Deliberation Week

October 22-29, 2005

The Southwestern Program for Deliberative Democracy will partner with "By the People," an initiative of the PBS News Hour with Jim Lehrer, to hold the first ever Deliberation Week, October 22-29, 2005. There will be up to 20 such Deliberation Weeks held simultaneously in communities across the country bringing together local citizens to discuss a critically important issue before the nation. Citizens in our region will discuss healthcare.

Expanding the Deliberation Days held in 2004 to a week (or longer) affords time for the partner organizations to hold a Deliberative Opinion Poll on Healthcare, to schedule community-wide events focusing attention on healthcare, and to offer the community-at-large a chance to learn about and discuss the issue.

On Wednesday, October 26th at 7:30pm, WQED Multimedia's OnQ Magazine will air a special show on healthcare. The program will profile two participants in the local deliberative poll and will explore their concerns about healthcare issues, including Medicaid and the uninsured.

On Saturday, October 29, with a day-long Citizens Forum in which a random sample of community members from Allegheny County will discuss, deliberate then take a Deliberative Opinion Poll on Healthcare.

After the Regional Deliberative Poll on Healthcare, the following programs will be aired on WQED Multimedia:

Rx For Survival, A Global Health Challenge
Tuesday - 11/1, 9 PM: "Disease Warriors/Rise of the Superbugs"
Wednesday - 11/2, 9 PM: "Delivering the Goods/Deadly Messengers"
Thursday - 11/3, 9PM: "Back to the Basics/How Safe Are We?"
Friday - 11/4, 10 PM: "Global Health: America's Response Now"

"Pittsburgh's Citizens Forum on Healthcare" on OnQ
Tuesday - 11/8 at 7:30pm - repeat at 11:30pm, &Wednesday 11/9 at 12:30pm

"By the People - the National Show on Healthcare and Education"
Thursday - 11/10 at 9:00pm