iCON for Aboriginal Health

On March 7th 2012 iCON partnered with UBC’s Division of Aboriginal Health to present a second Learning Circle Session.  This time iCON was joined by experts Dr. Lee Brown from UBC’s Institute of Aboriginal Health, Dr. Health McDonald from the Seabird Island Band Health Department and Mobile Diabetes Clinic, Ida John who is Elder from the Sto:lo Nation, as well as a dietitian and traditional healer, and health workers and community members from 10 communities around BC to discuss the way that chronic disease affects their communities, areas and problems which need to be addressed and potential solutions for some of these challenges.

Dr. Heather McDonald spoke about the biomedical focus of the current health care system and the gap that can be caused when the social and spiritual aspects of wellness are ignored.  She also discussed the need for health strategies which focus on community support and which respect relationships in Aboriginal communities.

Ida John spoke about the health challenges brought on by moving away from a traditional lifestyle, as well as the health problems brought on by living circumstances in many reserve communities.  A need to focus on preventative care, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual healing as well as the value offered by a traditional lifestyle was a highlight of her presentation.

Dr. Lee Brown was the last expert panelist to speak.  He discussed the role that both western and traditional medicine have to play in the care of Aboriginal patients and the need for a policy to allow these two streams of care to coexist and support each other.  He also talked about knowledge sharing and protecting the knowledge of Elders, especially with regards to health care.

After each panelist gave their brief presentation everyone else attending was invited to share their thoughts and experiences.  It was a great discussion and a wonderful opportunity for knowledge sharing so we would like to thank everyone who attended for taking part and sharing your wisdom with the group!

Yolanda, from our iCON team,  has put together a graphic representing the presentation given at the 2011 Elder’s Gathering by Ida John.  Check it out for some great tips on healthy eating!

On July 12th the iCON for Aboriginal Health team hit the road for Abbotsford BC to attend the 35th Annual BC Elders Gathering hosted by Sto:lo at the Abbotsford Tradex.  The three day event was a whirlwind of fun, healthy living, and story sharing.  iCON sat in an information booth amongst the other wonderful health resources organized by Fraser Health Authority.

Throughout the event, iCON had an information/activity booth that featured resources on “living well with diabetes.” The highlight of which, was a booklet containing a traditional plant medicine guide that features such plants as Devil’s Club for blood sugar regulation, healthy recipes, and diabetes health information.  We brought 1,000 books and left were happy to leave with less than 200! The booklet will be posted online as a downloadable resource in the near future.

The best part about the information booth was chatting with all of the Elders who came by.  Many told stories of people in their families, their struggles with their health, and the way these challenges have been overcome through a return to traditional diet.

An activity that saw a lot of participation at the information booth was The Bannock Revolution! – People put in their healthy bannock recipes and tips as amendments to a deep fried bannock recipe (though many were of the opinion that the deep-fried way of doing things was too tasty to warrant change).  Stay tuned- the healthy tips and recipes will be posted soon.

On July 13th the team bravely went up on the main stage in front of hundreds of Elders and their family members to perform a skit about label reading where a superhero dietician intervenes on a grocery-shopping family to teach smart label reading for diabetes and general healthy living.  After the skit, the team’s traditional medicine experts and nutritional consultants gave illuminating presentations, taking the audience through a traditional diet, a contemporary diet, and back again, reclaiming healthy living through knowledge of one’s roots and an awareness of culture in the midst of societal trends to eat over-processed and unhealthy foods. The take home message? Get outside, know the area around you and the plants it grows, find medicine and food while getting exercise and learning!

After the presentation, the iCON team went around to the audience to hand out Applesauce Spice Cookies, a diabetes friendly recipe chosen, tested, and approved by one of the team’s Registered Nurses.  People were then invited to come back to information booth to enjoy some blueberry leaf tea (aka, a blood sugar regulator).

The third day at the Gathering was a half day of saying good-bye to the Elders who were heading home and to the other health information booth teams.  All and all it was an amazing event and an absolute treasure to be able to participate and meet so many wonderful people.

Thank you to Sto:lo for hosting this amazing event, to the Fraser Health team for all their coordination and support, and of course, thank you iCON team, you’re amazing!

From July 12-14th, iCON will be at the 35th Annual BC Elder’s Gathering in Abbotsford BC.  We will have an information booth for healthy living with a focus on chronic disease prevention and management and we will also put on an iCON ‘event.’ The details of the event are still being decided, however, we do know this: it will focus on diabetes, traditional medicine, holistic health, and it will even include a skit!

BC Elder’s Gatherings are organized by the BC Elders Communication Center Society (see http://www.bcelders.com/index.php for more info) as a way for Elders who are their communities’ advisors, teachers, and leaders to get together, socialize, and celebrate their dedicated hard work throughout the year and share traditions. This year’s Gathering is hosted by Sto:lo and Coast Salish communities at the Abbotsford Tradex. See the event website at http://www.35theldersgathering.com/ for more information.

On June 2nd, the iCON team hit the road again to attend the Aboriginal Health Improvement Committee (AHIC) meeting in Yale BC.  It was a beautiful drive to a beautiful place and a pleasure to meet all the health care providers in attendance.

On April 20th, the iCON team hit the road to visit the Aboriginal Health Improvement Committee (AHIC) Elder’s gathering hosted by Sto:lo.  We shared our recent success at the UBC Learning Circle and learned a lot from the community’s Elder’s and health care professionals about what iCON needs to be to be a successful health resource.

Thanks for having us Sto:lo and thanks to Fraser Health for the invite!

Graphic Facilitation for iCON at the Learning Cirlce

On March 23^rd, 2011, iCON partnered up with the UBC Learning Circle to invite Aboriginal communities from across BC to share their experiences and knowledge of practical and culturally appropriate methods of chronic disease-prevention and self-management.  The iCON team shared its experiences in partnering with Chinese- and Punjabi-speaking communities in BC to host live and webcast forums on diabetes, healthy heart, dementia, liver disease, and mental wellness in an interactive and culturally relevant way.

The UBC Learning Circle is a partnership between UBC Division of Aboriginal People’s Health (DAPH), the First Nations Health Council (FNHC) and First Nations and Inuit Health (FNIH).  It provides opportunities for health care workers, health administrators and community members in First Nations communities to learn about a variety of chronic disease self management, prevention and wellness topics through video-conferencing.  See http://learningcircle.ubc.ca/ for more info.

On December 6th of 2010, iCON for Aboriginal Health began partnering with BC First Nations communities by holding a workshop at the eMentoring forum.

eMentoring is another initiative coming out of the UBC eHealth Strategy Office that aims to match urban and rural Aboriginal youth from grades 7-12 over an online platform with a mentor who is in University in the hopes of increasing Aboriginal student enrolment at a post-secondary level. eMentoring has a large partner group that brings an large array of talent and passion to the eMentoring project.  See www.ementoringbc.com for more info.

At the workshop, the iCON team listened while the eMentoring gang shared feedback and ideas for optimal adaptation of iCON for in Aboriginal community settings. The goal of the workshop was to undertake a needs assessment to ask, “what are some of the unique health priorities within your communities?” “What are some effective ways to deliver educational materials to address these health priorities?” Here’s what we learned:

- Health priorities include management and prevention of: Type 2 Diabetes, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Arthritis, and childhood obesity and tips on managing a healthy diet and and exercise regime.

AND

- Resources should be innovative and allow for hands on learning

Thanks for the tips eMentoring team!