A speaker at the eHealth forum in Prince Albert. Photo courtesy Tina Pelletier, Prince Albert Grand Council.
A health forum hosted by Prince Albert Grand Council and Health Canada is looking to get everyone on the same page about new health technology.
In recent years, remote communities in the north have started hosting videoconferencing appointments between doctors and patients, which is called Telehealth.
Currently, there are 44 First Nations sites in Canada using Telehealth services with seven more to go online by the end of March, said Health Canada’s eHealth coordinator with the First Nations and Inuit Health Brand, Marianne Penner.
With more new healthcare technology headed to remote First Nations each year, the forum is making sure the people who are meant to benefit from the new offerings understand what they are.
Elder Leonard Ermine said he hopes Health Canada gives information that northern health region workers can pass on.
“Some of the people and that that work up north, that they’ll be able to help our people to be able to interpret for them what’s being talked about for their own benefit,” he said.
Ermine says forums like this break down communication barriers between northerners and their health-care providers. In many cases, Elders and people in northern communities don’t have advanced education because many, like himself, went to Residential Schools. In those cases, a majority of people don’t have more than a Grade 5 education.
“Those are the kinds of things that we need to know, that need to be clarified to our people because of the lack of understanding. And not only that but because high-tech of the language,” Ermine said.
The need to build an understanding for remote communities keeps on growing, as health issues like diabetes and heart disease are becoming more prevalent, he said.
Health Canada is partnering with Prince Albert Grand Council for this two-day conference.
Other topics include electronic record-keeping, the importance of patient privacy, and new systems to monitor public health.
Penner points out this means people don’t need to make long commutes to get to a specialist.
It also cuts back on how long someone waits to see a doctor.
Patricia Hunter with Prince Albert Grand Council health says there are so many advantages to modernizing their equipment.
“It always comes back to the improvement of that health care and the costs that are involved with that. It does save money on both sides when something is utilized in that way. It’s not just a wall-mounted TV unit, it’s also laptops, doctors can use their phone as well to connect with patients,” Hunter said.
She says it’s not just First Nations communities, but all communities that can get on board with things like tele-health.