OHSSN Survey 2011

A report on a survey conducted with the English-speaking population of the region by the Outaouais Health and Social Services Network in 2011

Interpretive analysis by Peter MacGibbon Community Development Consultant

Data compilation and tabulation by Sbastien Tach, HEC Montral

OHSSN 2, rue Millar, Gatineau, QC J8Y 3N3 819-777-3206 www.ohssn.org info@ohssn.org

Acknowledgements
This report was prepared by the Outaouais Health and Social Services Network (OHSSN)

and its Community Development consultant, Peter MacGibbon.

The OHSSN receives support from the Community Health and Social Services Network

through funding provided by Health Canada.

(The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the official policies of Health Canada.)

Table of Contents
Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Additional references ............................................................................................................................. 2 3. Demographic snapshot of the ESC in the Outaouais ............................................................................. 3 Population Size and Distribution by First Official Language Spoken (FOLS) .......................................... 3 4. Respondents Profile .............................................................................................................................. 4 Question #1: What is your age group? ............................................................................................... 4 Question #2: What language do you speak at home? ........................................................................ 5 Question #3: How many years have you lived in the Outaouais region? ........................................... 5 Question #4: Please tell us your area(s) of interest: ........................................................................... 6 5. Issues concerning Outaouais residents access to and use of H&SS ..................................................... 7 Question #5: Are you satisfied with the health and social services offered in the Outaouais region?7 Question #6: How important is it for you to be served in English when receiving health and social services? ........................................................................................................................ 8 Question #7: Please circle all services that you have used in the past 12 months in the Outaouais:9 Question #8: Please circle all services that you have used in the past 12 months in Ontario: ....... 10 Question #9: Do you have a family doctor in your community? ...................................................... 11 Question #10: Do you have a family doctor in Ontario? .................................................................... 12 Question #11: In the past 12 months, have you ever used the 811-Info Sant help line for healthrelated questions? ....................................................................................................... 13 Question #12: If YES, how satisfied are you with this service?........................................................... 13 Question #13: What health or social services would you like to see available in English in your community? ................................................................................................................. 14 6. Awareness and Perception of the Outaouais Health and Social Services Network ............................ 16 Question #14: Would you be willing to support the OHSSN by volunteering? .................................. 16 Question #15: Have you ever contacted or visited our resource centre Connexions? ...................... 17

7. Feedback on OHSSN newsletter & website ......................................................................................... 18 Question #16: How satisfied are you with the information presented in the newsletter? ............... 18 Question #17: How satisfied are you with the format of the newsletter? ......................................... 19 Question #18: Does the newsletter effectively provide you with information that is important to you? ............................................................................................................................. 20 Question #19: Do you keep the newsletter as a resource? ................................................................ 21 Question #20: Do you consult the suggested web links for more information? ................................ 22 Question #21: Do you have Internet access at home? ....................................................................... 23 Question #22: Have you visited the OHSSN website? ........................................................................ 24 Question #26: What do you dislike most about the newsletter? ....................................................... 25 Question #25: What information or topics would you like to see included in the newsletter? ........ 26 Question #23: Given the opportunity, would you like to contribute to the newsletter? .................. 28 Question #24: Overall, how satisfied are you with the newsletter? .................................................. 29 Question #27: Please tell us your suggestions to improve the newsletter ........................................ 30 8. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX OHSSN Survey 2011 ................................................................................................................ 33

