Health Centre

The Aboriginal Head Start Program is our pre-kindergarten program for children grounded in Aboriginal culture. The program curriculum follows the medicine wheel on mental, physical, emotional and spiritual teachings, and also offers speech therapy, access to Jordan’s principle and many other services.

Children enrolled in Aboriginal Head Start have the opportunity to learn the Cree language and have elder visits where they learn traditional knowledge of ceremony and protocols. They are provided with healthy food and snacks daily. Once they graduate from the Head Start program and transition into Anzac elementary, we will also work with the school to ensure that the children are successful in school system.

If needed, parents may be provided with referrals to community programs and workshops.

The primary role of the Community Health Representative (CHR) is to promote wellness, protect health and prevent injury and illness in community settings.

Our Community Health Representative works closely with our public health nurses to provide community with the following services:

• Chronic disease and injury prevention services, including physical and nutritional activities
• Diabetes education, screening clinics, training, nutrition classes and management
• Communicable disease education and prevention
• Water testing
• Non-Insured Health Benefit navigation and advocation

In conjunction with the Aboriginal Head Start Program, the Health Centre provides an on-reserve daycare service for children 19 months to 6 years old from the community and surrounding area. The day care program is located within the same center as the Head Start Program, giving children the opportunity to participate in culture programming and activities from qualified Early Learning educators, and receive health conscious meals. Once children graduate from the daycare they will transition into the Head Start program.

The daycare is open 7:30am-5:30pm Monday to Thursday, and Friday 7:00am-2:00PM to accommodate parents' work schedules. We currently have a waitlist for both Head Start and Daycare programs.

Environmental Health includes the following services:

• Monitoring the safety of the water supply
• Health teaching on environmental issues example: sanitation, food handling
• Assisting in the investigation of outbreaks of food and waterborne illness
• Participating in disaster planning

Health Promotion and Injury Prevention includes health teaching conducted during home visits as well as in school and other community settings, the prevention and control of communicable diseases, including the promotion of immunization, screening programs including diabetes, vision, and hearing, and providing first aid, if needed.

Home and Community Care Services help people to receive care at home, rather than in a hospital or long-term care facility, and to live as independently as possible in the community. Home and community care are delivered by our Home Care Nurse Tuesdays and Thursdays and our Home Care Assistant Monday to Friday.

Home Care staff:

• Help people maintain or improve their health status and quality of life;
• Assist people in remaining as independent as possible;
• Support families coping with a family member's need for care;
• Help people stay at, or return home, and receive needed treatment, rehabilitation or palliative care; and
• Provide informal/family caregivers with the support they need.

Services delivered in the home can help people with minor health problems and disabilities as well as those who need intensive and sophisticated services and equipment. Home Care services may include:

• Client assessment
• Case Management
• Home care nursing services
• In-home respite care services
• Access to medical supplies and equipment
• Information and data collection
• Collaboration to program workers within MCH, community care and home care
• Supportive services such as palliative care
• Wound care
• Vital checks
• Personal care such as help with bathing, dressing, and feeding,
• Referrals to community supports

Maternal Child Health (MCH) is for families with children 0- 6 years old. MCH works closely with the public health nurses to provide:

• Pre and post-natal care program for new mothers and fathers
• Lactation consulting and breastfeeding education

Our MCH worker program includes the following:

• Nutrition screening, education and counselling
• Nutrition programming
• Facilitating cooking classes, community kitchens and gardens
• FASD education in collaboration with the community health representative
• Parenting classes
• Domestic violence prevention and education
• Peer support groups
• Home visitation program for families

The Medical Transportation Program is set up through Non-Insured Health Benefits to access medically necessary health services at the nearest appropriate health facility to registered members of Fort McMurray 468 First Nation in accordance with the NIHB Program Mandate, and the NIHB/MT Policy Framework.

The Health Centre will provide ground travel within the limits of the reserve and nearest medical services, including Fort McMurray. The program includes medical transportation coordination such as booking medical, dental, and mental health counselling appointments. If a specialist appointment is outside of Fort McMurray, our medical transportation clerk will set up a referral to the medical transportation office in Edmonton. The program will provide meals and accommodation for approved medical travel as per Appendix NIHB/MT-B when away from the reserve or outside of the community.

For more information or to book a medical appointment with our Medical Transportation Clerk contact the Health Centre.

The NNADAP program encompasses all aspects of addiction. The program works to support community members to reduce levels of alcohol and other substance abuse within the community. It builds capacity within the community to develop and deliver culturally appropriate community-based addictions services.

NNADAP’s purpose is to:

• To increase awareness and understanding among the community members about alcohol and substance abuse as well as awareness and promotion of an alternative healthier lifestyle.
• To strengthen links between community-based programs and residential treatment.
• To provide support to individuals and families of individuals in post-treatment.

NNADAP is focused on the following areas of addiction:

1. Prevention – provide culturally appropriate programs to educate and promote addictions awareness and addiction free lifestyles.
2. Intervention – provide appropriate assessment of clients dealing with existing abuse problems at the earliest possible stage, prepare clients for entry into residential treatment or other rehab/treatment programs. Provide short-term counselling in crisis situations. Provide outpatient (also known as ‘in community’) counselling services.
3. Aftercare – try to prevent alcohol and drug abuse from reoccurring. Provide aftercare to clients returning from treatment and maintain a link with the relevant treatment centers concerning client care and progress. Provide skills in effective prevention/intervention strategies that address the challenges of addictions.

NNADAP services include:

• Self-change – materials, books, websites
• Self-help groups – support for individuals who are working to change their addictive behaviours
• Harm reduction – opioid awareness, safe consumption
• Counselling – individual, group, couples and family therapy
• Alcohol and drug education
• Medication information
• Withdrawal management – short term help dealing with substance use withdrawal
• Cultural healing – smudging, sweats, culture camps, working with elders, storytelling, teachings
• Holistic approach – stress or anger management, grief and trauma, healthy eating
• Referral to in-patient treatment centres

For more information contact NNADAP using the information below.

Our Public Health Nurses perform a variety of services for our Nation members every Tuesday and Thursday. These services include:

• Communicable Disease control
• Immunization services
• Maternal Child Health Services (pre and postnatal care, breastfeeding support, newborn metabolic screening, and well child clinic)

Our nurses also work closely with our Community Health and Maternal Child Health Programs. Through this collaboration we are able to provide the most up to date information to our community. Our nurses are contracted and therefore are not responsible for our employees, nor oversee what they do. They follow the direction of the Health Director to provide consultation advice and promote wellness for the community.