Communicating the purpose of data collection
According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, data collection efforts may "lead to fears that the information might be used to treat a person or group in a discriminatory way, give unmerited preference to a particular group that does face historical discrimination, or lead to individuals being identified or 'outed.'"
To address these fears and other concerns, child welfare workers should always provide a clear and articulate reason why their agency is collecting identity-based data, and how it will be used. Child welfare workers should communicate:
- That identity-based data is being collected for the sole purpose of determining who we are working with, and how to provide better services to children, youth and families
- That the information provided by service users is very valuable for the improvement of child welfare services in the community and across the province of Ontario
- That the information provided by service users will be treated with respect and kept confidential
Responding to questions and concerns
The Measuring Health Equity project has produced a series of videos that provide examples of interactions and responses from individuals when being asked questions about their identity (specifically in the health care context). The following video illustrates an an interaction between admitting staff and a patient at registration in an acute care hospital, discussing the race and religion questions:
A playlist of the all the videos can be found on YouTube.
Additional resources
- How to ask the questionsThis section of the Health Research & Educational Trust Disparities Toolkit, includes a link to a "response matrix" PowerPoint providing real-world examples of questions people have asked during data collection as well as suggested responses.
- Scripts for Community Health Centre (CHC) data collectionThis resource provides suggested messaging and responses to scenarios (for example, how to respond when someone makes disparaging comments about 2SLGBTQ+ people). From the Measuring Health Equity Project.
- Collect diversity data: Explaining the data collection process to clients [2013]This tool (pages 73-75) provides a script and suggested responses to scenarios (for example, what to say if someone objects to the questions because they think the answers are obvious). From Chapter 3 of "Making CLAS happen: A guide to providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS) in a variety of public health settings" from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
- Communicating with clients who are anxiousPractice guide from the Social Work Reference Center (note: you have to be authenticated by OACAS’s library databases to access)
- Communicating with clients who are fearfulPractice guide from the Social Work Reference Center (note: you have to be authenticated by OACAS’s library databases to access)
