This is page numbers 2083 - 2120 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was health.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

That's great news. I'm glad to hear that people are accessing that funding. Moving on to another fund, the community's suicide prevention fund, how long would this fund be made available, and could the Minister provide us with the summary of who has been applying for this fund? I'm not asking for any specific details, just a high-level summary.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

The suicide prevention fund is part of a shared health priorities agreement with the federal government. We're now in year four of a 10-year agreement. The funding is secure for the next six years at a minimum. Since the fund was announced about 10 days ago, there has been a lot of interest expressed. One proposal is in hand. More are anticipated by the end of this month. What we are doing because timing is very short here is that, where possible, we are giving the money this year to provide programming by the end of the fiscal year. Then if that is not possible, then we are supporting people to make applications right at the beginning of April so that they have a whole year to spend the money in the next fiscal year.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Katrina Nokleby

Katrina Nokleby Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell us whether or not the funds in the communities as suicide prevention fund are generally under or over prescribed and, if so, how can we build capacity in our communities making use of these if you funds such that down the line we see less of a need for this type of funding? Thank you.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

The suicide prevention fund is brand new as of 10 days ago. We have, in the department, a consultant who is responsible for providing support to communities to make applications to this fund and also to the On-the-Land Healing Fund. The person in this position has the following tasks: development of proposals; makes recommendations on potential contractors who may be able to assist in programming; and make linkages to larger Health and Social Services system where required. There is someone there who is in an active supporting role. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in my statement, during the course of the pandemic, we established a couple of managed alcohol programs, and they varied to an extent. Some were simply just delivering alcohol to people to prevent withdrawals, whereas, for example, the Arnica has established a much more elaborate managed alcohol program. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is: given the kind of necessity of setting up these programs during COVID-19, what are the plans for the programs that have been established going forward post-pandemic? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd just like to take a moment to thank the MLA for researching my previous statements in this area when I was a Regular Member. I stand by my statements about the need for harm reduction and that addictions are not a moral failing; they're a health issue. Having said that, I am in support of managed alcohol programs. He referenced the fact that they were offered during the pandemic. That's the case. It was trying not to double the problem so that you had both people who were isolated because of the pandemic and then also in alcohol withdrawal.

At this point, alcohol is currently only being offered at the Spruce Bough, which is the new name for the Arnica Inn, and at the Aspen Apartments. Having said that, the Aspen program is not really a program. If someone is waiting for COVID test results or who needs isolation while they are recovering from COVID, they would be at the Aspen. If they needed a managed alcohol program, they would be provided one at that time. We do have a mandate priority as a department to establish a managed alcohol program in the territory, and we are currently exploring options to make that a reality. Thank you.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

My point is that I don't want to lose the progress that has been made, and I know there are some questions about whether the Spruce Bough or the Aspen Apartments as physical infrastructure will continue to exist, but I would like to see the program model that is started there continue. I believe already some expertise has been developed. My question is: given that we've started some of this work already, has the department started to collect any data, and has it used any of this work that kind of organically started during COVID-19 to inform delivery of office?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

The answer to the Member's question is: yes, the department is working with all locations where alcohol has been and is continuing to be provided during the pandemic. Together, lessons learned to inform the ongoing approach. That's not only the Yellowknife locations. There was also a managed alcohol program offered in Inuvik during the lockdown. The information is being gathered by interviews with providers, with users, and they have the classic questions of what worked, what didn't work, and what could we do better to create a formal managed alcohol program. We anticipate that this information will be analyzed and available in the spring of this year.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

I'm very happy to hear that work is being done, and I look forward to seeing that information once it's analyzed. My main concern here is that a lot of the funding that established these programs was COVID relief funding. It's not necessarily money that has been budgeting and is found in the operations budget for Health and Social Services. Specifically, I know the Arnica program, they're hiring a manager to run this program. They are looking at best practices. However, their funding right now is COVID relief funding. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services is: can I get a commitment that that program funding, regardless of the infrastructure and the larger COVID questions, for the managed alcohol program can continue past COVID-19?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

