North Zone Health Neighbourhoods

What are they?

Health Neighbourhoods bring together people from diverse backgrounds to improve primary health care for the people in Northern Alberta. Health Neighbourhood partners are building bridges between health and social areas to improve the primary health care experience for everyone in Northern Alberta. We take a collaborative and cross-sectorial approach to this work and strive to be inclusive and communicate in a way that all community members can access and understand. Health Neighbourhoods are regionally based, and partners live, work, and play in the regions they represent.

We model shared leadership and take ownership of our work. Our work is evolving – we want to co-create navigation supports, workshops, stories, networks, and build on communications within existing projects. We balance meeting time by getting to know each other, staying connected, and implementing the North Zone Service Plan.

What are they doing now?

There are currently 2 active Health Neighbourhoods in Northern Alberta:

Peace Country Health Neighbourhood (PC HN)

The PC HN meets monthly and is looking for new membership to join
There are 2 active Mini Working Groups: Unattached/Vulnerable & Transitions
The Unattached/Vulnerable team is working on a service document campaign to increase knowledge of services available in the Peace River area for the public
The Transitions team is working to improve the care journey of seniors and Elders in the Grande Prairie area

Wood Buffalo Health Neighbourhood (WB HN)

The WB HN meets monthly and is looking for new membership to join
There are 2 active Mini Working Groups: Transitions in Care (TiC) & Addictions and Mental Health (AMH)
The TiC team is working on discharge planning from a patient perspective with their “It’s Okay to Ask” initiative
The AMH team is working on an event series called “Connect – Relate – Collaborate” which will bring together service providers and supports to revitalize the sector

These groups meet monthly and sustain “Mini Working Groups” within each main group where partners can focus on specific areas related to community health and get to the action of making small, person-centred improvements. Eventually, the Health Neighbourhood model will expand to include more Health Neighbourhoods throughout the North Zone.

Click HERE to view Our Health Neighbourhoods: Key Messages

For more information on the North Zone Health Neighbourhoods please email Robyn Laczy at rlaczy@gmail.com