Equality & Health: Seeking Fairness in a World of Difference


May 25, 2001

Red Deer, Alberta

A conference for all those whose work and health centres on improving health and quality of life, including:

  • All health care providers
  • Community health organization staff & volunteers
  • Crisis, addiction and abuse service personnel
  • Ethics committee members
  • Family and social service personnel
  • Grassroots community organizations
  • Health administrators, managers and executives
  • Health policy analysts and decision-makers
  • Lawyers
  • Pastoral and spiritual care service providers
  • Patient representatives
  • Persons with disabilities
  • Public health workers and planners
  • Seniors Groups
  • Social Advocacy Groups
  • Social Justice Groups
...And particularly patients, residents and members of the general public

What question will this conference try to answer?

The conference will explore the idea of equality and what it means for those who work to improve the health and well-being of Canadians.


Why is this question important?

It has been suggested that the Canadian health system is grounded on a premise of moral equality. Yet it is often left unclear what equality means and how it is supposed to apply at the various levels of caring - from national and provincial policy setting to the very personal and intimate sphere of the relationship between those caring and being cared for.


How will this conference help me?

The conference will assist you in addressing issues such as:

  • What does it mean to treat people fairly?
  • When allocating scarce resources, what questions should I consider when deciding which programs or individuals should receive priority?
  • In what types of situations should I be particularly concerned with questions of equity and fairness?
  • What special obligations, if any, do I have towards those who are ill or 'different' and why?
  • What are the moral limitations on providing resources to those who fall into these categories?
  • What moral obligations do we have to those who are ill because of their own lifestyle habits or choices?

How will the conference address this issue?

These concepts will be examined through:

  • dramatic presentation designed to explore both the psychological and philosophical implications of taking the position of the 'other'
  • Presentations, discussions and workshops that explore the particular challenges for fair and just treatment posed by various types of difference