Rankin Inlet (Feb 23/05) - The latest concept in the battle against fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) was introduced at a workshop in Rankin Inlet earlier this month.

The workshop was attended by teachers and health-care workers from across Nunavut.

Asset mapping was created by Dr. Kathy Jones and Elsie Flette as a community-development approach to address FASD in First Nations and Inuit communities.

The program is now run by the FASD program through Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch.

Leona Nelson, who helped lead the Rankin workshop, says asset mapping looks at the assets which exist in any given community.

She says the new approach aims to make people aware that there are strengths within each individual, family and community.

"We've often been told in order to get funding, we need to tell the government of all the deficits in our communities," says Nelson.

"This approach has really turned that around because we're moving away from the deficit model and looking more towards a strengths approach.

"The government now wants to hear about what we do have in the communities in order to get funding."

Nelson says Inuit have recognized FASD is an issue and are willing to learn asset mapping in order to make their communities healthier.

"One of the basic premises we're trying to teach is that healthy children come from healthy families which, in turn, come from healthy communities.

"So, we need the communities on board if we're going to address FASD as a bigger issue."

Nelson says having proper infrastructure in place to help families with members afflicted by FASD is problematic in the North because of its isolation. But, she says, Northern problems are no more severe than those in the South, except for the isolation factor.

"The North has taken the initiative, in many cases, of having dry communities, which you rarely see in the south.

"And, the prohibition of alcohol is a positive step."

Healthier future

The workshop concentrates more on how to avoid FASD, rather than dealing with the affliction once it strikes.

The goal is to teach people what they can do in communities that will act as preventive measures, rather than having to always respond to FASD.

Simply teaching young children about healthy eating and lifestyles can lessen the impact of FASD.

"Basically, our approach is to train the trainer as it pertains to learning the asset-mapping tool and how to use it in a community.

"We want to train people how to do this with the hope they will train others and it will have a great snowball affect."

The names of those who attended the workshop will be passed onto the government for the lines of communication to stay open.

Nelson would love to see some of the people do successful asset-mapping training in their own communities and pass on what they learned in Rankin.

"We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail with those interested in how Manitoba is addressing FASD and we'll keep in touch with those people.

"The government will be expecting an actual asset wheel - which they learned how to do - to accompany any funding proposals it receives from now on.

"We hope the asset wheel will really help with funding proposals because it's much-more visual than writing a report about everything that's lacking in your community."

Former Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. president Cathy Towtongie attended the session.

She says numerous exercises, such as putting a puzzle together with gloves on, copying a line while looking in a mirror and wearing coarse material under your clothes, really gave her insight as to what people with FAS have to deal with.

"It's really something when you realize how much of a challenge things we take for granted can be to other people," says Towtongie.

"It was informative to take the time to look at the strengths in our communities, and to see what resources we have in the planning, design and delivery of effective programs and services."

Towtongie says the more Nunavummiut who take the time to understand FASD and the ways to battle it through healthy choices, the brighter the future in Nunavut will be.

"We have a start now, a beginning, and we need people to take the lead with these initiatives in our communities.

"The future of Nunavut depends on us having healthy communities and this a step towards that."