Executive Summary
The Outaouais Health and Social Services Network (OHSSN) conducted a survey in March 2011 which returned interesting responses regarding the perceptions and experiences of English-speaking residents in the Outaouais. Over 100 English-speaking respondents answered a variety of questions which asked their opinion of the OHSSN's quarterly newsletter, as well as their experiences and concerns regarding health and social services available in their community. 98% of respondents were satisfied with the OHSSN newsletter and over two-thirds of them keep it as a resource. Some suggested changes were to include more topics for young families and to perhaps change the format to include fewer but more comprehensive articles that did not necessarily require a following a web link to get the main point of the item. The survey was informal, and some questions allowed room for multiple interpretations. Also, because 84% of respondents were over the age of 55, so results are skewed towards that age group and thus caution needs to be exercised when applying generalities to their observations. That being said, the results showed that on matters concerning health and social services, the respondents opinions largely reflect experiences reported in similar regional and provincial studies. More than half of the respondents (52.3%) responded that the health and social services offered in the region needed improvement, and 86 % stressed the importance of being served in English. A large number of respondents use health and social services in Ontario with 51% consulting an Ontario physician within the past 12 months. A surprising 38% of respondents had their family doctor in Ontario. When asked whether respondents had used the Info-Sant help line for health-related questions, 79% reported that they had never used the service. This result poses important questions about public awareness of the services available in the region. The results of the survey provide a broad overview of the perceptions of the Outaouais community, including the specific challenges resulting from its proximity to Ontario. The report provides recommendations as to how the OHSSN can help improve access to health and social services through effective communication tools that address the communitys priorities. The English-speaking population of the Outaouais is diverse and scattered and the results of the survey contribute to the ongoing assessment of its needs and priorities. They open a window of discussion on the English-speaking communitys vitality and provide useful information that can contribute to increasing public access to health services and programs in the region. With this survey and report OHSSN will continue to work towards this mandate. The complete report on the survey results is also available on the OHSSN website.

1.

Introduction

This survey was conducted in March 2011. It was originally designed to obtain user feedback on the perceived value and effectiveness of the OHSSN Newsletter as a communications tool for the Englishspeaking community of the region. Respondents were members of the English-speaking population in the Outaouais. The OHSSN decided to take advantage of the opportunity with its target audience to obtain information and opinions about their access to health and social services, and related issues. However, some survey questions were phrased in ways that may have left a wide margin of interpretation from respondents, and instances where this was likely are acknowledged within the body of this report. In addition, other factors aside from respondents First Official Language Spoken may have influenced the overall collected results, including age, individual priorities, awareness of the OHSSN and its mandate, and voluntary interest in responding to the survey. As the survey was conducted on a semi-formal basis, this report is thus necessarily an interpretation of those results, and so is written with reference to the knowledge base provided by several other regional and province-wide population studies on similar topics of health and social services access, as listed below. The OHSSN hopes that this document will serve as a useful reference for informing public partners and community organizations on the perceptions and experiences of English-speaking citizens in the Outaouais, as well as providing a means of anecdotal comparison with the findings of other Networking and Partnership Initiatives across Quebec. At the organizational level, the feedback on its newsletter and website will help the OHSSN adjust those particular communications tools for its intended audience(s), and recommendations to this effect are included in the conclusions of this report.

2.

Additional references

Pocock, J. (2011) CHSSN Baseline Data Report, 2010-2011: English-language Health and Social Services Access in Qubec. Pocock, J. (2010) CHSSN Baseline Data Report, 2009-2010: Region 07 Outaouais (Demographic Profiles of Quebecs English-speaking Communities by Selected CSSS Territories). Pocock, J. (2009) CHSSN Baseline Data Report, 20082009: Regional Profiles of Quebecs English-speaking Communities: Selected 1996-2006 Census Findings. Udy, M. (2011) The Health and Social Service Priorities of Quebecs English-speaking Population, 20132018: A discussion document based on a consultation of Quebecs English-speaking population. QCGN Report.

3.

Demographic snapshot of the ESC in the Outaouais1

Population
In 2006 the date of the last Long-form Census in Canada there were 58,720 Anglophones living in the Outaouais region, where they represented 17.4% of the population. This proportion was higher than the overall 13.4% province-wide share for Anglophones.

