First Nations Health Care in Transition: The Alberta Story

Focus on the health professional

When it comes to the delivery of healthcare services in Alberta's First Nations communities, it's the people that make the difference. And there's no better way to help healthcare professionals than by giving them the tools they need to do their jobs.

The opportunity

Most will agree that accessing healthcare is a challenge for residents in Alberta's First Nations communities. Those who work in the sector face many obstacles, like limited access to specialized equipment or resources and few training opportunities. A result is that health professionals, particularly nurses, are becoming increasingly harder to attract and retain.

In 2001, a project was already well underway to bring eHealth services into Alberta's First Nations communities using videoconferencing equipment and high speed Internet access. Dr. David Strong, Health Canada's Regional Community Medical Consultant for the Alberta Region, states:

"With the pervasive use of technology in our region, we looked at ways to assist our healthcare professionals improve the way they deliver client services. Our eHealth approach not only gave us a sustainable means of delivering healthcare at a distance to First Nations communities, it provided an excellent means of helping staff help themselves."

The response

Alberta's eHealth Team focussed on identifying the right combination of information and telecommunication technologies that could improve the efficiency of work processes and bring immediate benefits to healthcare staff in remote communities.

One of the first initiatives to go live was training on the use of new infant growth charts via videoconferencing. Four half-hour sessions were held with 25 communities plugging into the feed. While this example may seem simple, many of the participants had never seen this type of technology, let alone participated in a videoconferencing session. Audrey Inouye, Community Nutritionist for the Alberta Region, recalls:

"After getting over the initial nervousness, participants began interacting with the instructor, and eventually, with their colleagues from far away communities to solve problems during case study exercises. We also had a chance to share PowerPoint presentations, we went out live to the Internet to look something up, and used scales and other equipment during demonstrations - all right there on screen for everyone to see."

Here are some of the more innovative eHealth uses helping Alberta's remotely located healthcare workers today:

• Training videos are regularly broadcast throughout the region.
• Regular "Link and Learn" sessions are held, with experts being brought in to talk on specific subjects.
• A Health Portal exists to provide access to e-mail, discussion groups and health content to all First Nations healthcare workers.
• Specialized training is brought to the community from surprising sources - for instance, a series of Internet training seminars on maternal nutrition given by the University of Minnesota was simulcast to 12 Alberta sites via videoconferencing.
• Videoconferencing provides opportunities for managers to interact with staff, through regional meetings, performance reviews and staffing interviews.

Positive outcomes

No one can dispute the economics of Alberta's eHealth solutions. For example, a simple training session for 35 people from 10 different communities can be done for as little as $1,000 - instead of well over $10,000 if the people had to meet in one location. With the right leadership, coordination and communication, other jurisdictions can ride the eHealth wave. Indeed, the Alberta model is being adopted by other Health Canada regions, so that eHealth is now beginning to have a significant impact in First Nations communities across Canada.