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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - A group of women in the health care sector are working to change the way their profession is seen.

Many people don't understand the full scope of the duties that home support workers can perform.

Seven home support workers from the Deh Cho and the Sahtu are completing a training course to broaden the scope of their services. Participants include, from left, back row: Rena Menacho, Betty Anne Betsedea, Freda Neyelle and Jacqueline Elleze; front row: Marilyn Bonnetrouge, Evelyn Constant and Barbara McLeod. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

"People think we're cleaners and we're not," said Freda Neyelle, a home support worker from Deline.

Seven home support workers were gathered in Fort Simpson from Feb. 16 to 27 for training. The course, which is being offered by Dehcho Health and Social Services (DHSS), is, in part, a way to change the vision for home support workers, said Connie McNab, the regional home care co-ordinator.

"Until now it's been a janitor, taxi service," McNab said.

Health and social services is trying to highlight the clinical health-related services that home support workers can perform including personal care, taking vital signs, basic footcare and monitoring medicine intake. The services of home support workers are primarily used by elders, but are also available to people who've just had an operation and individuals with certain disabilities, said McNab.

Each of the seven home support workers who are enrolled in the training course has completed 10 of the required 13 modules. They're all expected to graduate in June.

Participants include five workers from the Deh Cho and two from the Sahtu.

The training is a building block for the women, said McNab.

The home support workers are already good resources for other members of the health care team, such as nurses, and the training will further that, she said.

The course will also assist them if they want to pursue a related career in the health field, she said.

Freda Neyelle is already seeing benefits from the training.

The course has made it easier to understand doctors when they use medical terminology, said Neyelle. Learning about a client's condition and medication helps you look for warning signs in their health, she said.

"We're the eyes and ears for the doctors and nurses," said Jacqueline Elleze, from Fort Simpson.

Home support workers see their clients daily so they are able to spot changes in their health, Elleze said.

Building relationships with clients is also one of the job's perks, said Marilyn Bonnetrouge of Fort Providence.

"Not all elders have a family," she said.

Bonnetrouge, who's worked in the field for nearly four years, said she enjoys getting to know the elders in her community.

The elders also like the contact with a familiar person, said Betty Anne Betsedea, who works in Fort Simpson.

"I think it puts a smile on their face when you see them and visit them," she said.

The elders also have things to share in return.

"They have a lot to say about their past and their stories," said Betsedea.

"It's good listening to them."