First Official Language Spoken (FOLS) number percentage number percentage number percentage

Province of Qubec 994,720 13.4% 6,373,223 85.7% 7,435,900 100.0%

07 - RSS de l'Outaouais 58,720 17.4% 278,285 82.3% 338,185 100.0%

FOLS - Anglophones

FOLS - Francophones

Total population

Source: 2006 Census of Canada, 20% sample. The linguistic concept used is First Official Language Spoken (FOLS) with multiple responses (i.e. more than one language per respondent) distributed proportionately between the English and the French.

Population Size and Distribution by First Official Language Spoken (FOLS)

Seniors
The proportion of Anglophone seniors (aged 65 and over) population is significantly higher than the proportion in the Francophone majority population in the Outaouais.

Single Parents
There are over 7,500 English-speakers living in single-parent families in the Outaouais, where they account for nearly 13% of the Anglophone population. This proportion is higher than that found in the provincewide English-speaking population.

Low Income
There are over 9,000 English-speakers living below the low income cut-off level (LICO) where they represent 15.4% of the Outaouais Anglophone population. This is a higher proportion than that found in the regional Francophone majority population. In addition, there are over 1,600 English-speaking children living below the LICO, where they account for 16.5% of the regional Anglophone children's population. This proportion is significantly higher than the proportion of regional Francophone children's population. Similar discrepancies in LICO levels exist between the regional Anglophone and Francophone populations for persons in single-parent families and in census family households. Income level is widely recognized as the single most influential determinant of population health.2
1

The information presented in section 3 is drawn directly (in condensed form) from the CHSSNs Baseline Data Report 2009-2010, prepared for the Community Health and Social Service Network by Joanne Pocock, PhD; see http://www.chssn.org/En/BDR/2009-2010/BDR_Region-07_OHSSN.pdf for specific data on the RSS de lOutaouais. See the Public Health Agency of Canadas website: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/determinants/determinants-eng.php#income

Unemployment
Anglophones in Outaouais experience an unemployment rate of over 7.5%. This is significantly higher than the unemployment rate in the regions Francophone population.

Mobility
In terms of mobility or out-migration (and the lack thereof), there were 33,010 Anglophone non-movers in the Outaouais. This proportion is much lower than the non-mover proportion in the regions Francophone population, and is also lower than that exhibited by Anglophones across the province. At the time of the 2006 Census, there were 9,250 Anglophones who had recently arrived from outside Quebec to the RSS de l'Outaouais, where they accounted for 16.6% of the regional Anglophone population. The in-migrant proportion of the regions Anglophone population is much higher than the in-migrant proportion in the Francophone population, and is also higher than that exhibited by Anglophones across the province.

4. Respondents Profile
Question #1: What is your age group?

The vast majority of respondents were over 55 years of age. This prevalence amongst respondents means that the survey totals, particularly on age-related issues such as second-language ability (unilingualism) and internet use, are significantly skewed towards the older age group. Over time, this particular group may have had a greater number of unsatisfying experiences accessing health and social sevices in the region. Thay may also have stronger historical memories of language clashes in Quebec. It might also be inferred that the over-55 age group is typically the most concerned with health issues. Younger adults may have other immediate concerns besides issues of health access. If in fact a larger

5 representation younger adults actually received the survey than is shown here by the reponses, they may not have been interested enough or had the time to reply.

Question #2: What language do you speak at home?

The majority of respondents use English only at home, with less than 10% using both languages. The low percentage of Bilingual responses may reflect home-use only, and does not necessarily indicate that the other respondents are unilingual. There is a slight chance that Bilingual could possibly have been misinterpreted to include the use of other languages besides English or French. (However, other possible languages used by First Nations people, recent immigrants, or members of cultural communities, for example are not indicated in the survey.)

Question #3: How many years have you lived in the Outaouais region?
The average respondent has lived in the region for 44 years. This could be skewed between extreme points with the respondent longest in the area being 90 years old, and others who have just moved to the region. The mode from the survey responses was 65 years (mode being the numbers that appears the most often).

