Community Health Workshops in Fort Macleod

Equitable Health Association (EHA) is a grassroots Alberta nonprofit focused on accessible, reliable health education for rural and underserved communities. Our founders grew up in rural southern Alberta and created EHA to bring the resources and relationships available to them in Calgary back to rural communities.

We propose three in-person workshops of approximately three hours each, with 30–40 participants per workshop. Each session will combine a qualified professional’s presentation and questions, practical activities, small-group discussion and plain-language resources that participants can take home. Participation will be free.

We will first ask residents and prospective local hosts which health topics would be most useful and relevant. EHA’s existing areas include Nutrition, Maternal Health, Substance Use and Addiction, Women’s Health, Cultural Medicine, Sports Medicine and Fitness, First-Aid, Mental Health, Preventive and Long-Term Health, and Digital Health. We will select one focused topic for each workshop according to local priorities, available expertise and participant demographics. All health content will receive qualified professional consultation before delivery.

The grant will fund the direct costs of these three workshops and their take-home materials. A small volunteer team will organize and support delivery. We will approach local organizations, including FCSS, schools and libraries for community input and outreach. These are prospective relationships; venues, dates and professional participation still require confirmation.

The project will provide education and service-navigation information, with clear limits on volunteers’ roles. It will not provide diagnosis, treatment or professional certification. Workshops involving children or sensitive topics will use appropriate consent, supervision and host procedures.

The workshops will serve residents of Fort Macleod. Rural residents may face distance, cost and access barriers to reliable in-person learning. Free local sessions will make practical health information easier to discuss and use.

We aim for 90–120 total attendances across three workshops and at least 60 different participants. Repeat attendance will be welcome and counted separately from unique participants. The project is open to the community, with age-appropriate sessions shaped by local need. Outreach will seek to include families, youth, seniors and residents who face financial, language, disability or transportation barriers. We will ask about access needs during planning and confirm what we can provide before advertising it.

Short, voluntary questions before and after each workshop will assess topic knowledge and confidence in finding reliable information or relevant support. Our proposed learning target is that at least 75% of post-workshop respondents can identify one reliable information source or appropriate support and one useful action related to the topic. We will report the number responding and actual results, without implying proven clinical outcomes.