Inuit Tobacco-free Network Training Health and Wellness Workers

NEWS RELEASE
March 9, 2010

OTTAWA, ON — Frontline health and wellness workers in Inuit communities are taking a three-month distance education course about promising practices in tobacco reduction, which they can then use to encourage community members to reduce or quit smoking.The Inuit Tobacco-free Network at Inuit Tuttarvingat of NAHO is coordinating this training program. Along with this hands-on training, the Inuit Tobacco-free Network runs an information Web site and listserv in order to share information with Inuit health workers and others on tobacco use and tobacco reduction.

“Frontline health professionals have told us how bad the problem of smoking is in their communities. But often, it seems that implementing consistent tobacco reduction programming gets pushed aside by other immediate health needs,” said Dianne Kinnon, director of Inuit Tuttarvingat. “Through this course, health workers will get up-to-date information on tobacco use and how best to tackle the high smoking rates.”

Approximately 25 Inuit are enrolled in the distance education course, called “Promising Practices in Tobacco Reduction”. It runs from March 1 to May 31, 2010, with trainees spending about three to four hours per week on the course material. Most of the trainees are frontline health-care professionals, such as Community Health Representatives (CHRs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs).

The Inuit Tobacco-free Network has hired the Consultancy for Alternative Education to create and deliver the training course. These trainers are experienced in smoking counselling and community training, and have worked with Inuit communities previously. In addition, an Advisory Group with representatives from all Inuit regions in Canada oversees the training program and provided input into developing the course.

Each trainee will choose to learn about a topic that is most relevant to their interest, work or to their community’s needs. This could include learning how to:

– raise awareness in their pre-natal groups about the problems of smoking, and receive some new materials to use
– facilitate a quit smoking support group and receive self-help books for group members
– host shows on the radio about the effects of smoking during pregnancy
– run a quit smoking challenge for the community or youth
– do health education sessions with students in the schools
– get the whole community involved in reducing exposure to second-hand smoke by promoting smoke-free homes.

The trainees are from the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and Nunavut’s three regions. Despite their geographic distance, the trainees will come together through teleconferences, phone and e-mail. Doing distance education training means that participants get to stay in their own community, and don’t have to take time away from their work or their families. They will also receive one-on-one time with the trainers by phone and e-mail.

Most of the course materials, including books, posters, and DVDs, have been customized for the North. Many documents about Inuit and smoking, quitting tips, and current research on tobacco reduction are available on the Inuit Tobacco-free Network’s Web site, www.InuitTobaccofree.ca. The trainees will use this Web site as one of their main resources during the course, and will learn how to use many of the tools on it. For up to several months after the course, participants can continue to get support and information from the trainers.

For more information, visit:
www.InuitTobaccofree.ca

To join the network, e-mail:
itn@naho.ca

For media inquiries, contact:

Denise Rideout
Communications Officer,
Inuit Tuttarvingat, NAHO
Direct: (613) 301-4484
E-mail: drideout@naho.ca