"He" shouldn't do anything.  I'd assume that any "health promoter" would
have been using an action research approach to such a study -- so the
'actions' wouldn't come from a list of options created by an academic - but
from community discussion and ownership.

If "he" took any of these actions - "he" would be acting from a sense of
professional prestige and perceived expert power - which would (at best)
only consolidate others motivated in the same way,  and (at worst) further
reinforce the acceptability of disempowering conditions - which caused the
the problem in the first place.

Do I win the prize? :)

Theresa Schumilas
Director
Family and Community Resources
Community Health Department
Region of Waterloo

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At 12:47 AM 1/15/98 -0500, you wrote:
>A health promoter carries out an intensive study of a community in a major
>Ontarian city.  He interviews community residents, service providers, and
>local elected representatives.
>
>He comes to the conclusion that recent cutbacks to social assistance
>recipients are causing hardship and distress to community members.  The
>information from service providers indicates that cutbacks in funding are
>putting the agency and the community it serves at risk. The views of the
>political representatives are that social policy is being set back 50
>years. Not a single person says that provincial policies are enhancing
>health.
>
>He does the following:
>
>1) asks for a meeting with the Ontario Ministers of Health, Community and
>Social Services, and Education to discuss the implications of these findings.
>[possible outcome: increased funding for HP activities, changes in provincial
>policies]
>
>2) he asks for a meeting with opposition health, social services, and
>education critics to discuss the implications of these findings. [potential
>outcome: opposition press conference outlining provincial effects on the
>fabric of Ontario civil society, followed by defeat of government in next
>provincial election]
>
>3) both 1 and 2 should be done.
>
>4) none of the above options are correct.
>
>Justify your choice in terms of what will be the most fruitful means of
>improving the health of the particular community he has just studied.
>
>Or just indicate your option!
>
>  ***************************************************
>  From new transmitters came the old stupidities.
>  Wisdom was passed on from mouth to mouth.
>            -Bertolt Brecht
>  ***************************************************
>
>Dennis Raphael, Ph.D.
>Associate Professor and Acting Director,
>Masters of Health Science Program in Health Promotion
>Department of Public Health Sciences
>Graduate Department of Community Health
>University of Toronto
>McMurrich Building, Room 101
>Toronto, Ontario, CANADA M5S 1A8
>
>
>
>
>
>