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Source: http://www.saultthisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1733474
Garden River First Nation flu plan given top praise
Posted By BOB MIHELL
Posted 8 hours ago
The Garden River First Nations Wellness Centre has received top praise from Health Canada, leading national health officials, and the all party House of Commons Standing Committee on Health for its proactive pandemic flu plan.
Pam Nolan, manager of health and social services, and Maxine Lesage, a registered nurse and supervisor of health services at the Garden River Wellness Centre were invited to speak at the health symposium on Parliament Hill on Aug. 28.
Kady O'Malley, a blogger with Macleans Magazine, wrote that Nolan had given "the best opening statement of the day, as far as community preparedness goes."
O'Malley said that the Garden River First Nations had put together "one heck of a plan. [Nolan] got a round of applause for her presentation...and the chair described herself as 'blown away'".
O'Malley quoted Nolan as saying, "We were fortunate. We went for it. Other communities did not and aren't ready."
Both Nolan and Lesage later told Sault This Week that they began planning for potential pandemics in January 2005 after receiving a template from Health Canada following the SARS outbreak.
They declined to take personal credit, however, for the plan's development. Both stressed that the preparedness plan had evolved from a team effort involving all of their front line health workers in the First Nations community.
They also gave credit to Chief Lyle Sayers and the Council who supported them from the beginning. "We have a very supportive chief who let us just go for it, so we were able to produce the resources that we needed," Nolan said. "And we were fortunate enough that Health Canada saw what we produced, liked it, and we were reimbursed for some of our activities."
As for the Ottawa event, which was televised live on the Parliamentary Channel, both women admitted that they hadn't known what to expect.
Nolan, who delivered the five-minute presentation in Ottawa, said that originally they had a written script to read, but after watching others "struggle" while reading theirs, decided to change their approach. "I said okay that's it, no reading the presentation. It's just going to be ad libbed, so that's what we did," she said.
Lesage added, "It was a bit overwhelming, but we were prepared. We had our materials and resources and we reviewed what we wanted to say."
Lesage said that they were humbled and honoured to be there with First Nations chiefs from across the country, and leading health officials like David Butler Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, and Leona Aglukkaq, the federal minister of health, listening.
Nolan said that their presentation attracted a lot of questions, many focused on what Health Canada's role should be to assist them.
Both Nolan and Lesage said that they hoped their presentation would help other First Nations communities, some facing serious health problems and limited financial resources, to develop a plan for their own communities.
Nolan said that their contacts always have been with front line health care workers, and that had contributed a different perspective to the Ottawa symposium.
"They don't often hear from people at the grass roots," she said. "They had some chiefs there making very political statements, but we were the only people there who weren't political. And I think they have to hear more from people at our level."
And Lesage stressed that the key ingredient in developing the plan itself was not money.
"When we started out with this, we didn't put money first although that can certainly help," Lesage said. "We used creativity, ingenuity and motivation to get the plan going. And any community can do that. You have to have commitment to the project and to the community and you have to see the bigger picture. We were thinking about that way back in 2005 post SARS."
Lesage said that the plan was dynamic, and continued to be updated and improved, with the goal of reducing risks for specific types of outbreaks. Different at-risk groups in their community have been identified specifically for different strains of flu or viral infections, and that has enabled them to keep in contact with those people using their health workers and outreach team.
As for how effective the Garden River First Nation's strategy will be when the H1N1 virus spreads, which is inevitable according to Lesage, remains to be seen, since recent media reports suggest a vaccine may not be available until mid-November.
Lesage said that they were focused on using the resources they have developed to address prevention and education in the schools where their children attend.
That has meant recent visits to those schools by their health care workers to provide clear information, hand sanitizers, and suggestions to limit the virus's spread when it occurs.
One of the many suggestions to school administrators has been to create specific times, such as before lunch, when classes of students can use the hand sanitizers to wash their hands all at the same time.
Nolan added, "Without the vaccine for H1N1, what we're doing in the meantime is focusing on prevention and education, social distancing and staying at home if you're sick. That is our emphasis right now. We're not just going to say let's wait for the vaccine and that's going to solve everything."
Nolan also said that they were working on a cultural component as well, so their community would be able to use traditional medicines to treat the flu, and to offer different strategies to help them deal with stresses.
As to how well the four years of planning, hard work and education pay off in the event of a flu outbreak, Nolan was philosophical.
"We'll see how it works; only time will tell," she said. "You can give people all kinds of information, but will they follow it? That is a matter related to human nature."
