The IWK Health Centre has been generous in supporting HAAC with a grant to provide culturally competent health education for African Nova Scotian (ANS) Women in four (2 rural, 2 urban) communities. The four communities are; Annapolis Valley, Truro, Halifax North End, and East Preston. As part of our project, HAAC will offer a series (4) of health /wellness related topics to a minimum of 6 individuals within the community. We have chosen to use the ‘kitchen table discourse’ as our form of communication to encourage an informal discussion. We have been extremely fortunate to have the support from members of each of these communities, who have volunteered to open their home to host these health- related sessions.
To date, HAAC has held two of the four health sessions within the North End of Halifax. The participation from local residents has been excellent. Participants have commented on the ease of participation and the level of comfort they have in expressing their thoughts and health related needs as a community. Participants continue to indentify gaps within the health system and have been useful in providing suggestions in narrowing the gaps. HAAC aims to continue to support communities and ANS women in receiving the best health services available to them.
Health sessions within the North End of Halifax will be completed by the end of July. The next area to host these health education sessions is the Annapolis Valley region.
To learn more about our project, feel free to contact Edith Bennett at edith.bennett@mail.mcgill.ca.