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Health message rides radio waves

Sep 6, 2011 | 6:24 AM

Three people are jammed into the tiny radio station at Sturgeon Lake First Nation, two of them are health workers and the third is reminding them how to run a show.

Fred Felix and Sharon Ahenakew work at the health centre and they had a message for the community about the needle exchange program and the needle drop boxes that appeared on the reserve last week.

“As a nurse, I feel it’s always important for people to get the right message, get the right education and get the right awareness so that they can make proper, informed health decisions,” said Ahenakew, a nurse on the First Nation.

“This is one way that we get the message out.”

This isn’t the first time they’ve used the radio to get their message to the wider community. For the past three years they’ve been using local airwaves to spread information on public health topics from diabetes and traditional parenting to FASD and sexual health.

“It’s a fun and interactive way to get to the community members, without them leaving their home. We’ve tried putting on workshops in the community and our numbers were low so we looked to this other alternative of radio waves,” said Felix, a community health worker.

It starts with Felix waking up the community and reminding them of the information and contest. If people listen to the five-minute public service announcement and are able to answer a question they have the chance to enter a draw.

On the line are four backpacks stuffed with schools supplies for back to school.

“The health centre hosts a variety of radio contests to get the message out there in a fun way,” Felix said.

“We know the message is getting out the community members.”

They get a broad range of callers, young and old, people who don’t come to workshops and those they don’t see in the community, Felix said.

“We know that the message is getting out there … we know we are teaching them something,” he said.

They can track their reach because they only allow one caller per household.

“It makes our jobs a little bit easier because we’re actually teaching them, I feel that I did something today, I taught someone a little something about a topic,” he said.

Ahenakew and Felix go back and forth on air, talking about the needle exchange program, explaining how the drop bins benefit the community and what people should do if they find a needle.

Then Felix asks people to call in with an answer to a question about why the bins are in the community.

Within half an hour there have been 50 callers and names drawn for the backpacks.

Currently it’s only the health centre that uses the radio station, and they are grateful for it, said Felix, but he’s encouraging other on-reserve organizations to use it as well.

ahill@panow.com