Nutritious Meal Program Created for Liard First Nation Elders

Thursday, 21 March 2019 13:00

The program so far has delivered 2000 meals to elders and is a collaboration between Yukon Hospital staff and Liard First Nation members.

A nutritious meal program is gaining momentum between the Watson Lake Community Hospital and the Liard First Nation, which is helping to deliver 600 nutritious meals monthly to 40 elders.

Yukon Hospitals Communications Manager Matt Davidson says the creation of the program was a collaboration between First Nation members and hospital staff.

"Watson Lake Elders were consulted (with a) whole bunch of sample meals so they could pick the types of things they'd like to see on the menu."

Davidson since the menu was confirmed, the program has been held weekly.

"They make their (food) selections on Monday and they pick up what they like...(food) is then cooked through the week by community hospital staff and then delivered on Friday to the elders."

Davidson says the program helps to deliver healthier food options for elders who can't access all of ingredients they want at a store.

Davidson says the partnership is a breakthrough for Yukon Hospitals.

"It's similar to a meals-on-wheels program, so it really puts the concept of collaborative care into action. With March being nutrition month, we thought it was a great time to share the success of this program. Nutrition is a crucial part of health and healing. It's overall a really great example of the community hospital being more than an acute care centre."

Liard First Nation Health Manager Soulia Laukkanen says over 2000 meals have been delivered to Liard First Nation Elders so far.

A blast chiller has also been since at the local hospital to help store food for the program, meaning frozen nutritional meals can be safely chilled and enjoyed at any time.

The program is set to continue for the foreseeable future.

The Liard First Nation is home to approximately 1200 members in southeastern Yukon.

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