Question #4: Please tell us your area(s) of interest:

Categorical types of interests identified from responses:
1. Information on seniors health issues = 8 responses 2. Information on general health issues = 6 responses (e.g., healthy lifestyle and environment, community support) 3. Information on specific health issues = 6 responses (e.g. cancer, fertility, deafness, access to doctors and treatment) 4. Responses based on professional, political, or community interests: = 5 responses 5. Responses based on personal interests related to holistic health: = 4 responses 6. Responses based on stressful living-circumstances: = 3 responses Perhaps not surprisingly given the proportion of respondents aged 55 and over seniors health issues were the most frequently identified as an area of interest, followed closely by both general and specific health issues. Other comments related to more holistic interests ranging across living and lifestyles issues.

Actual survey responses:

5. Issues concerning Outaouais residents access to and use of H&SS

Question #5: Are you satisfied with the health and social services offered in the Outaouais region?

Over half of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the health and social services offered in the Outaouais. (10.3% of respondents did not respond to this question.)

Question #6: How important is it for you to be served in English when receiving health and social services?

While it is clear that respondents expressed an overwhelming preference to be served in English,3 the reasons for this preference may vary widely. Do these results reflect a. respondents low levels of fluency in French? b. their preference due to the nature of their inquiries? c. a preference based on the principles of right of access? Its also quite possible that the results reflect the Yes respondents preferences based on a combination of all three of those factors (to a greater or lesser extent for any given individual). Further inquiry would be useful in determining the attitudes and needs that determine responses to this type of question.

Many respondents added that being served in English was VERY important to them.

Question #7: Please circle all services that you have used in the past 12 months in the Outaouais:

While the results indicate quite an even three-way divide in use between Clinics, CLSCs, and Hospitals, it would be worth asking whether the use of private clinics is a reflection of a lack of access to those services within in the public system, a perception of better quality in the private services, or are those same services never publicly available? Perhaps a simpler way to phrase the question would be: Are respondents paying for the services out of need, or out of preference?

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Question #8: Please circle all services that you have used in the past 12 months in Ontario:

An inordinate number of Outaouais respondents (over 50%) are visiting physicians in Ontario, and nearly two-thirds (or more) are going to Ontario for non-emergency purposes.

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Question #9: Do you have a family doctor in your community?

An inordinate number of Outaouais respondents (nearly 50%) indicated that they do not have a family doctor in their community. However, the phrasing of the question leaves their responses open to interpretation: What, in this context, did each respondent consider their community? Was it their specific locale, perhaps a tiny hamlet with no on-site services at all (common enough in the rural Outaouais), or a nearby village or town with which they identify as the place where they socialize, run their errands, or conduct their business?

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Question #10: Do you have a family doctor in Ontario?

A surprisingly large percentage of respondents (38%) are using family doctors in Ontario. Even allowing for factors such as closer proximity for some bordering parts of the Outaouais, daily commutes to workplaces in Ottawa, or the possibility of more recently-arrived migrants from Ontario preferring to maintain their family doctor there, the figure highlights a significant issue in the under-use and/or under-availability of family doctors for this group of respondents. For further investigation: Is this a problem specific to the Outaouais? What about other border regions such as the Gasp and the Eastern Townships?

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Question #11: In the past 12 months, have you ever used the 811-Info Sant help line for health-related questions?

There is widespread lack of use of the service. Reasons for this are not requested by the survey. However, reasonable conjectures would include respondents lack of awareness of, or familiarity with, service, mistrust of the situation (e.g., sharing health information with strangers on the phone), anticipation of discomfort in using French on the phone, and possibly a previous lack of satisfaction with the service (see results of Question 12). For further investigation: How does this figure relate to Quebec overall? To the rest of the English-speaking community? For rural vs. urban residents?

Question #12: If YES, how satisfied are you with this service?
Given that a majority of respondents indicated that they had Never used the service, the 22 actual responses to this question are to be judged with caution. 15 respondents found the Info Sant was Satisfactory, two felt the service Needs Improvement, and five found the service Excellent. Nevertheless, if we consider the non-use of the service as at least an implied criticism of its effectiveness in providing access to health information and support, then nearly two-thirds of respondents are demonstrating their dissatisfaction with it. However, this latter conclusion also suggests a certain randomness in respondents perceptions. For example, its not clear if respondents non-use of Info-Sant services is affected by the belief that they will have to use French to access it.

