The School of Wellness

• Published in: Canadian pharmacists journal Vol. 143; no. 6; pp. 309 - 310
• Main Authors: Minish, Collette, Paus, Lynn E., Melnyk, Paul, Bradshaw, Janet
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.11.2010; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Health education; Health promotion; Seminars; Wellness programs; Canada
• ISSN: 1715-1635; 1913-701X
• DOI: 10.3821/1913-701X-143.6.309

The second School of Wellness was then formulated with plans to focus on diabetes education and management in First Nations communities. This time Pharmasave and SAHO, with sponsorship from Pfizer, partnered with the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, the University of Regina Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, and the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council to create the School of Wellness Community Health Challenge. The 12-week Challenge, held from September to December of 2009, added an element of competition, as the neighbouring Peepeekisis and Standing Buffalo First Nations, from the Balcarres and Fort Qu'Appelle area, competed against each other. Individuals from both communities applied, and approximately 10 people from each community were selected to compete. The challenge was to determine which community could lose the most cumulative inches from their waist circumferences. The prize for the first place team was a $5000 donation to be used to implement a wellness initiative in their community, and the runner-ups would receive $1000 for the same purpose. Through the School of Wellness Community Health Challenge, participants demonstrated a considerable improvement in their health. A Standing Buffalo First Nation participant spoke of the vast changes in her life that resulted because of the competition: "Before this I'd never looked at doing exercise; I didn't believe it would work. I've been diabetic for 14 years, but didn't listen to my doctor. Now, I've cut down on a lot of junk food and pop and I'm doing lots of exercises at home. It used to be hard to go up the stairs, but now I've moved my bedroom downstairs and can run up and down... I'm so energetic."2 This Challenge made an invaluable difference in these participants' lives. Financial acknowledgements: Pharmasave Central Region funded the summer pharmacy student position that included working on this as a project. Pfizer sponsored the first 2 School of Wellness initiatives. In-kind support for both initiatives was given by the Saskatchwan Association of Health Organizations and Pharmasave (Central) Ltd. In-kind support for the first School of Wellness was given by the University of Saskatchewan. In-kind support for the second School of Wellness was given by the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region, the File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council and the University of Regina Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies.