Regina Nursing Students Partner with Immigrant Women Centre for Health Fair
Nursing students from the Regina Campus partnered with the Regina Immigrant Women Centre to host a one-day health fair focusing on providing health education for newcomers.
University of Saskatchewan (U of S) nursing students from the Regina campus and human justice and social work students from the University of Regina (U of R) partnered together to organize a one-day health fair at the Regina Immigrant Women Centre, aimed at promoting health and well-being of immigrants and refugees, their families and friends.
The immigrant centre presented the idea of hosting the event and asked their clients what topics would be of interest to them. From there, the event began to take shape and the first-ever health fair was a huge success, attended by over 120 people. College of Nursing Clinical Associate Joleen Klassen helped the nursing students organize the event. “Immigrants come from all over the world, bringing their intelligence, expertise and diverse views to Canada. Many of them have advanced degrees and bring a wealth of knowledge that they are eager to share. However, it's not easy! The clients at the centre expressed that in coming to Canada, they often feel isolated, struggle with transportation, there are language barriers, and more. Having this health fair was a step forward in shining a light into some of these issues.”
During the health fair, topics such as access to health care, women's, men’s and seniors health, isolation, loneliness, mental health and workplace rights were addressed through a narrated skit and a panel presentation of professionals (nurses, physicians, researchers, students) gave attendees a chance to learn from their experiences when coming to Canada and how they learned to navigate the healthcare system. There were translators at the event and much of the health material was accessible in a variety of languages.
“From a nursing perspective, we work with individuals to provide culturally sensitive patient and family centred care in many different fields of nursing,” said Klassen. “Building relationships with individuals who are immigrants and refugees, hearing their stories, sharing in their struggles, valuing their successes...these are all things that will help us to enhance our practice as nursing students and as registered nurses.”
The feedback from those in attendance illustrates the true success of the event. One of the attendees said she felt really touched by the narrated skit, as it highlighted her own journey and struggles in seeking out resources in the health care system. Another attendee said he felt valued and honoured being there and that it was such an incredible event, one he hoped would continue.
“Community nursing is all about working WITH the community for health and wellness, so hearing this feedback after the event was wonderful,” said Klassen. “The health fair was an excellent reflection on nursing and healthcare and a great opportunity for opening up the conversation to enhancing health for immigrants and refugees.”