This public lecture explores the range and scope of health co-operatives internationally and opens the discussion around the provision of co-operative healthcare in Ireland in the context of the need for wide-ranging healthcare reform
On an international level, health co-operatives are used as a strategy for focusing on achieving and maintaining wellness and preventing illness for individuals and communities, rather than the traditional model of public healthcare in providing medical and surgical “fixes” when our health deteriorates. Health, Wellness and Social Service co-ops range from being very small, local, focused on a single issue, to being national and broad in scope. They can have a general mandate or work in a specific field such as mental health or seniors’ well-being. Co-operatives enable us to be pro-active in gaining better access to the services we need, learning to make better use of our own skills and common sense, calling professionals in only as needed.
Furthermore, health co-operatives are based on freedom of choice for individuals, integration of services and ethical working conditions for healthcare professionals.
| Date | Thursday 24th May 2018 |
| Time |
13:00 - 14:00 |
| Venue | Creative Zone, Boole Library |
| Register | To attend this event, please click here to register |
About the Speaker
Vanessa Hammond has worked in over 40 countries directly with co-operatives and other community-based enterprises as diverse as nomadic women herders in Mongolia, farmers in Guyana and Ukraine, and a wide variety across Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia.
She was one of the initiators of the Victoria Health Co-op, is currently its Chair, and was the founding Chair of the Health Care Co-op Federation of Canada. She has been involved with co-ops since, as a child in Ireland, she wanted pocket-money. Selling eggs was the best option, and that meant joining a co-op. She appreciates having the "member-owner voice" as it encourages a long-term view, bringing benefits to whole communities rather than just “profit for a few”.
She has enjoyed sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with co-ops, people curious about how to combine benefits for individuals and their communities, governments and financial institutions around the world.
Click here to register to attend. For further details please contact Dr Olive McCarthy