November 19, 2008
 |
Evelyn Linklater's photo appears on one
of the posters produced by the Aboriginal
Live Well with Chronic Diseases Program.
|
Evelyn Linklater is an Elder in her Saskatoon community, and she has diabetes.
“I am trying to live a healthy lifestyle and teach others to do the same,” says Linklater. “The LWCC (LiveWell with Chronic Conditions program) is helping me to do this. I want to see my grandchildren grow up healthy and happy.”
She is one of Saskatoon’s Aboriginal peer leaders who shared their digital stories of living with chronic conditions like diabetes at a luncheon celebrating the group’s achievements on October 30. They celebrated with more than 40 family members, friends and Health Region staff involved in the program.
Linklater and six other peer leaders recently completed training in the LiveWell program.
The LWCC program produced two tools to be used for on-going education and promotion: digital stories made by five peer leaders and seven posters that promote participation in the LiveWell program. Each poster features a professional photo of one of the peer leaders.
Linklater and the peer leaders were acknowledged for leadership in helping First Nations and Métis people better understand and manage factors related to diabetes. Each received a DVD of their digital story, a framed poster, and a book with all the poster images.
The peer leaders shared their two- to four-minute digital stories of living with chronic conditions at the luncheon celebration. Each had produced their own story during an intensive three-day digital storytelling workshop that was used to evaluate the Aboriginal peer leader program. The stories are intimate, emotional and powerful, and can be viewed online at www.patientvoices.org.uk under the tab “Stories from Saskatoon Health Region.”
Suzanne Sheppard, Director and Professional Leader, Physiotherapy and one of the project leads, says the digital storytelling initiative is a good fit with Aboriginal culture, as storytelling is one of the traditional approaches to lead and learn in their communities.
“The LiveWell program focuses on peer leadership, providing information and tools that peer leaders can use to educate their communities about managing chronic illness,” says Sheppard. “The digital stories will be one of the most important of those tools.”
Living with a chronic disease requires more than just knowledge and skill, according to Sheppard. “It requires a belief in one’s ability to use those skills in real life, and that the skills used will produce the desired result. We encourage participants to take small steps – to set incremental goals and make short-term contracts to ensure that they are successful in their efforts to make changes,” she says.
LiveWell helps people with or at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes take control of their actions and behaviours, and make choices that will improve their health, like stopping smoking, eating appropriately, reducing stress and exercising regularly.
|
