Combining the World Café and the Deliberative Democratic Evaluation: A Win-Win Strategy

The current emergency response for substance users experiencing homelessness is not adapted to their needs. This has led to the revolving door phenomenon and to issues of collaboration between involved organizations. This study aims to demonstrate the relevance from the participants’ perspective of: 1) the World Café; 2) the deliberative democratic evaluation; and 3) combining these two methods as part of a qualitative study aimed at improving emergency response to substance users experiencing homelessness in Montreal. Thirty-four people participated in an intersectoral World Café guided by the principles of deliberative democratic evaluation. Twenty-three participants responded to a questionnaire regarding their satisfaction, effects of their participation, and adherence to the principles of deliberative democratic evaluation (inclusion, dialogue, and deliberation). We performed descriptive statistics and a thematic content analysis. Ultimately, the respondents were satisfied with the activity and several said they gained new knowledge and improved their network. Roughly half of the participants shared that their participation influenced their representations and their future practices. Our findings suggest that combining deliberative democratic evaluation and World Café is relevant to providing rich qualitative data, gaining systemic insight, and having an impact on our communities (e.g., improving intersectoral collaboration, professional’ attitudes and practices).