The Community Health Department offers support to the project, and you may obtain more information by contacting Eliseo Martel or by calling 744-1310. In may ways, Canada's health care system is not meeting the needs of New Canadians. The doctors, nurses and other health professionals usually are unable speak their languages. They are unaware of their customs and health beliefs. They often suggest foods or treatments that are unfamiliar or culturally unacceptable.
Most information is available only in English.
There are many services, but new Canadians do not know about them, and therefore cannot use them. The purpose of the Community Health Helpers program is to recruit, train and support members of different ethnocultural groups to act as health promoters in their own communities. Their job is to work directly with people from their respective communities to learn how they can be healthier in their new community. An equal amount of time is dedicated to developing and strengthening CHH's leadership skills so that they are able to share their new knowledge with others. Not only do CHHs work to improve health in their communities, they also serve to bridge the gap between the multicultural community and the health care system.