We recognize the value of the program at the Spruce Bough. It manages two best practices together, which is the managed alcohol program, dealing with addiction and homelessness at the same time. The department has renewed its funding with the Spruce Bough until the end of September 2021. The idea is that in the next six or seven months the department will work with the Yellowknife Women's Society to explore options for continuing this program once the pandemic funding expires.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to try to remember that the Arnica is now called the Spruce Bough. I thank the Minister for continually getting that correct. My last question is that the overall goal in this is to reduce hospitalizations due to alcoholism, which is what managed alcohol programs are proven to do, but can the Minister speak to how we are going to track the effect of these programs on actually reducing hospitalizations? Can you speak to the data we are hoping to collect there? Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

There is kind of a two-part answer here. The specific commitment is to reduce the number of hospitalizations resulting primarily from alcohol use. That is something that is collected by the hospital and healthcare system, and that is ongoing. With respect to the Spruce Bough, the department is working with them to develop reporting and data-monitoring tools that could talk to us in more detail about the kind of services that have been provided connected to the outcomes of those services, so how those two things connect. This information is being collected now, and it will continue to be collected during the life of this program, which is at least until the end of September. The test here is whether this program has been effective. We like evidence-based decision making, so we are looking for the evidence that shows us that this program is helpful and worth continuing. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Question 584-19(2): Community Wellness Plans
Oral Questions

February 24th, 2021

Page 2089

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Every community has worked with Health and Social Services to create community wellness plans that are available on their department website. These plans not only identify the strengths of communities but also identify service gaps that communities feel exist. What role does the department play to ensure that, once a priority is set by the community, the community has the resources to achieve these goals? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department employs three regional community development and wellness planners who work with communities throughout the year to support actions and priorities under those wellness plans the Member mentioned. Their level of involvement is really community-driven. It can be very involved to not involved, depending on what the community wants and needs. There are annual allotments of funding to communities to realize their community wellness plans, and this funding is provided through flexible multi-year agreements. It's possible to carry over funds and move money around between fiscal years to meet the goals that they have set for themselves in their wellness plan. The fact they have a wellness plan and funding through that does not preclude them from applying for other pots of money, such as the anti-poverty fund and the NWT on-the-land collaborative. Those are some specific ways in which they are supported. The other thing is that community wellness plans provide a wealth of information to the department for planning services and programs in the future, so, for example, I know that we have staff now going through those plans in some detail to help us with the run-up to an elders' strategy. Thank you.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

The plans as they stand right now online, they do not have actions or targets associated with them, so I am wondering if the Department of Health and Social Services and the specific positions that the Minister identified are working with the communities to establish any types of target for actions to go with those plans so that they have something to measure against and can identify when they would like to achieve certain parts of the plan and how.

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

It's my understanding that, in fact, these wellness workers do work with communities on actions and priorities with the community and then set up with supports needed to realize them. I realize that information may not be available online, but this is an ongoing and iterative program of supporting communities to realize their own goals that they have set in their wellness plans.

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

One of the things that we heard identified by the Minister today was that 19 communities have access to community-based community counsellors. If a community decides, as part of achieving their action plan and to achieve their goals, that they would like to see a resident counsellor, is that something that they can work with this person to achieve? Is it something that they can work with the Department of Health and Social Services to achieve? Is there room within the Health and Social Services budget to provide additional resources to the community outside of the Anti-Poverty Fund, outside of the anti-suicide fund to be able to provide additional resources to the community?

Julie Green

Julie Green Yellowknife Centre

These are separate programs. The wellness is funded by the federal government. The community counselling program is funded by the territorial government. That does not mean they do not work together, but they are funded in different ways is what I am saying. I am not aware that at this point a community wellness plan could activate the appointment of another Community Counselling Program staff, but that is something that I can certainly check into and respond to the Member with more detail.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.