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Supporting cancer care in First Nations communities

January 14, 2009 – A new electronic educational and networking resource geared to care providers in First Nations communities is now available.

For its initial rollout the @YourSide Colleague^® Cancer Care program is being offered to all 331 First Nations communities in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. It is funded by the Partnership and offered by Saint Elizabeth Health Care .

Building on success

A similar electronic resource in palliative care has proven its value and is well accepted in First Nations communities, showing that e-support can make a big difference to both care providers and patients, says Nancy Lefebre, senior vice-president at Saint Elizabeth.

The cancer care program includes e-learning topics in specific aspects of care delivery. Even more valuable, it includes direct links to specialists. "A treatment or care decision that might otherwise take weeks can now be managed on the spot," says Ms. Lefebre.

The program also links care providers to each other in real-time forums. Often the best learning is what care providers can share among themselves, she says. People appreciate the flexibility to decide when and where to learn, she adds. 

The program grew from a demonstration project involving 35 First Nations, Saint Elizabeth Health Care and the federal First Nations and Inuit Health Branch; the communities themselves are instrumental in shaping the program's design and content.

"We are very pleased to support this important work," says Jessica Hill, CEO of the Partnership. "First Nations face many challenges in health-care delivery and we recognize that access to appropriate technology can help meet some of these challenges."

"This is an excellent example of how the Partnership can boost cancer services by expanding the scope of existing tools and relationships instead of re-inventing them from scratch."

To register for the @YourSide Colleague^® Cancer Care program or to obtain more information, please visit www.atyourside.ca.