- Hon. Anne McLellan

How do you engage policy makers, health care professionals, and the general public in a timely and practical way to address complex health care issues?

In Alberta, the Institute of Health Economics successfully uses the unique consensus development conference format to bring these target groups together to weigh scientific evidence on critical questions in health and produce answers formed by consensus on the topic of concern. The resulting consensus statement is widely circulated across the Canadian health care system.

At a consensus development conference, a group of leading experts presents the current scientific evidence on pre-determined questions. The evidence is provided in the form of presentations in front of an independent jury of respected and knowledgeable citizens including people representing health policy and practice. The jury members and the audience question the experts during two days of hearings. The jury is then sequestered to write a statement that answers the predetermined questions in a tangible way, including addressing policy concerns.

The consensus development conference approach is modelled on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) consensus development conference program in the United States. The IHE held its first consensus development conference on Self-monitoring in Diabetes in 2006. It was followed by a conference on Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies in 2007, and Depression in Adults in 2008. The 2009 conference deals with issues relating to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

As Jury Chair of the IHE Consensus Development Conference on FASD: Across the Lifespan, the Honourable Anne McLellan (former Deputy Prime Minister and federal Health Minister) will lead a distinguished jury of citizens and experts to develop a consensus statement with practical policy recommendations based on these questions. Visit the conference website at www.buksa.com/fasd.