An Opportunity to Conduct an
Institutional Ethnography
for Covenant Health
August 15, 2014
I. ISSUE
Covenant Health has a unique positioning and background in the Alberta - and arguably
the Canadian health landscape, as both a faith-based and significant partner in care.
With this unique being and positioning, it is incumbent upon leadership to be well-versed
and clear in the understanding and articulation of the value-add that Covenant Health
has. This requirement is more salient as institutional memory fluctuates with changing
personnel, a seemingly ubiquitous phenomenon in health care.
II. ACTION REQUIRED
People working for Covenant Health understand that the organization is unique. It is
articulating the way that Covenant health is different for other
workplaces/environments/organizations that needs to be brought forward from the
ineffable to the explicit.
While communications, leadership forums and organizational activities and structures
well-represent the mission, vision and values of the organization, the perspective is an
enduring emic one which needs to be constantly translated to key messages for those
external but vital to Covenant Health: e.g. Alberta Wellness, Alberta Health Services.
The skills and abilities exist within Covenant Health to examine and give text to the
uniqueness of being that Covenant has and lives by. An institutional ethnography would
elucidate this “distinctiveness in being” in a manner that would provide validity, and
transparency on the public or etic view of Covenant Health. This research exercise and
resulting publication would contribute greatly to the long-term perception of how
Covenant Health achieves what it does in the holistic and compassionate means it
employs.
III. BACKGROUND
Institutional ethnography (IE) is a method of inquiry arising from sociology. IE was first
developed by Dorothy Smith (University of Alberta alumni) to explore the social relations
that contribute to the structures of people's everyday lives. Institutional ethnography
places the researcher in the ordinary daily activities of an organization, which then
becomes the site for an exploration of that social organization. The method is used by
researchers in social sciences, education, human services and policy research to map
the relations that organize people's activities within institutions.
-1-
The aim of IE is to bring to the fore the social relations of knowledge so that people can
make use of the understandings produced from the research to extend their knowledge
to actualities of their lives. What this means for Covenant Health is that all who work
within and with us would see and understand how we closely follow our unique mission
we are called to continue the healing ministry of Jesus by serving with compassion,
upholding the sacredness of life in all stages, and caring for the whole person—body,
mind and soul. To sum, an IE at Covenant Health would illustrate the mission, vision
and values of Covenant Health that shape the beliefs, attitudes and quality of the work
within Covenant Health
IV. THE OPPORTUNITY
Covenant Health is positioned and open to be a living laboratory for a PhD student
interested in conducting an institutional ethnography - from the front line of care
providers through to the Senior Leadership team and Chief Executive Officer.
Sponsorship and mentorship for an interested individual would come from the Director,
Dr. Ann Syme, Director of the Covenant Health Palliative Institute.
Covenant Health would not only provide relatively unfettered access to data for the
student but also a stipend to support their work and contribution to this organizational
need.
Interested PhD students should contact Dr. Syme directly at 780 735-9659
__________
-2-