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A group of Nunavut Arctic College students enrolled in the health and wellness program stand at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly in Iqaluit where they were honoured on March 8. From left are Maria-Pia Inutuinaq from Kugaaruk, Sadie Miyok from Kugluktuk, Maryrose Tulurialik from Taloyoak, Kristy Aklah from Taloyoak, Laetitia Apsaktau from Kugaaruk, Diane Mannilaq from Taloyoak, Marilyn Kayaksak from Kugaaruk, Ainsley Klengenberg from Cambridge Bay, Igah Sanguya from Clyde River and Yvonne Aggark-Tautu from Rankin Inlet. - photo courtesy of Lona Hegeman

IQALUIT
Health care representatives from communities around Nunavut will be returning to their home communities with advanced knowledge on health prevention.

Community health representatives and homecare workers from across Nunavut presented to schools, daycares and the Baffin Correctional Centre from March 5-8. The presentations were the practical component to a 10-day course they took on health and wellness at the Arctic College Campus in Iqaluit, and were delivered in English, French, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun as practice before bringing sessions like this back to their home communities.

"They were very well-received," said course instructor Lona Hegeman. "These are motivated learners. They are coming into this for a reason and this is really applied learning because they are already on the job."

Hegeman said the course offered is part of the territorial government's public health strategy, which focuses on preventative health practices.

Igah Sanguya is the community health representative for Clyde River and is currently working towards her community health certification. A large part of her job is focusing on illness prevention, health promotion and nutrition. Every month she actively promotes new themes, choosing a variety of topics and presenting them on her local call-in radio show.

"I think it's helping a lot of people," said Sanguya. "They are more aware of their bodies and how to take care of their bodies through prevention. We need as much help as we can for health of our people, especially those who are in the northern part of Baffin Island."

Sanguya said she had a chance to present to people of all ages but mostly to young and school-aged children. One of the popular prevention awareness exercises in her presentations dealt with exposing germs under a black light to promote the importance of hand washing, especially during flu season. She said many in the more than 1,000-person community succumb to the flu each season.

"It shows how effective hand washing is for health," said Sanguya. "The students also made soap dishes that look like qamutiks out of popsicle sticks."

Hegeman has taught the advanced three-credit course at the university level before and said it's usually delivered four times a week in one-hour sessions over a period of four months. This course was administered in 10 days with both curriculum and practical components.

Then, the health workers head straight back to their home communities and bring readily apply their skills.

This way they can complete the course without relocating for a lengthy period of time.

"The fact they are going back right away is really very critical, versus going south for education," said Hegeman. "Here they stay in their community, leave for short term and take their knowledge back to the community."

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