2002 Town Hall...

Executive Summary and Leading Recommendations
 
“The State of Oklahoma HEALTH”

The Oklahoma Academy sponsored a Town Hall on October 27-30, 2002 focusing on the “State of Oklahoma HEALTH.” Attendance was by invitation and limited to 140 attendees. Invitations were issued to nominees to assure that the participants approximated the socio-demographic composition of Oklahoma. 

The Town Hall required participants to deliberate and discuss the presented issues over a two and one-half day session. The group was subdivided into five groups 25. Each group independently discussed and addressed a standard discussion outline covering the following areas:

• Oklahoma’s Health Status

• Responsibilities for Health

• Medicaid

• Mental Health

• Children and Health

• Adults and Health

• Seniors and Health

Over the next two and half days these groups, facilitated by an experienced Academy board member, discuss and debate a standard discussion outline covering the issue. Each group is equipped with an attorney acting as a recorder who synthesizes the group’s work and later, at the end of the day, meets with the other recorders to draft a consensus of all the groups’ findings. These findings are then crafted into a final report of recommendations and are presented to the group the morning of the last day. A brief meeting of each group and their facilitator and recorder provides an opportunity for review and discussion of the final report. A half-day plenary session concludes the Town Hall and provides the participants with the occasion to debate and resolve differences between the groups.

The Town Hall Findings and Recommendations represent the active consensus of the thought and discussions of the entire group of 140 members. The Findings reveal many important attitudes, concepts and ideas to consider regarding preventive measures that we can and should take. They also share the collective thoughts and ideas to improve health and health care for children, adults and seniors. This Executive Summary distills that detailed report and recommendations into its essential elements. The Town Hall has made Findings and Recommendations in three major areas. 

• Children

• Communities

• Oklahomans 

The Academy and the Town Hall participants recognized and understood from the onset the universal principle that education level, earnings potential and health are interrelated and interdependent. Fully aware that the education levels, earnings ratios and health status of Oklahomans are below the national average, the Academy Town Hall participants focused on what can be done NOW and in the future through PREVENTIVE and PROACTIVE programs to improve the individual and collective health of Oklahomans.

 Health is often a secondary public policy issue at the state level. The time has come to elevate physical and mental health as a primary public policy issue in Oklahoma because:

• Health is fundamental to quality of life

•  Health is fundamental to a productive workforce and economic well-being

• Access to health care is largely dependent on ability to pay

• Health is the right thing to do, and the right thing to do now

In each of the seven areas covered in the discussion outline, Town Hall Participants identified the current problems and, in most cases, the causes of those problems and worked to approach recommendations of attitude and action that would prevent poor health and would provide better avenues of health and end-of-life care.

From the group discussions and the consensus findings, the Participants developed 25 recommendations. They were asked to prioritize them. The Participants recognized all of the recommendations as important and identified seven as having the highest priority.

The Next Steps:

The Academy Networking & Implementation Committee will develop strategies for implementation of the leading recommendations including the identification of partners and estimation of costs, if any. The leading recommendations will be prioritized as most feasible to accomplish within the upcoming legislative session and the 2003 calendar year.

The Town Hall Findings and Recommendations will be shared with Oklahomans through community meetings, civic organizations, schools and businesses across the state. In order to do all that needs to be done to greatly improve our individual and collective health we will need the help of all interested Oklahomans.