Since the beginning of April 2021, six young people have formed the Health Brigade and have traveled the West Island to educate the population about vaccination and screening.
While walking in the West Island, it is possible to come across the Health Brigade. Trained by the CIUSSS and funded by Philanthropic Foundations Canada, it has several mandates: educating citizens about vaccination against COVID-19, informing when an ephemeral vaccination clinic leaves its luggage in the borough. “They also do written signage in several languages, depending on the sector that is targeted,” explains the community organizer at CIUSSS West Island, Jean-Yves Guiton.
Every week, the Quebec Public Health sends data on the immunization coverage of neighborhoods to the CIUSSS. These figures are analyzed by officials.
“From there, we identify the neighborhoods that are the most vulnerable, where we feel that the population is more reluctant to vaccination,” says the Community Health Project coordinator at the Table de quartier sud de l’Ouest-de- Island, Roxana Stoleru.
The members of the Brigade will then go door to door in the various districts. Before each day of intervention, they have an appointment with coordinators who give them the streets and age groups to target.
Using a tool called Kobo, they have residents fill out a non-nominative questionnaire to find out the reasons for refusing vaccination.
“It is not easy, because people do not always want to open their doors to speak with the brigade”, explains Roxana Stoleru. In the West Island, she estimates that only 30% of citizens agree to discuss with the Health Brigade.
According to their figures, the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro would be the one where citizens are the least inclined to be vaccinated.
“We have different strategies to reach people from all walks of life. Even if they are hesitant, even if they do not answer, we will come back later to talk to them about it, ”adds Jean-Yves Guiton. “We are targeting the parks too, we know that people are there right now. Our strategy is bearing fruit. ”
Indeed, according to the community organizer, the presence of the Health Brigade makes a big difference in the field.
“We have a lot of people in our pop-up clinics who come after meeting with members. They had fears about vaccination, the Brigade reassured them, ”he says.
The presence of these young people in the field is a real asset, “without them we could not reach as many people and raise awareness about vaccination as they do every day.”
The mission of the Health Brigade: raise awareness, inform and protect
The third mandate of the Health Brigade is to detect cases of abuse. Trained by the Red Cross, members have the tools to redirect people to appropriate resources. “We are experiencing a lot of feminicides in Quebec. If someone detects something, he sends the information back to their coordinator and the work will begin, ”assures Jean-Yves Guiton.
For her part, Roxana Stoleru specifies that the Health Brigade can refer those who wish to food banks or other organizations in the West Island. “The goal is to raise awareness and give resources to the most vulnerable.”
Faced with sometimes difficult situations, the members of the brigade are followed by a social worker every two weeks. During a group meeting they can thus support each other morally. “When going door-to-door, you have to know that they are exposed to all kinds of social distress,” explains Mr. Guiton. The psychological follow-up of the brigades is carried out in complete confidentiality, without the presence of the coordinators so that the young people can express themselves freely.
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