Article ID# 1733474
Garden River First Nation flu plan given top praise
Posted By BOB MIHELL
Posted 8 hours ago
The Garden River First Nations Wellness Centre has received top praise from Health Canada, leading national health officials, and the all party House of Commons Standing Committee on Health for its proactive pandemic flu plan.
Pam Nolan, manager of health and social services, and Maxine Lesage, a registered nurse and supervisor of health services at the Garden River Wellness Centre were invited to speak at the health symposium on Parliament Hill on Aug. 28.
Kady O'Malley, a blogger with Macleans Magazine, wrote that Nolan had given "the best opening statement of the day, as far as community preparedness goes."
O'Malley said that the Garden River First Nations had put together "one heck of a plan. [Nolan] got a round of applause for her presentation...and the chair described herself as 'blown away'".
O'Malley quoted Nolan as saying, "We were fortunate. We went for it. Other communities did not and aren't ready."
Both Nolan and Lesage later told Sault This Week that they began planning for potential pandemics in January 2005 after receiving a template from Health Canada following the SARS outbreak.
They declined to take personal credit, however, for the plan's development. Both stressed that the preparedness plan had evolved from a team effort involving all of their front line health workers in the First Nations community.
They also gave credit to Chief Lyle Sayers and the Council who supported them from the beginning. "We have a very supportive chief who let us just go for it, so we were able to produce the resources that we needed," Nolan said. "And we were fortunate enough that Health Canada saw what we produced, liked it, and we were reimbursed for some of our activities."
As for the Ottawa event, which was televised live on the Parliamentary Channel, both women admitted that they hadn't known what to expect.
Nolan, who delivered the five-minute presentation in Ottawa, said that originally they had a written script to read, but after watching others "struggle" while reading theirs, decided to change their approach. "I said okay that's it, no reading the presentation. It's just going to be ad libbed, so that's what we did," she said.
Lesage added, "It was a bit overwhelming, but we were prepared. We had our materials and resources and we reviewed what we wanted to say."
Lesage said that they were humbled and honoured to be there with First Nations chiefs from across the country, and leading health officials like David Butler Jones, Canada's chief public health officer, and Leona Aglukkaq, the federal minister of health, listening.
Nolan said that their presentation attracted a lot of questions, many focused on what Health Canada's role should be to assist them.
Both Nolan and Lesage said that they hoped their presentation would help other First Nations communities, some facing serious health problems and limited financial resources, to develop a plan for their own communities.
Nolan said that their contacts always have been with front line health care workers, and that had contributed a different perspective to the Ottawa symposium.
"They don't often hear from people at the grass roots," she said. "They had some chiefs there making very political statements, but we were the only people there who weren't political. And I think they have to hear more from people at our level."
And Lesage stressed that the key ingredient in developing the plan itself was not money.
"When we started out with this, we didn't put money first although that can certainly help," Lesage said. "We used creativity, ingenuity and motivation to get the plan going. And any community can do that. You have to have commitment to the project and to the community and you have to see the bigger picture. We were thinking about that way back in 2005 post SARS."
Lesage said that the plan was dynamic, and continued to be updated and improved, with the goal of reducing risks for specific types of outbreaks. Different at-risk groups in their community have been identified specifically for different strains of flu or viral infections, and that has enabled them to keep in contact with those people using their health workers and outreach team.
As for how effective the Garden River First Nation's strategy will be when the H1N1 virus spreads, which is inevitable according to Lesage, remains to be seen, since recent media reports suggest a vaccine may not be available until mid-November.
Lesage said that they were focused on using the resources they have developed to address prevention and education in the schools where their children attend.
That has meant recent visits to those schools by their health care workers to provide clear information, hand sanitizers, and suggestions to limit the virus's spread when it occurs.
One of the many suggestions to school administrators has been to create specific times, such as before lunch, when classes of students can use the hand sanitizers to wash their hands all at the same time.
Nolan added, "Without the vaccine for H1N1, what we're doing in the meantime is focusing on prevention and education, social distancing and staying at home if you're sick. That is our emphasis right now. We're not just going to say let's wait for the vaccine and that's going to solve everything."
Nolan also said that they were working on a cultural component as well, so their community would be able to use traditional medicines to treat the flu, and to offer different strategies to help them deal with stresses.
As to how well the four years of planning, hard work and education pay off in the event of a flu outbreak, Nolan was philosophical.
"We'll see how it works; only time will tell," she said. "You can give people all kinds of information, but will they follow it? That is a matter related to human nature."
Article ID# 1733474