Neqotkuk Elder Advisory Program

About the project

Neqotkuk Health Programs and Services (NHPS) provides essential health services to the Tobique First Nation community in New Brunswick (NB); the largest Wolastoqey community in NB. NHSP aims to provide high-quality care, raise awareness of health issues, and promote overall health and safety for the Neqotkuk community. It was identified that Elders should have an increased role in decision-making and planning so that programs in the community can better meet their needs. This project aimed to help Elders contribute their knowledge and experience to Neqotkuk policies and management. To achieve this, Neqotkuk formed an Elder Advisory group to assess the community's current state (2020 baseline), pinpoint gaps in community services, and create recommendations for the Chief and Council. This project, focused on two goals: (1) decreasing Elders’ social isolation, and (2) reducing health inequalities.

Conclusions and lessons learned

  • To date, there has been an increase in Elders’ socialization and program/committee involvement.
  • NHPS has committed to providing an Elder Coordinator to maintain/increase Elder participation in the community. The importance of an Elder Coordinator was found to be important for liaising between Elders and departments/leadership, coordinating activities and volunteers, and being a consistent face 
    for Elders to rely on for support.
  • The project highlighted that collaboration between departments is beneficial to Elders being able to socialize and live in their homes longer (e.g. investing in lunches, adding Elders to committees, providing home modifications).
  • Overall, this project found that Elders are critical to cultural revitalization within First Nation communities and provide valuable insight into policies.

Recommendations

This project recommends continuing support for the Elders Advisory Group, including the Elder Coordinator position. Based on the findings, implementing similar models in other First Nation committees could help improve holistic wellness of Elders, youth, and community.

To learn more read the complete project findings (PDF 124 KB)