Community Wellness
Siksika Nation’s primary provider of health & wellness promotion and prevention services, Community Wellness offers comprehensive and holistic mental, physical, spiritual and emotional support to community members and clients.
To contact Siksika Community Wellness, call 403-734-5687
Hours of operation are 8:30am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday.
Siksika Community Wellness provides programs and services that enhance overall holistic wellbeing, including illness prevention and health promotional initiatives, with a focus on cultural and spiritual programs.
Community Wellness works with all demographics, and implements programs specific to that age group, need and participation level. Our teams utilize a multi-disciplinary approach, and partners with Siksika Nation departments and outside agencies/organizations whenever possible for shared impact.
Support for Families of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
The aim is to support survivors, family members and those affected by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (MMIWG) to have access to appropriate mental wellness and cultural support services. Staff capacity is being developed through training focused on grief and loss, ambiguous loss, and the importance of aftercare. Siksika community members who have been impacted directly or indirectly are followed up with to ensure they are receiving mental wellness and cultural supports.
This initiative launched with a community engagement session in January 2019, which brought together shareholders from across Siksika Nation to plan and coordinate support services for those impacted directly and indirectly by MMIWG within Siksika Nation. In addition to Siksika Nation departments and services, collaborating agencies include: Family Information Liaison Unit (FILU), Provincial Coordinator for Missing Persons, Project KARE/RCMP, AWARE 360 and Not in My City.
Hope Squad
Hope Squad is a school-based peer-to-peer suicide prevention, intervention and post-vention program. Hope squad is an evidence-based program that reduces youth suicide through education, training, and peer intervention. Hope Squad members are nominated by their classmates as trustworthy peers and trained by advisors.
The purpose of this program is to improve access and availability to appropriate prevention services for youth who are at risk for suicide. The Hope Squad Program functions as a peer support team. The goal is to provide friendship, encouragement, and support for students who may be struggling.
Hope Squad members strive to: create a safe school environment, promote connectedness, support anti-bullying, encourage mental wellness, reduce mental health stigma and prevent substance misuse.
Hope Team
The Hope Team was developed to support our Honoring Life program, which focuses on suicide prevention. The team’s focus is on providing Hope in the community. Hope is a desired expectation of a desired outcome. It is a principle that can’t be attained in the present moment, but provides motivation for a desired future outcome. Hope is key to our existence, to our ability to persevere and to achieve goals. Research shows hope is key to our physical and mental well-being and that it can promote healthy lifestyle decisions.
Through events just like this one, an important message is shared: there is strength in community.
The Covid 19 Pandemic has put a strain on us all, both mentally and physically. Some people may have felt despair because they are unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But there is hope! The Hope Team’s vision is to provide hope for those struggling during these unprecedented times. Our Hope is to promote connectedness, support anti-bullying, encourage mental wellness, reduce mental health stigma, and prevent substance misuse. Our objective isto provide friendship, encouragement, and support for community members who may be struggling and to improve access and availability to appropriate prevention services for youth who are at risk for suicide.
Hope has been proven to boost a person’s well-being both in spirit and body. If you are struggling, please reach out to the Hope Team.
Run as One Youth Awareness Week
The annual “Run as One” Youth Awareness Week is one of many significant events that Siksika Health Services hosts for the Siksika Nation community. The “Run as One” includes a blend of arts, culture, and health programming and activities, predominantly oriented towards youth and young adults. The music festival is part of Siksika Nation’s annual “Run as One” youth awareness week, which began as a local initiative – for youth, by youth – in 2004. The 2021 year marked the 17th Annual Run as One Music Festival, making it one of the longest running Indigenous music festivals in Canada.