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Question #13: What health or social services would you like to see available in English in your community?
Categorized responses (in order of number and type of responses):
1. Doctors (8), Nursing, Hospital, or Clinic services (14) = 22 responses 2. All services = 8 responses 3. Value-added services = 5 responses 4. Signage, Instructions, Reception (e.g., at Emergency intake) = 4 responses 5. Services are OK = 4 responses 6. Seniors services = 3 responses 7. Family-related services = 3 responses 8. Access to specialists = 3 responses 9. Mental health services = 2 responses 10. Response unrelated to question = 2 responses

Based on the category totals above, respondents are clearly most concerned about access to more primary care services in English.

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Actual responses:

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6. Awareness and Perception of the Outaouais Health and Social Services Network
Question #14: Would you be willing to support the OHSSN by volunteering?

The large percentage of No responses should not necessarily be interpreted as a criticism of the OHSSN. Given the large numbers of seniors responding to the survey, some may lack of energy to become involved. Similarly, the overall busy-ness of respondents (who may have other volunteer priorities) should be considered. An open-ended request for volunteers can perceived as a blanket obligation, which people are generally more reluctant to commit to than a specific, time-limited tasks. Moreover, the type of volunteer work normally associated with the OHSSN is not described, further obscuring the nature of a commitment. Finally, respondents may have lacked a comprehensive familiarity with the overall mandate of the OHSSN. Given all of these potentially detracting factors, the number of Yes and Maybe responses can actually be seen as a fairly positive result. Its likely that a good percentage of the Maybe responses would respond positively to appeals for volunteer contributions to a concrete activity or specific task.

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Question #15: Have you ever contacted or visited our resource centre Connexions?

The low rate of usage of the Connexions Resource Centre provokes many questions as to why: Did respondents lack awareness of, or familiarity with, the Centres services? (The Centre has only been open a year or so.) Is there lack of interest in or satisfaction with the services offered? Is there a preconception of a lack of usefulness resulting from general apathy? Do respondents themselves lack the time or means to access the Centre in its urban location? Until these types of questions are researched, it would be unwise to draw any sweeping conclusions. However, continued promotion and publicity of Connexions and its services (including its email and telephone-based services) will certainly be useful in these early stages of the Centres existence.

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7. Feedback on OHSSN newsletter & website

Question #16: How satisfied are you with the information presented in the newsletter?

The majority response to this question was unequivocally positive: 93% find the information contained in the newsletter either Satisfying or Excellent.

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Question #17: How satisfied are you with the format of the newsletter?

In contrast to the responses for Question 16, over two-thirds of respondents think the format of the newsletter Needs Improvement. (Format is interpreted here as layout, look-and-feel, form of distribution, and capacity to access electronic links.)

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Question #18: Does the newsletter effectively provide you with information that is important to you?

Over 40% of respondents did not find the information personally relevant. This result begs the question as to how to interpret it alongside the highly-positive proportion of responses to Question 16 (How satisfied are you with the information presented in the newsletter?). It might be inferred that at least part of this discrepancy can be attributed to some respondents recognition that not all of the information presented in every newsletter will be directly useful to themselves personally. Nevertheless, there would appear to be some logical disconnection between to the two sets of responses to Questions 16 and 18. Whether this anomaly would be resolved by altering the content or sequence of these questions is impossible to say without further investigation.

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Question #19: Do you keep the newsletter as a resource?

Over two-thirds of respondents find the letter useful enough to keep it as a resource. Given that keeping the newsletter represents a fairly strong endorsement of its usefulness, these combined responses would seem to support the two-thirds satisfied / one-third less than satisfied split reflected in the responses to Question 18.

