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Pharmacist Crystal
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lunch-hour yoga classes
for a local credit union
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Innovator
Profile
Stretch
ASSIGNMENT
by Karen Welds
I
f enthusiasm could be bottled and sold, you’ll find a wellspring in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. The excitement
can be traced back to a branch of the Innovation Credit
Union in the heart of this city of 16,000, where employees are happily striking yoga poses, learning about chronic
conditions and comparing waistlines in a bid for better health.
“I am so excited by it,” enthuses Shirley Mussell, one of the participants in the School of Wellness Community Health Challenge,
presented by Pharmasave and Cypress Health Region. “We’re
building awareness and relationships to make wiser decisions for
personal wellness. And it’s fun!”
The relationships are with co-workers as well as local healthcare providers, including pharmacists from the nearby Pharmasave.
Since early September, they’ve been meeting every Wednesday at
lunch to discuss a wide range of topics. They also learn by doing—
for instance, hitting the sidewalk for a brisk group walk, assuming
the basic positions for yoga, and practicing exercises to do while sitting at a desk. While technically the 26 participating employees are
divided into two teams—when the program ends on November 24,
the team that’s lost the most inches wins—it’s a friendly competition marked by the constant sharing of personal experiences.
“When you have an environment of sharing, it’s amazing how we
are all teachers and students. We share obstacles and success stories,”
says Mussell, adding that the program is “a good complement of
working on our physical as well as our psychological health. It’s all
about sustainability and how do you build good habits.”
“Small changes over a long period of time make the biggest difference,” agrees Beth Vachon, interim CEO of Cypress Health
Region. “Many people feel that personal fitness or wellness is overwhelming. A program like this helps them explore, gives support
and lends some fun.”
The focus is on health education and personal empowerment, summarizes Jahnaya Mann, managing partner of the Swift Current Pharmasave. “Most of the participants are middle-aged women, and most
are not on medications. But a number of them are at a higher risk.
We’re reaching them before they cross that line into chronic disease.”
Building bridges
For Mann, the program is about building relationships on several
levels. First and foremost, with patients. Mann attended all but one
of the 12 sessions, leading those on sleeping well and vitamin supplements and answering questions during the remaining sessions.
Fellow pharmacist Crystal Raymond, a certified fitness instructor,
led the sessions on yoga, desk exercises, walking and a mini fitness
November 2010 Drugstore Canada
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PHOTOS Corla Rokochy
In School of Wellness, pharmacists bring healthy habits to the workplace
Innovator
Profile
“After a while I realized the challenge wasn’t against the other people—
it was a challenge with myself... It’s so nice for us to see that people care
about us. No one has ever done something like this for us.”
Alma Poitras, Elder, Peepeekisis First Nation
Top to bottom: Lyris Cappelle, a personal
trainer and national bodybuilder, measures
Gladys Beisel from the Credit Union.
Jill Ahrens-Gruetzner (l.) of Innovation Credit
Union and Jahnaya Mann. Mann is managing
partner of Swift Current Pharmasave.
“boot camp.” Pharmasave also emailed participants a brief health tip every day.
“Every week we get emails back with rave reviews and notes of thanks or even further questions,” says Mann. “During the power walk session,
one woman pulled me aside and said, ’You have no
idea how you’ve touched our lives and our business,’ ” says Mann. “It has really opened up communication and formed relationships we hope will
last a long, long time. After all, that is what a good,
rewarding life and career are all about, right?”
The second relationship is with Innovation
Credit Union. When the Pharmasave regional
office first approached Mann about the program
and the idea to partner with a local employer,
she immediately contacted Innovation. “They’re
very community-minded.”
“Normally when we get calls like this, it’s for
a sponsorship,” recalls Jill Ahrens-Gruetzner,
Manager of Marketing at Innovation Credit
Union. “Then they came with this program, and
we looked at each other and asked, ’What’s the
catch?’ There wasn’t one.”
Within weeks, everything had fallen into
place. “We were thrilled to be considered,” says
Ahrens-Gruetzner. “Any employer would say
yes to something like this.”
As captain of one of the teams, she couldn’t be
happier with the results. “It’s amazing to hear the
participants,” she says. “Staff engagement is huge
for us.” What’s more, the camaraderie translates
into better teamwork during work hours. Health
challenges at other branches of the credit union
are certainly a possibility, she adds.
For Pharmasave, “it’s an experiment in the business community,” says Mann. Could it lead to new
revenue down the road? Possibly, but indirectly,
since the priority is community outreach. “I don’t
ever look at committing time to something like
this as a cost. You have to give in order to get,” says
Mann. The hope is that it will translate into loyal
customers in the pharmacy, who may one day seek
one-on-one consultations with pharmacists. “We
do charge for other services in our pharmacy.”
Last but not least, the School of Wellness
strengthens relationships with other health-
care providers through Cypress Health Region,
which contributed a nurse educator, dietitian
and psychologist as speakers. “Fostering our
bonds in a small community is essential,” says
Mann. “It’s good business sense too because you
show other health professionals what you can do
and get front of mind for them when they are
considering referrals.”
“We have always worked with pharmacists,
but bringing in the local community pharmacy
was key,” says Beth Vachon. “Community pharmacy is a very common point of care for consumers, and we need to leverage that.”
Setting the stage
The Swift Current School of Wellness came
together at relatively lightning speed, launching
just two months after Innovation Credit Union
came on board. Credit for that goes to the Pharmasave Central Region office, the Saskatchewan
Association of Health Organizations (SAHO)
and the University of Regina’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, who provided
the tools for planning and execution, including
ready-to-go materials for participants.
