Guiding You on Your Healthcare Journey

The confidential support line is for First Nations (Status and Non-Status), Métis and Inuit peoples including youth and Elders, living on or off reserve, in a Settlement or in cities and towns.

Our Indigenous listeners will answer your questions and help you get culturally appropriate care. They also help guide you on each step of your healthcare journey. Indigenous listeners are healthcare advisors. They answer and assist all callers to the support line. They can also arrange translators for callers.

You never have to make your healthcare journey alone and help is available to find the right service. Family members can also call the line with their questions or concerns about a loved one, and healthcare providers are able to refer patients who need additional support.

The Indigenous Support Line is available in North, Central and South Zones by calling 1-844-944-4744 or 811 between 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday to Friday.

Calls are answered by Indigenous Listeners who provide:

• culturally safe patient- and family-centered care

• health advice and information

• supportive listening

• connection to health resources, services and programs (e.g., primary care)

• assisted referrals

• linkage to Indigenous cultural supports

• support for Indigenous patient concerns within Alberta Health Services

• immediate support for addiction and mental health concerns

• addiction and mental health referrals

Why the Indigenous Support Line was Started

The Indigenous Support Line is a step towards reconciliation. It is also part of Alberta Health Services’ commitment to improving Indigenous peoples’ healthcare concerns and experiences.

The line is operational in North, South and Central Zones.

For more information, email: [email protected]

Indigenous Support Line | Alberta Health Services

Feb 19, 2025

7:00 pm (MST)

60 Minutes

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Teach children that their self-worth is not related to how they look. Emphasize their talents and qualities.

Give children healthy choices and involve them in planning meals, shopping and cooking.

Emphasize the positive aspects of healthy eating.

Do not use food as a reward or punishment.

Encourage children to take responsibility for their own well-being. This will help them learn to listen to their bodies.

Remind them to eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full.

o Remind them that the amounts they eat will vary as they grow and it also on how active they are each day.

o Respect their choices. Do not make them finish their plate if they are full. Do not limit food if they are hungry.

o Teach them to recognize and act on the signs of what they are feeling, they can try deep breathing, a walk, or talk about what is bothering them.

Make your family meals a peaceful time for enjoying food and talking with each other.

Live with a positive attitude to body image. Show how you can be happy, healthy and active at any body size. Don’t talk about diets, calories and weight.

Model a healthy lifestyle.

o Try your best to balance work and leisure time.

o Take care of yourself. Meet your emotional, spiritual, mental and physical needs.

o Regularly participate in exercise you enjoy. Help children be physically active by limiting TV and other inactive play.

Encourage self-awareness and critical thinking skills.

Be aware of advertising and toys aimed at children.

Understand, question, and evaluate the use of photo manipulation and filters.

Understand and identify how marketing, sponsorships, partnerships, and advertisements influence media messages about beauty, health, and appearance.

Critique how the media shapes societal notions about beauty, health, and appearance.

Create personal social media boundaries. Block, mute, or unfollow content that does not foster positive body image.

Self-esteem is the “real” opinion you have of yourself: how you value and respect yourself as a person. Your self-esteem has a direct effect on how you take care of yourself, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

Counteract negative body image messaging:

Model a healthy lifestyle. When others see you eating well and being physically active in a normal, ongoing way, they will accept these behaviors as normal.

Remind people how to identify symptoms of stress: Shallow, fast breathing; sweaty palms; racing heart; headaches or stomach-aches.

Model and teach ways to deal with stress and conflict: Deep breathing, progressive relaxation exercises, a solitary walk, quiet time alone, listening to or playing music.

Help others to develop self-esteem based on qualities other than physical appearance: Compliment characteristics that are not related to someone’s body.

Don’t ignore negative comments about physical appearance, including size, shape, cultural dress or race. Use them as teachable moments without shaming anyone.

Teach critical thinking skills. Help others learn to analyze, synthesize, apply, and evaluate.

Teach about aspects of self and life that one can influence, and help people feel stronger and more able to cope.

Get rid of your diet and get rid of your scale! Listen to your body. Let it tell you how healthy you are. Make health and vitality your goal, not a specific weight.

Avoid labelling food. A healthy approach to eating includes regularly consuming nutrient-rich foods and giving yourself permission to enjoy foods that perhaps are lower in nutrients and higher in calories.

Do not encourage or laugh at jokes that make fun of a person’s size or body. Find a direct and gentle way to say that a person’s worth and morality are not related to how they look.

Criticize the culture that promotes unhealthy body image, not yourself. Question, evaluate and respond to the messages that promote unhealthy body image and low self-esteem.

1. Smokers in the world – According to WHO (World Health Organization), there are about 1.3 billion smokers in the world today, with the number expected to increase to 1.6 billion by 2025.

2. Smoking reduces life expectancy – On average, smoking reduces your life expectancy by 13 years; by 16 years if you have H.I.V. and are a smoker.

3. Smoking-related deaths in the U.S. – Smoking accounts for one in every five deaths in the U.S.; over 480,000 Americans die from smoking every year!

4. Cigarettes on sale – Approximately 10 million cigarettes are bought each minute around the world; 15 billion are sold per day, and more than six trillion are produced and used per year.

5. Deaths by second-hand smoke – Out of the eight million smoking-related deaths reported globally every year, 1.2 million are due to second-hand smoke.

Did you know that, on average, a smoker lives 10 years less than a non-smoker? This is why Weedless Wednesday encourages smokers of tobacco and recreational cannabis to quit the habit for 24 hours.

Quitting the use of nicotine and cannabis may be quite tough due to their addictive tendencies. Many smokers have admitted that quitting smoking was like giving up their “best friend”. However, it’s always the healthiest choice as inhaling smoke or vapor from these substances may pose long-term health risks and have negative health impacts. Smoking reduces good cholesterol in the body, thereby increasing the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Smoking also causes a spike in blood pressure and increases the risk of stroke.

Health professionals assert that quitting smoking for as short as an hour offers great health benefits. Ceasing the consumption of tobacco and cannabis products results in a decline in carbon monoxide and an increase in oxygen levels within the first 12 hours. Smokers who also quit for a full day may also reduce the risk of having a heart attack within that time.