Community Health and Social Services Policy

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1.   INTRODUCTION 2.   PURPOSE OF THE POLICY
3.   OBJECTIVES PURSUED BY THE ODANAK HEALTH CENTRE 4.   ACCESS TO SERVICES
5.   Community health services 6.   SOCIAL SERVICES
7.   APPEAL BOARD  

January 2009

1.   INTRODUCTION  ▲

Odanak Band Council receives its funding for community health from Health Canada. Community health services include prevention and information services relative to various aspects of physical and mental health, as well as nursing services. The funds required for the funding of social services come from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC). Social services include prevention and information services, first-line intervention services and follow-ups with persons and families in difficulty, specific services designed for youths under 18 years of age, and home support services. Finally, the funds required for medical transport come from Health Canada.
 
The Odanak Health Centre is responsible for providing community health services and social services to the Aboriginal members of the community of Odanak. The administrative management of the Odanak Health Centre is ensured by the Centre Director who is mandated by the Band Council. The management of human resources is ensured by the Band Council manager, in collaboration with the Centre Director, in compliance with the effective “Personnel Management Policy” The financial management of community health services and medical transport is under the responsibility of the Council manager. The management of social services, entrusted by a Band Council resolution of August 1996 to the Grand Conseil de la Nation Waban-Aki inc. (GCNWA), is ensured by the GCNWA in collaboration with the senior staff of the Odanak Health Centre. The director of the Odanak Health Centre has supervisory power over decisions relative to the financial management of the Odanak Health Centre.

2. PURPOSE OF THE POLICY  ▲

The goal of the present policy is to define the orientations of the Band Council regarding community health services, social services and medical transport. The policy also seeks to establish the rules allowing them to administer the funds allocated equitably for all community members, by respecting the conditions set out in various agreements.

3. OBJECTIVES PURSUED BY THE ODANAK HEALTH CENTRE  ▲

The needs assessment on community health, carried out with the population in 1993 by the Grand Conseil de la Nation Waban-Aki inc. and in 1996 by Odanak Health Centre workers, allowed them to determine the objectives of the Odanak Health Centre. Therefore, the workers will proceed with the following objectives in their individual and collective interventions:

  • inform the community members on the health services and social services offered by the Odanak Health Centre;

  • provide appropriate professional services at the scientific, human and social levels;

  • make the individual, the family and the community face more responsible about physical and mental health;

  • prevent and screen physical and mental illness;

  • improve and maintain the physical and mental health of the community’s children, adolescents, adults and elders;

  • control and prevent the abuse of drugs, alcohol and solvents among young persons;

  • prevent violence in the family environment;

4. ACCESS TO SERVICES  ▲

The Odanak Health Centre is bound, by the Act governing public health, to provide services to any person requiring emergency care, whether this person is Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal and whether this person lives on or off Reserve. Only the health professional can determine the level of emergency for an intervention with a user.

4.1 General conditions

The Band Council limits the offer of services to human material and financial resources at its disposal. During the opening of his* file at the Odanak Health Centre, the person must provide a proof of residence such as a valid driver’s licence or any document addressed to his name coming from a government organization. The person must also accept to receive the services by signing the form provided for this purpose. 
 
The user must judiciously use the centre’s services in order to avoid abusing them. The user must respect the scheduled appointments or cancel them in advance in case he cannot be present. The user must be respectful and courteous in his relations with the personnel providing the services, abstain from all harassment or verbal, physical or psychological violence, whether it is at the centre, at home or in any other place of intervention.
* - In this text the masculine form includes the feminine.

4.2 The user-oriented approach

The Odanak Health Centre favours, during collective and individual interventions, a global personal approach; this means an approach allowing one to consider the individual, the family, the community and his environment, as well as the values belonging to the Abenaki culture. A global personal approach requires that every intervention will be focused on the user’s well-being.
 
Even if the user is entitled to receive the care required by his condition, he cannot be given care without his consent. The user is also entitled to participate in decisions affecting his state of health or well-being and be accompanied by a person of his choice. The user is also entitled to be represented by a person of his choice by means of written authorization or, as applicable, by a duly mandated person or organization.
 
Workers must effectively provide quality services, while respecting the integrity and the dignity of the user. Information concerning the user remains confidential at all times. Any user aged 14 years and over has the right of access to his file.
 
The holder of parental authority automatically has access to the file of his child, except in the case of a child aged 14 years and over. In fact, according to the provisions of the Quebec Civil Code, the holder of parental authority can have access to the file of his child aged 14 years and over, provided that he holds written authorization on the latter’s part.
 
The Odanak Health Centre must provide the user with the assistance of a qualified person to help understand the information recorded in his file. The user has the right to request a rectification of his file. In exceptional cases, the Odanak Health Centre can temporarily refuse the user’s having access to his file, when the communication of information can be prejudicial to his health.
 

5.    Community health services   ▲

Community health services must be provided according to Health Canada standards, in compliance with an initial agreement between Health Canada and the Band Council. The agreement sets out the funding of the following services:

  • community support services in mental and physical health;

  • prevention and intervention services for youths aged from 13 to 17, within the “National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program” (NNADAP);

  • prevention and intervention services against the abuse of solvents among youths;

  • promotion and information services for children aged 12 years and under, within the “Jeunesse en Santé” program;

  • clinical and home care nursing services.

5.1   Prevention and information services   ▲

The prevention and screening of physical and mental illness, as well as the prevention and screening of behaviour or living habits leading to dependence, depression or loss of autonomy, represent the main vocation of the Odanak Health Centre.
 
As a result, the prevention and information services are ensured by all the centre workers; this means by the nurses, the addictions worker, the liaison officer for health, the social services coordinator and the social assistance technician. According to the annually available funds, the Band Council also authorizes the occasional hiring of resource persons in order to collaborate in the regular activities of the centre or to carry out certain special projects.

5.1.1    Eligibility  ▲

Persons registered on the band list, residing in Odanak, are eligible for all the collective and individual prevention and information services provided by the Odanak Health Centre. The non Aboriginal members of the immediate family of an Aboriginal person residing in Odanak, either the wedded or common law spouse, their children and the children of the spouse are also eligible for all the collective and individual prevention and information services.
 
Persons registered on the band list are entitled to all the services on site. The Odanak Health Centre must not take the place of non-insured health benefits for off-reserve members with exceptions: home care, supplies and medical equipment, medical transportation (taxi, ambulance).
 
Persons belonging to another Aboriginal community residing in Odanak because they work there, as well as other non Aboriginal persons residing in Odanak, are exclusively eligible for the collective prevention and information services provided by the Odanak Health Center and blood test.

5.1.2    Description of services  ▲

Individual Service

Intervention which consists of a meeting between the worker and client involving personal and confidential information.

Collective Service

Prevention or information activity for groups of five (5) persons or more not involving personal and confidential information but which contributes to the well-being of the community.
Ex.: conference, workshop, immunisation etc.

6.       SOCIAL SERVICES  ▲

Refer to the Grand Conseil policy and the services delivered in collaboration with the Odanak Health Centre workers.

7.       APPEAL BOARD  ▲

The Band Council intends to follow the “Complaints Policy” in the event where a decision rendered, within the present policy, proves to be unsatisfactory for the user.
 
The Appeal Board evaluating the complaints relating to the Community health social is made up of three (3) representatives, independent of the Odanak Health Centre services.

 

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