Health and health care in Canada is a story of high ideals, complex policy agreements, moments of raging public controversy, and the creation of a national health system that is the envy of many other nations. Despite its many health care achievements, evidence is mounting that good health is far from being universally accessible to all Canadians. As we discuss in this chapter, following a three-year pan-Canadian study on health and learning, it became painfully clear to us that in far too many cases, one' s ability and capacity to learn about health can have immediate-even life-and-deathconsequences. We concluded that good health is not strictly a medical problem and not simply a governmental funding issue. Our conclusion was that good health is, above all, a matter of successful learning. Our study made it clear that adult education can play a key role in enabling people to maintain and improve their health. Yet we found that learning and health is a remarkably underresearched, underrecognized area within the ambit of adult education. Since the area of learning and health not only defies boundaries but is far larger and more complex than any policy, system, or program, we hope that these findings will encourage adult educators in Canada and beyond to become more involved in the critical issue of health and learning. 49 5

Purpose -Many Canadians presume their universal health care system provides equitable opportunity and access to health, yet this is not necessarily the case, especially for marginalized populations. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize how marginalized, yet resilient, communities are able to build capacity and contribute to their own learning about health. Design/methodology/approach -Environmental scan, state of the field review and community consultations on a national scale. Findings -For adults living in rural and remote areas that fall below health norms, health knowledge and care is often not enough to build capacity and support resilient communities. More learning needs to be done by all members of community and government. Practical implications -Consultations with selected members of marginalized populations and their service providers reveal a cross-community, cross-sector and cross-government focus on addressing the social determinants of health is needed to increase individual capacity. Originality/value -Consultations with community members and their service providers reveal rich information about the state of health and learning in selected areas across Canada. Using literature on health and learning as a framework, this paper discusses challenges and promising practices in terms of participants' abilities to sustain their own and their communities' health and learning.