Giving citizens a voice in healthcare policy in Canada.

Gives a brief description of the process, the outcome, and the effects of the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, which entailed a dialogue with representative cross-sections of the Canadian population. View that the legitimacy and sustainability of any major policy decisions depends on how well it reflects the underlying values of the public; Mention of ChoiceWork dialogues, which were created by Viewpoint Learning and based on the research of its chairman, Daniel Yankelovich; Way that the dialogues engage members of the public on important issues before the decisions are made; Impact of combining the roles of citizens as taxpayers and patients on the debate; Opinion that engaging the public in this way is more costly than polling, but is essential when making difficult decisions. INSETS: Summary points;Box 1: Basic steps in a ChoiceWork dialogue project;Box 2: Four scenarios for the future of health care in Canada;Box 3: Participants' own words (extracted from session...