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Question #20: Do you consult the suggested web links for more information?

Over two-thirds of respondents are not using Internet (either never, or just not for the OHSSN newsletter), or they are simply not interested in exploring the linked news items further.

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Question #21: Do you have Internet access at home?

One-third of respondents do not have Internet at home. This obviously affects the use of the web links in OHSSN newsletter, as people are very unlikely to make a visit to a library or ask to use a friends computer connection for this purpose.

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Question #22: Have you visited the OHSSN website?

Although five respondents left this question blank, the majority (103 respondents) did respond. This would seem to indicate that nearly one-third of those responding were already very unlikely to visit the OHSSN website due to their lack of Internet access at home. The chart above could thus be more accurately divided into three categories: 49.5% of respondents who havent visited the OHSSN website, 20.5% who have, 30.0% who were highly unlikely to have visited the website because they lack Internet access at home. (Note, however, that this last figure does not include the five who did not respond at all.)

The interpretation of responses is thus better characterized by stating that 41% of those respondents likely to be using the Internet have visited the OHSSN website.

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Question #26: What do you dislike most about the newsletter?

Categorized responses (in order of number and type of responses):
1. Nothing (everything is OK / Good) (11) 2. Dislike the length and/or format (6) 3. Lack of relevance or focus on issues (2) 4. Need more information on upcoming events (1)

After a more than 50% majority of satisfied responses, the main dislike was for superficial aspects of the newsletter such as length, format, and/or the use of colours.

Actual responses:

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Question #25: What information or topics would you like to see included in the newsletter?
Categorized responses (in order of number and type of responses)
1. Information about access to health and social services (9) 2. Information for seniors (8) 3. Preventative health information (7) 4. Health access issues (7) 5. General health information (4) 6. Special needs information (4) 7. Family needs (3) 8. Current information is OK (3) 9. Dont know (2)

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Actual responses:

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Question #23: Given the opportunity, would you like to contribute to the newsletter?

Conclusions to be drawn from these results are uncertain, since there is nothing in the form of other surveys that one could use to compare this type of question with. Speculation as to reasons for the large majority No answers thus ranges from any given respondents potential lack of willingness, interest, or time to contribute, his or her perceived lack of access to information worth contributing, his or her shyness about writing, or general apathy. On the other hand, a substantial percentage of respondents did indicate their interest in contributing to the newsletter, a potential resource that should not be overlooked in its upcoming editions.4

Another possibility for attracting readers contributions could be the use of a wiki-format that allows instantlyshared web publishing of the newsletter. However, given the relatively low rate of Internet use amongst the target demographic this is a consideration that would necessarily be postponed until well in the future.

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Question #24: Overall, how satisfied are you with the newsletter?

The general satisfaction level with the OHSSN newsletter is very high, with more than one quarter of respondents deeming to be Excellent. This would appear to support the theory that most criticisms of the newsletter are of its superficial characteristics of appearance or method of distribution (which are nonetheless important), with the occasional reference to the needs of specific demographic groups parents, for example. (See the responses to Question 27 ...suggestions to improve the newsletter for more detailed information.)

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Question #27: Please tell us your suggestions to improve the newsletter

Categorized responses (in order of number and type of responses)
1. Everything is OK / Good (10) 2. Visual design (7) 3. More information about access to care (4) 4. Preventative health advice (3) 5. Networking within the community (2) 6. Access to the electronic newsletter (1)

Actual responses:

