Thunderchild
Health Department
Profile of Program & Services
January, 2011
Thunderchild First Nation, Treaty No. 6
Vision
Under the guidance & protection of the Creator, Thunderchild Health will incorporate
traditional & contemporary institutions in parallel to continuously improve our
spiritual, physical, emotional & mental health & wellbeing of our membership
Mission
to pursue self-sufficiency, & self determination where programs & services &
partnerships are bridged & work collaboratively to support building healthy
individuals, families, communities & the Cree Nation
Values
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Ma na chi to win (respect)
Tapwe at si win (honesty)
Sa ki to win (love)
So ke mo win (courage)
Ta pah tayi mo win (humbleness)
Ki se wa ti si win (kindness)
Wa ko to win (kinship)
Thunderchild First Nation
Mandate
To provide health services, daycare services, and youth,
culture & recreation services to the membership of
Thunderchild First Nation and other persons ordinarily
resident on Thunderchild lands and to align with
Thunderchild First Nation’s vision, strategic planning,
direction, and its reassertion of our treaty right to health to
better serve the needs of the membership
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives
 Nursing & Health Education
- to support university education, training, & professional development opportunities for
registered nurses working for Thunderchild First Nation.
 Environmental Health-safe drinking water program
- to
build capacity through community based drinking water quality monitoring program.
to track & report water quality results
 Communicable Disease Control- Health Emergencies
- to coordinate communicable disease management, including outbreaks & Communicable
Disease Emergencies
- to Report on Communicable disease as required by Public Health Act Communicable Disease
regulation; including contact tracing & follow up
 Mental Health/Wellness Program
- to Establish a community-based mental health crisis management team.
- to Enhance community management & control & provide the necessary tools to aid in the
intervention in problems of depression & suicide by targeting communities in crisis.
- to Address critical gaps in mental health services & programs & provide crisis intervention,
aftercare & training for caregivers & members of the community to deal with crisis.
- to Provide support for intervention in crisis situations in order to reduce the number of suicide
attempts & other violent crisis situations.
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives
 NNADAP (Community Wellness & Addictions)
To provide counseling to individuals, families or the clients significant other or groups
with common issue problems &
To provide prevention, maintenance, support & encouragement for individuals, families
or the clients significant other
To coordinate a comprehensive after care program
To provide non medical treatment services
 Community Dental Health Program
To provide dental care benefits to the clients in accordance with NIHB General Program
Directive, NIHB Dental Services Directive, NIHB Dental Policy Framework, & Regional
Dental Benefit Grid
 Medical Transportation
to provide medical transportation benefits by accessing medically required Health
Department in accordance with the NIHB General Program, Medical Transportation
Directives, Medical Transportation Policy Framework, & the Regional Guidelines
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives
 Home & Community Care
- to provide access to a range of home & community care services to First nations
community members living in a First Nation
- to assist First nations living with chronic &/or acute illness in maintaining optimum
health, wellbeing, & independence in their homes & communities
- to ensure that all clients with an assessed need for home care services have access
to a comprehensive continuum of services within the community
- to assist clients & their families to participate in the development & implementation of
the client’s care plan to the fullest extent & to utilize available community support
services where available & appropriate in the care of the clients
- to continue to build capacity within First Nation to facilitate the delivery of home care
services that enable program monitoring, evaluation, research & the definition of
best practices
 FASD
- to increase awareness & intervention related to fetal alcohol disorder & women &
families.
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives

Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative
- to focus on the prevention, early detection & management of Diabetes as a major health
issue.
- to increase awareness & address the high rate of diabetes & its complications
- to Improve the practice of diabetes self-management
- to Increase ownership of diabetes programs & capacity to combat diabetes in the
community.
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives

