U of A group targets more northern students with culturally-driven message

Members of the Aboriginal Health Group at the University of Alberta are hoping that $137,740 in funding from Health Canada will allow them to reach more elementary and junior high aged students in northern Alberta this fall and convince them to stay away from tobacco.

The message they’re spreading is a cultural adaptation of the original Butt Out campaign that made its way through schools in Edmonton. In 2007, the Aboriginal liaison officers with both the Edmonton public and Catholic school districts approached the Aboriginal Health Group.

“They had a current program and it wasn’t helping to decrease the rate (of smoking) at all and it seemed culturally inappropriate for many of the Aboriginal youth,” said Aimee Rodriguez, co-president of the U of A’s Faculty of Nursing – Aboriginal Health Group.

The Aboriginal Health Group received $3,000 in funding from AADAC to adapt the program. The work was done collaboratively by Aboriginal students from a variety of faculties then given to Elders, community members and addiction experts to ensure it would be effective and culturally appropriate. The new message was delivered through a pilot program to three schools, each in urban, rural and on-reserve settings.

In 2008, Canada Heritage provided $25,000 in funding. The money was used to hire a coordinator to set up school sessions. The non-smoking message went out to 15 schools and 300 children in Edmonton.

In 2009, $95,000 from Health Canada Tobacco Reduction Unit was received to be spent over two years. An administrative coordinator was hired and tasked with finding schools with a higher percentage of Aboriginal students and organizing volunteers. It was the first year the message was delivered outside of Edmonton. Volunteers travelled as far north as High Level. Presentations were made to 20 schools and 400 children.
Co-president Laura Brookbanks said more schools will be hit this upcoming year, especially in northern Alberta.

“We really feel that a lot of times northern communities miss out on some of the programming that is available in more urban settings,” said Brookbanks.

Volunteers, which number between 20 and 30, are recruited from the university. At training sessions, an Elder talks about the cultural uses of tobacco. A DVD and manuals have been developed for the training session.
Volunteers go out in pairs to the school, one Aboriginal and one non-Aboriginal, and make the 45-minute presentation.

 “They really try to emphasize the differences between traditional versus the commercial use of tobacco. We like to involve the Medicine Wheel teachings, to describe a healthy lifestyle,” said Brookbanks. “According to research, the culturally-based method of teaching about tobacco found that the retention of the message . . . had increased among the Aboriginal youth.”

Brookbanks said it’s important for Aboriginal university students to take the message to the youngsters and to act as role models
“One of the principles we hold close in our organization is that we really want the next generation of Aboriginal students to believe in themselves,” she said.