Nunavik school board launches home care program

Fourteen students started the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq’s new Institutional and Homecare Assistance program on Oct. 22 in Kuujjuaq. (PHOTO COURTESY OF KI)

Nunavik’s school board has launched a new adult education program aimed at training patient attendants throughout the region.

Fourteen students started the Kativik Ilisarniliriniq’s new Institutional and Homecare Assistance program on Oct. 22 in Kuujjuaq.

The 15-month English-language program earns students a diploma in vocational studies, recognized through Quebec’s Ministry of Health, which will allow graduates to work with patients in health centres, seniors’ homes or in patients’ homes.

The program has the support of the Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services. Students will alternate between one week in class and one week in a placement at the Tulattavik health centre or the Tusaajiapik Elders’ Residence in Kuujjuaq, as well as two one-week placements in different health care settings in Montreal.

The program is offered free of charge to Nunavimmiut students, who receive an allowance while attending classes and a salary during their work placements.

The placement rate upon graduation is 100 per cent, KI said, and aims to fill a major need for the care of elders and Nunavimmiut living with disabilities.

In its first year, the diploma program is only offered to residents of Nunavik’s Ungava coast.

The school board is hoping to launch the same program to students along the Hudson coast in Puvirnituq by 2020.

Nunavimmiut can contact KI for more information at 514-482-8220, extension 355.