Maternal Child Health
- to increase access to a continuum of services for pregnant women & families with infants &
young children up to 6 yrs of age
- to increase participation of fathers in MCH programs
- Greater role for elders in supporting pregnant women & families with infants & young
children
- to increase screening & assessment of pregnant women & families with young children to
identify those with more complex needs
- develop new partnerships within the community, & with provincial health systems to
support implementation of MCH services
- to increase access to case management & specialized services for families & children with
complex needs
- to increase numbers of professionals & paraprofessionals frontline workers hired & trained
to work in MCH services
- to increase awareness to culturally based training for staff working with pregnant women &
families with infants & young children
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives

National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy
- to develop a national approach to Aboriginal youth suicide in Canada that will
increase protective (preventive) factors such as resiliency, & reduce the risk
factors associated with suicide
- to increase awareness & understanding of aboriginal youth suicide prevention
- to strengthen key protective factors such as a strong sense of identity, meaning
& purpose & resilience
to strengthen & facilitate collaborative approaches & linkages within the
governments, agencies & organizations
- to develop & implement locally-driven suicide prevention plans in first nation
communities
- to improve & increase crisis response efforts to intervene more effectively in
preventing suicide & suicide clusters following a suicide-related crisis in
community
- to enhance knowledge development regarding what is known about what works
in preventing youth suicide
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives
 Brighter Futures
- to increase awareness in mental health, child development, healthy babies,
injury prevention & parenting skills
- to improve knowledge & skills of front line workers & community members in
the above areas.
- to provide opportunities to improve health services & develop communitybased & model projects.
- to address the serious health problems affecting children & families in
community. Holistic & integrated manner
- to facilitate the prevention & early intervention by promoting better integration
of health services.
 Community Health Services & Injury prevention
- to target high risk behaviors & raise awareness in promotion prevention of
injuries in children & youth to include such programs as maternal & infant
health, child health, school health, adolescent, adult & elder health
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives
 Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program (CPNP)
- to improve the adequacy of the diet of prenatal & breast feeding
- to increase access to nutrition information & services, & resources to
eligible FN women particularly those at high risk
- to increase breast feeding initiation & duration rates
- to increase knowledge & skill building opportunities for those involved in
this program
- to increase the number of infants fed age appropriate foods in the first
twelve months
- to support & educate the awareness of prenatal care
 Building Healthy Communities-Solvent Abuse
- to support the Community to reduce the level of solvent addiction
- to Increase awareness & understanding among the community members
- to promote healthier lifestyles
- to Strengthen links between the community-based program & residential
treatment & provide support to individuals & families in post treatment
Thunderchild First Nation
Programs & Services & Initiatives
 Immunizations strategy
- to improve the immunization rate infants & children living in the community
- to link with internal \external health providers on client advocacy, interpretation
discharge planning, & continuity of care between health systems off & on reserve
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HIV/AIDS
- to develop initiatives to control & prevent the spread of HIV infection
- to reduce health, social, & economic impacts of HIV/AIDS
- to encourage & support the active involvement of the on reserve community in
community based HIV/AIDS programming
- to identify options/strategies for access to treatment, care & support programs
that will facilitate residents with HIV/AIDS remaining in or returning to their home
- to provide timely & comprehensive education & prevention programming
- to increase the knowledge base of epidemiology of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
- to ensure appropriate skills exist at the community level to provide prevention
programs & care/treatment services & that the capacity is developed within the
community
- to develop a coordinated approach associated with HIV/AIDS programming for
residents
Thunderchild First Nation
Partnerships
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TB Advisory Committee, FNIH
Mental Health Advisory Group, FSIN
National Aboriginal Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy Committee,
FNIH
Central Bands Nurses Group
First Nation Liaison Working Group Prairie North Health Authority
Prairie North Health Authority Primary Care Network
Saskatchewan Technical Advisory Group, FSIN
Panorama Steering Committee
Thunderchild First Nation
Contact Information
Thunderchild Department of Health
Box 744 Turtleford, Sask. S0M 2Y0
Tel: 845 – 4660 Fax: 845 -2978
Thunderchild First Nation