AHS Offers One-Stop Pop-Up Heath Services Event

The event is in partnership with the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research, as part of a research project called IMPACT.

IMPACT is a five-year research program currently working with Alberta, Ontario and Quebec health services in an effort to promote access to primary health care for populations vulnerable to poor health outcomes.

The Alberta research focuses on north Lethbridge because data shows these community residents experience limited access to primary health care and other services when compared with other city residents.

“Often, north Lethbridge residents have to seek health and community supports in other parts of the city,” says Dr. Shannon Spenceley, IMPACT co-investigator and assistant professor of nursing at the University of Lethbridge. “We have worked closely with the community, and it is out of that work that we came to the decision to try this alternative model to see how it could work.”

The first community and health services pop-up event in north Lethbridge, held in June, served about 60 people and provided more than 200 services to those who attended.
Plans are in the works to host these events three times a year.

The IMPACT team identified several barriers to health and community service access in north Lethbridge, including transportation, non-traditional hours of work and cultural barriers,” says Cheryl Andres, IMPACT co-investigator and Director of Primary Care and Chronic Disease Management for AHS South Zone. “Our goal is to bring services to where the clients are instead of always asking them to come to us, and then we could evaluate this service model for potential in the future.”

Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre is located on a Lethbridge Transit route, and other transportation options may be available.

by Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs - (@morrittjacobs on Twitter) // With Files from Alberta Health Services

AHS Offers One-Stop Pop-Up Heath Services Event

What's Happening