Improving Access to Health Information Project

For audio and video, you will need to download the RealPlayer. To download the free player click here.

Veterans Affairs Canada, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Legion, has launched an innovative pilot project that teaches veterans and seniors how to use the Internet to access health information and resources that may be available within their community and elsewhere.

The first pilot program began in May, 1999 when approximately 80 veterans, caregivers and seniors attended sessions in four Legion branches in Nova Scotia. Participants were given eight weeks of hands-on instruction on how to use the computer to browse the Internet for health and wellness information. Each week, local community health professionals also were on hand to discuss topics such as caregiving, falls prevention and mental health. A second pilot took place in Prince Edward Island in October, 1999.

To learn more about the project, we've prepared an 18-minute information video featuring interviews with several participants, including a veteran, a project coordinator, a health care professional and a class facilitator.

RealVideo 56 RealVideo 28.8

Feedback from participants has been extremely positive so Veterans Affairs Canada entered into a partnership arrangement to offer this learning experience to a broader audience of veterans and seniors.

This latest step is a national project that involves VAC, the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) and Industry Canada. Under the project, 44 RCL branches in seven provinces have been equipped with computers and Internet access. Since the project began in 1999, a number of these branches have participated in an eight-week computer and health promotion course.

As well, material developed by Veterans Affairs Canada to teach veterans and other seniors how to surf the Internet for health and wellness information is now available electronically on VAC's Web site (visit the "clients" section, click on "health promotion", then click on "Accessing Health Information Project - The Guide").

The site offers a step-by-step plan on how to organize and deliver a similar eight-week health promotion and education course for veterans and other seniors in your community. You'll learn how to: form an organizing committee; publicize the course and attract participants; structure the weekly learning events; and enlist the support of community health professionals.

In addition, we've posted some health and wellness information that the program's trained instructors used to facilitate meaningful dialogue on a range of issues important to seniors.

• Caregiving
• Falls
• Medication Usage
• Dementia and Alzheimer Disease
• Depression / Mental Health

For more information about this project, we invite you to contact healthpromotion@vac-acc.gc.ca or write to: Health Promotion and Rehabilitation Directorate, PO Box 7700, Charlottetown, PE, CIA 8M9.