Final answer:
The mandate of the CIHC working group was to improve student health services across Canadian universities by analyzing their structure, focusing on integration at specific health centers, and developing strategies for health education and disease prevention.
Step-by-step explanation:
In 2008, the Canadian Interprofessional Health Collaborative (CIHC), supported by Health Canada, established a working group with a mandate aimed at enhancing the structure and efficiency of student health services. This initiative involved several key tasks:
- Assessing the structure and organization of student health and counseling services at post-secondary institutions.
- Identifying and focusing on integrated university health centers for more detailed analysis concerning integration.
- Conducting follow-up case study interviews with health center directors to gather more nuanced insights.
These efforts were part of a larger goal to address critical problems in the health domain and to develop strategies for sustainable health education and disease prevention that could improve health outcomes. In addition, the CIHC working group also sought to understand the impact of integrating health and counseling services on universities and create intervention strategies that support the work of health organizations like the Healthcare Consortium of Illinois (HCI).
The recommendations stemming from the CIHC working group were far-reaching, suggesting improvements that stretched across health, welfare, education, and labor sectors, all aiming to contribute to a better quality of life in Canada. These recommendations aligned with international efforts to improve healthcare affordability and quality.