DEVOLVING AUTHORITY FOR HEALTH-CARE IN CANADA PROVINCES .2. BACKGROUNDS, RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES OF BOARD MEMBERS

Objective: To obtain information from the members of the boards of dev olved health care authorities and evaluate their orientations in meeti ng the expectations of provincial governments, local providers and com munity members. Design: Mail survey, conducted in cooperation with the devolved authorities, in the summer of 1995. Setting: Three provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island) with established boa rds and 2 (British Columbia and Nova Scotia) with immature boards. Par ticipants: All 791 members of boards of devolved authorities in the 5 provinces, of whom 514 (65%) responded. Outcome measures: Sociodemogra phic background, training, experience and activities of board members as well as their use of information. Results: There were systematic di fferences between established and immature boards in regard to trainin g, information use and actual and desired activities. Members spent 35 hours per month, on average, on work for their board. Members were la rgely middle-aged, well educated and well off. Only 36% were employed full time. Nine out of 10 had previous experience on boards, more ofte n in health care than in-social services. They were least pleased with their training in setting priorities and assessing health care needs and most pleased with their training in participating effectively in m eetings and understanding their roles and responsibilities. The inform ation for decision-making most available to them was information on se rvice costs (68% said it was available ''most of the time'' or ''alway s'') and utilization (64%); the least available information was that o n key informants' opinions (47%), service benefits (37%) and citizens' preferences (28%). Board activity was dominated by setting priorities and assessing needs, secondarily occupied with ensuring the effective ness and efficiency of services and allocating funds, and least concer ned with delivering services and raising revenue. The match between ac tivities desired by members and actual activities was significantly po orer for members of immature boards than for those of established boar ds. Conclusions: The responses concerning these structural variables s uggest that board members are most likely to meet the expectations of provincial governments. Fewer appear well equipped to accommodate the views of their providers and even fewer to incorporate the perspective s of their community.