Speaking, Not Shouting

The Arizona Town Hall invites you to participate in a very special Project Civil Discourse event: Speaking, Not Shouting: A Community Conversation About Health Care Reform.

• When: December 1, 2009, 6:15-9:00 p.m. (check in begins at 5:30 p.m.)
• Where: AE England Building in Civic Park,  444 North Central Avenue, Phoenix
• Registration Information: The event is free, but seating is limited. Registration is required. Please register online at: https://www.regonline.com/speaking_not_shouting

Speaking, Not Shouting: A Community Conversation About Health Care Reform will engage participants in facilitated discussions that capture opinions from a diverse spectrum of citizens around key questions that underlie health care reform.  The objective of these forums is to aid in public understanding of the health care issue presently being debated and discussed in Congress and more importantly to demonstrate how an issue such as health care reform can be discussed in a civil and respectful way.

The event will open with a brief summary of the status of health care reform legislation and a presentation about why health care costs have increased from representatives from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and St. Luke's Health Initiatives.

Participants will be divided into small groups and asked to discuss topics that pertain to the current debate over health care reform. Each group will have a facilitator to lead the conversation and a recorder to capture the discussion. At the end of the evening, the groups will come together to briefly share with everyone the main points of their discussion. These topics may include the following issues:

• Should all Americans have access to a basic/minimal level of health care services?
• How do we balance individual rights with the community's interest in managing public health issues and controlling health care costs?
• What is the proper role of government in regulating/controlling costs related to health care?

A report summarizing the discussions will be shared with members of Arizona's congressional delegation and all participants.

Arizona Town Hall is a partner in Project Civil Discourse, a statewide effort to create respectful dialogue and discourse on important public issues. Learn more about this unique initiative and find background information on health care reform at http://www.projectcivildiscourse.com

For more information: Contact: Britt Kimball, Splashmaker Productions
Phone: 602-770-5057; Email: splashmaker@cox.net