Talking the Talk_and Walking the Walk: Community Development in Western Manitoba

Abstract

How can an association concerned with death and dying be a healthy community project? Well, when one considers that a characteristic of a healthy community is that its members are concerned and caring enough to help each other through life's crises (English & Hicks, 1992, p. 63), how could it be considered anything else? The impetus for forming WATCH, which is an acronym for Westman Association for Terminal Care in Hospice, arose out of the Healthy Community philosophy espoused by VisionQuest, Brandon's Healthy Community project. WATCH was born in 1992 out of the need for palliative care beds expressed in protest letters to the editor in the Brandon Sun. The Brandon General Hospital had virtually closed the palliative care unit in response to severely curtailed funding by the Manitoba government. A public meeting resulted in an intersectoral study group being formed to examine the need for hospice services here and found that this need extended to all of Westman. This finding resulted in the formation of WATCH. Membership in the organization has grown throughout the region.