which are not health service providers), and by extension, to then drive needed change.

On April 15th and April 16th two online discussions, hosted by HC Link, took place to spark ideas on how the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW) can serve as an innovative tool to contribute to an enhanced community health and wellbeing movement in Ontario.