Wellness Workshop Tool Kits for South Asian seniors
CHATS, in collaboration with the Social Services Network, worked together to develop a Tool Kit for community leaders and volunteers , to deliver six one hour health and wellness workshops to seniors in the Tamil and Punjabi communities of Markham, Ontario. This initiative, funded by the Central Local Health Integration Network, was designed to provide grass roots organizations with the tools they need to lead health and wellness workshops to seniors in their communities, with an emphasis on navigating the health care system, physical and mental health education and activities.
The Tool Kit offers practical step by step information on how to organize and facilitate six, one hour interactive health and wellness workshops. The workshops are perceived as the first step in helping seniors work with community-based organizations in developing individual Health and Wellness Plans, that will ultimately result in seniors receiving the type of services and supports that they need to live a healthy life in their community. This Tool Kit also identifies appropriate usage of local hospital Emergency Departments and recommends alternative health care options.
The tool kit is for people who facilitate groups and provide support and referrals to Tamil and Punjabi seniors in the community. In this kit, South Asian community leaders and volunteers are provided with an outline of the key tasks, activities, checklists, and sample communication templates for organizing each of the six workshops. In addition, the tool kit provides workshop specific facilitator notes and “scripts” that aim to guide facilitators in the delivery of each workshop.
The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a resource that will assist grassroots organizations to successfully promote health and improve individual and community well-being programs for South Asian seniors.