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8. Conclusions
Although the relatively small survey size (108 respondents) and narrow demographic (84% of respondents were aged 55 or older) renders any conclusions in this report necessarily anecdotal, the survey results confirm similar perceptions and experiences of access to health and social services to those that are present in much of the English-speaking community across Quebec, as is documented in the series of CHSSN Baseline Data Reports (2003-2011) and the recent QCGN (Quebec Community Groups Network) consultations with the population on its priorities. A significant number of respondents (over half) are dissatisfied with the health and social services offered to them in the Outaouais region, and many turn to Ontario for an alternative means of access, including 38% of respondents who have their family doctor there. In addition, there is wide-spread under-use of potentially timesaving and helpful services such as Info Sant, with 76 respondents reporting that they have Never used that particular service. However, its not clear if this is a result of their lack of awareness, perceptions about language-use, discomfort with the idea of using a remote service to access health information, or other undetermined factors. The fact remains that a large percentage of respondents indicate that they turn to alternative sources of care, support, and information outside the provincial system to address their health needs. The survey results thus clearly indicate the overall priority need for the OHSSN to pursue its mandate of generating improved access of Quebecs health and social services amongst the English-speaking population of the Outaouais. One means the OHSSN has for addressing this need is through effective communications and informationsharing. The survey results show that the vast majority of respondents (93%) place value on the OHSSN newsletter, yet nearly two-thirds would like to see its format improved, particularly its print format, since so many respondents (33%) are without Internet access at home. This suggests that the layout of the newsletter could be adapted to a more reader-friendly look and feel, perhaps with larger type and using two columns per page in a newssheet style. In addition, the presentation of content could be adapted to provide more information per topic (such as synopses of the information that would otherwise be obtained through the web links). Due to practical limitations to the newsletters size and length, the above recommendation also suggests that there would need to be fewer news items per issue, providing greater concentration on the identified priorities within the community. One way to handle this would be to develop a theme approach to the newsletter, with caregiving being the focus of one issue, for example, cancer the next issue, addictions the following one, and so on. These themes could also be chosen to coincide with population health initiatives in the greater community (e.g.,Movember), or even specific events for the English-speaking community, such as the CHSSN-sponsored videoconferences that similarly follow identified priority-topics. Leftover news items that didnt warrant a full paragraph in the newsletter that particular month could still be flagged for those readers who do use the Web, with a section called This Months Links, for example, with a one-line description and the appropriate web-link provided so that regular readers would still feel

that they have access to all the news. The same links should also be posted (and subsequently archived) on the OHSSN website to help habituate users to the practice of visiting it for current notices and information. In conclusion, the OHSSN Survey results present a useful insight into popular perceptions of health and social service access issues for the English-speaking population of the Outaouais. Given the limitations of this surveys size and reach, though, it may be useful to eventually run a more detailed comparison of these results with the statistics and information provided by the available reference documents cited at the beginning of this report.

Peter MacGibbon Community Development Consultant November 4, 2011

APPENDIX OHSSN Survey 2011

Help us help you by completing both sides of this survey and returning it in the envelope provided.
Needs improvement Satisfied Excellent

NEWSLETTER SURVEY

How satisfied are you with the information presented in the newsletter? Does the newsletter effectively provide you with information that is important to you?

No

Somewhat

Yes

Do you keep the newsletter as a resource?

No

Yes

Do you have internet access at home?

No

Yes

Do you follow the suggested web links for more information?

No

Yes

Have you visited the OHSSN website?

No

Yes

What information or topics would you like to see included in the newsletter? Given the opportunity, would you like to contribute to the newsletter?

No

Yes

What do you most dislike about the newsletter?

Overall, how satisfied are you with the newsletter?

Needs improvement

Satisfactory

Excellent

A FEW MORE QUESTIONS TO HELP US BETTER SERVE YOU

What is your age group?

18-34

35-54

55+

What language do you speak at home?

English

French

Both

How many years have you lived in the Outaouais region? Are you satisfied with the health and social services offered in your community? Is it important for you to be served in English when receiving health and social services? Have you ever visited our resource centre Connexions? Please circle all services you have used in your region in the past 12 months

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Private clinic or office

CLSC

Hospital emergency

Hospital with overnight stay

Do you have a family doctor in your community?

No

Yes

Have you ever used the 811-Info Sant help line for health related questions? What health or social services would you like to see available in English in your community? Given the opportunity would you like to volunteer in your community?

Never

Occasionally

Regularly

No

Yes