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Health association open to all

Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 06/02) - It's a health association that anyone can join.

The Canadian Public Health Association is a national, voluntary, not-for-profit association.

"The perception is that it's just for nurses and doctors, but it's open to everyone," said the NWT/Nunavut branch President Vicki Lafferty.

"We're always looking for volunteers to help with workshops ... There's lots of ways people can get involved."

Last year, the local branch partnered with the Northern Nutrition Association to bring a healthy choices and anti-smoking program into schools.

Two nutritionists worked with a teacher to develop a recipe book. During and after school, students learned to cook, and then brought food home to share with their families.

This year, the association organized the territory-wide Quit and Win contest.

Our aim was to have 400 smokers sign up and we ended up with 550," said the project's manager Elaine Berthelet. "We had a very good response from adults, not as good a response from teens."

Berthelet said the association is following up with contest entrants -- to find out why people fell off the wagon, as well as what helped people stay smoke-free.