Over the past year, a team from UBC-Okanagan, in partnership with BCCPC, has worked with eight Canadian organizations to make their communities more compassionate. In the Compassionate Dementia-Inclusive Communities (CDIC) project, six of these organizations used a modified CCI to include a focus on persons living with dementia and care partners, while the two organizations in the Compassionate Communities Volunteer Navigation (CCVN) project used the original tool, focusing on compassion more broadly. The surveys were shared with collaborating advisory committees and other community stakeholders. From there, leadership teams from the organizations used survey results to give shape and direction to exciting new initiatives to foster more compassionate (and dementia-inclusive) communities across the board.
Sites found that completing the CCI survey helped them identify strengths and opportunities for growth to guide their actions towards building a Compassionate Community.
Community-tailored solutions
From the CDIC project, one notable example of this comes from the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) who are collaborating with Brella Community Services Society in Surrey, BC. They administered the survey in their community, which has a strong South Asian presence. From the open-ended questions, they identified the community’s deep sense of service, solidarity, and familial commitments. Further, the section on ‘attitudes & commitments’ reinforced that they have strong community values and a commitment to inclusion. Leveraging these strengths, the inter-organizational team developed culturally driven dementia education sessions, a Seva ambassador program, and a community champion network. The process of recognizing and harnessing their strengths also provided a strong foundation for building new opportunities. The ‘Network & Connections’ ideal, for example, highlighted infrastructure gaps without platforms to connect services, volunteers, and those needing support. So, the team designed culturally appropriate interventions that could help close the gap. They created a dementia support group called Sanjh support, (“Sanj” means “unity”), a caregiver support circle known as Chai & Chat, and a Community Dementia Navigator program.
About the Index…
The Compassionate Community Index (CCI)—developed by the BC Centre for Palliative Care (BCCPC) and the Kalein Centre—helps communities assess how prepared and committed they are to support people through declining health, caregiving, dying, and grieving. This tool guides collective brainstorming on harnessing the strengths a community already has and intensifying efforts where there’s still room for growth.
The survey focuses on five key ideals:
- Awareness & Advocacy: how well does your community understand and promote compassionate care?
- Attitude & Commitment: how open is your community to conversations about dying, death, and caregiving?
- Leadership & Capacity: does your community already have a strong presence of leaders and volunteers driving compassionate initiatives?
- Networks & Connections: how strong are the social support systems and community relationships where you live?
- Opportunities & Recognition: how does your community celebrate compassionate efforts and identify new opportunities to help those efforts grow?
Each ideal is explored through a series of five statements on which participants can rate their community. The six-point scale starts at “don’t know”, “not yet started”, and “just started”, moving towards “on the road”, “nearly there”, and finally “we’re there”. The survey also includes four open-ended questions:
- What are three words, phrases, or adjectives that best describe our community?
- We best show we are a Compassionate Community by…
- What are three significant challenges hindering development of a Compassionate Community?
- What are three underdeveloped opportunities around a Compassionate Community?
Results then provide a community-specific guide for building a more compassionate community where you live.
From the CCVN project on Quadra Island, a 16-person Advisory Committee completed the CCI survey, facilitated by the Co-Leadership team from Quadra Circle Community Connections Society and Way to Go. The results pointed to a need for more organized collaboration between community services and clearer ways to inform the community about available supports. Using an already established neighbourhood mapping system developed by the local emergency preparedness program, they decided to develop a new outreach service called Compassionate Neighbourhoods whereby trained volunteer Neighbourhood Advocates will be assigned to specific neighbourhoods to be available to assist persons to access non-disaster related support when needed.
Other survey results highlighted a need to listen to children and help them develop positive connections with older persons so they, as future adults, would have more compassion for those experiencing declining health. As one co-lead noted, “There seemed to be a cry of concern [that] if we didn’t pay attention to youth and get them involved with their community elders, the base of compassion [would] not continue beyond a couple of generations.” This finding inspired “Simple Sharings,” an intergenerational program bringing older people and children together every two weeks for shared activities to increase curiosity and knowledge exchange across generations.
Lastly, the “undeveloped opportunities” portion of the survey noted that further community education would be a powerful way to address gaps. The Continued Learning Initiative now includes Nav-CARE training for all, more education on Compassionate Communities and Palliative Care, and increased PR about existing services.
UBC Okanagan’s team is excited to walk alongside Brella, PICS, Quadra Circle, and the Way to Go Society, along with all our other organizations, and support them as their work unfolds. Over the next year, their activities will generate valuable insights into how compassionate and/or dementia-inclusive communities can enhance quality of life for aging individuals.