“This wasn’t a lot of work because it’s been
done already,” says Mann. “It’s so well set up.”
Pharmasave and SAHO, whose membership
includes the province’s health regions, began
collaborating in 2005 when SAHO asked the
retailer to distribute its health magazine. One
brainstorm session led to another and, together
with the University of Saskatchewan College
of Medicine, they launched their first School of
Wellness in 2007, advertising by radio and newspapers to promote a series of eight lectures on
November 2010 Drugstore Canada
15
Innovator
Profile
BREAKING
BARRIERS
When the teams for
Peepeekisis and Standing
Buffalo First Nations faced
each other in week one of the
School of Wellness Community
Health Challenge in fall 2009,
many eyes were locked in open
challenge. Twelve weeks and
more than 36 hours of interaction
later, more than a few eyes
were fighting back the tears as
everyone celebrated each other’s
accomplishments.
The closing ceremonies were
“extremely emotional,” says
Paul Melnyk, regional manager,
Pharmasave Central. Not just
because of the positive health
outcomes, but also due to so
many who told organizers, “We
can’t believe how much you
care,” says Melnyk.
“So many people are
coming in and researching First
Nations communities for their
own reasons," explains Karen
Schmidt, health educator for
the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal
Council, who worked with
Pharmasave, the University of
Regina’s Faculty of Kinesiology
and Health Studies, the
Saskatchewan Association of
Health Organizations (SAHO) and
Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region
to implement the first School of
Wellness Health Challenge. “This
wasn’t like that. It was all about
sharing tools for personal change.
It was awesome.”
“It would be great if they did
another one,” agrees Georgieann
Bear, a 50-year-old participant
from Standing Buffalo who’s
managed to keep off almost all
of the 29 pounds she lost during
the Health Challenge a year
ago. She still eats right and uses
the exercise ball she received
as part of the program, both for
gentle fitness and some energetic
play with her three-year-old
granddaughter. As someone
who’s had diabetes for more than
14 years, and who rarely sees
her doctor, “my feet used to get
swollen, my knees used to ache
and my toes would get numb.
That doesn’t happen any more.”
She’s also more likely to talk
to a pharmacist or call the drug
information line with questions.
“They explain things a lot better.
Or maybe I wasn’t really listening
before,” says Bear.
The School of Wellness helped
people face the facts behind
their poor health, “both physical
and mental,” stresses Bear. “A
lot of the time I think we create
our own sickness.” Once people
understood the damage caused
by their own behaviour, most
became much more motivated
to take control.
Participants weren’t the only
ones to reach moments of selfrealization. “The whole thing
was kind of an ’aha’ moment,”
says Jodi Simes, pharmacy
manager of the Fort Qu’Appelle
Pharmasave. “I’ve never
been involved with so many
stakeholders collaborating.”
The interaction between
healthcare providers “helps us
to become better pharmacists,
to adapt our mindset and really
collaborate,” agrees Janet
Bradshaw, diabetes educator
consultant for Pharmasave
Central Region and one of the
key organizers of this first School
of Wellness. “I don’t think any of
us really understood what all of
us were trying to do to reach the
same goal of health promotion.”
—KW
the theme, “How to Live to be 100.” While it went
well, the partners realized the information “didn’t really
reach the people who needed it most,” says Paul Melnyk, regional manager, Pharmasave Central.
They dropped the advertising (and its costs) and
came up with the idea of a health challenge, working
with students from the University of Regina’s Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies. They then
approached Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, one
of SAHO’s members, and the File Hills Qu’Appelle
Tribal Council about developing a program for First
Nations Canadians, many of whom have diabetes.
“Everyone loved the idea right from the get-go,” says
Melnyk (see sidebar).
Following its success, Janet Bradshaw, diabetes
educator consultant for Pharmasave Central, began
giving presentations to other health regions. Cypress
Health Region stepped forward after hearing her
speak in Swift Current, and from there Melnyk approached Mann to be the local face of the program.
Another health region is also working with Pharmasave to launch its version of the School of Wellness early next year.
“Our goal was to create a template to hand off to a
store and a health region to run with it,” says Melnyk.
“If you need help, we’re there for you, but our main
role is to line up the players.”
“The first steps are the hardest. We view our job as
assisting with that,” agrees Susan Antosh, president
and CEO of SAHO, which also maintains the program’s website (www.schoolofwellness.ca).
Partnerships between organizations such as
SAHO, Pharmasave and the University of Regina
set events in motion for direct and comprehensive
outreach to patients. “Population health is a huge
issue, but you have to reach it through the individual. You can’t send a brochure and hope to have
a significant impact,” says Antosh. “Trying to impact individual behaviour and lifestyle choices is a
key area where there are challenges. We can address
that through partners such as Pharmasave, which
has made different inroads into the community.”
Initiatives such as the School of Wellness “lay the
groundwork for professional collaboration,” summarizes Antosh. “As people work together they get to
know each other, and this leads to new ideas.”
Judging from the enthusiasm generated by the
School of Wellness, it’s a safe bet that more of those
new ideas won’t be long in coming.
KAREN WELDS IS A WRITER AND EDITOR SPECIALIZING IN PHARMACY ISSUES, AND FORMER EDITOR
OF PHARMACY POST.
November 2010 Drugstore Canada
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