Antenatal Community Care Program

Cares for women with medically stable high-risk pregnancies in their home. 

Services include;

• daily assessment of women in their homes or over the telephone
• fetal monitoring (non-stress tests) as ordered by the caregiver
• teaching about pregnancy, health concerns, and self-monitoring
• referrals to resources as needed
• connection with an emergency response system if needed
• communication with the referring health care provider

This service provides in home care for patients who might otherwise be cared for in hospital.

Women are still cared for by their own obstetrician, or family physician, or midwife.

Assertive Community Treatment Service - Mental Health

Offers care to people with severe mental health problems or mental health problems that aren’t getting better who have trouble caring for themselves, accessing medical care, or getting help with legal, housing, or money concerns.

Services are offered in a person’s home and may include:

• managing care
• giving and monitoring medicines
• helping access help with medical, dental, legal, financial or housing concerns
• involving family and community
• help with substance use problems
• teaching
• recreation groups

Child and Adolescent Addiction and Mental Health Community Clinics

The service offers a wide range of psychosocial assessment and treatment services to children 5 to 18 years with moderate to severe mental health issues, and their families.

Services include individual, family, and group therapy in a community clinic setting.

Collaborative Mental Health Care

Consults with mental health care providers at the provider’s place of work, office, child care setting, preschool, or the family home. While the consultation may be limited to a session between the CMHC consultant and the service provider, it most often involves a joint session with the service provider and the child and parents.

The service doesn’t provide direct therapy or case management. However, it:

• tells the provider about early childhood mental health
• observes and understands the child’s behaviour
• assesses strengths and needs
• screens social/emotional development
• identifies treatments
• refers to other services as needed

The program can ask for a consultation from other providers connected to the program, such as: pediatricians, child psychiatrists, psychologist, speech therapist, and adult mental health providers.

The program also provides education for community service providers related to infant/early childhood mental health.

Community Health Centres

Community Health Centres provide a wide range of health services, which may include:

• Antenatal Community Prenatal Program (ACCP)
• Best Beginning
• Postpartum Services
• Early Start Parent Information Line 
• School Health Program
• Well Child Services

Community Pediatric Asthma Service

Certified Respiratory Educators:

• teach children and their families about asthma in their doctor’s office or in a community clinic. Children over 6 years of age will also have a breathing test (simple spirometry). 
• available to make group presentations by request. 

For more information, visit I Can Control Asthma

Corrections Transition Team

Provides short-term case management and outreach support for soon to be or newly released provincial offenders. Services include support for connecting to:

• mental Health treatment
• addictions treatment
• financial support
• community engagement
• employment supports
• affordable housing

Diversity Liaisons

Services to offer community education and health system navigation.

• offer community education in first languages (Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), French, and Korean) or plain English language to increase awareness about health system, health services and basic health promotion and illness prevention in Calgary
• provide a range of services including health system navigation, referral and support for diverse clients, families and communities in various languages, with over the phone interpretation.
• collaborate and strengthen partnerships with health care staff and community organizations that represent diverse populations
• supports research and evaluation projects related to diverse populations
• offer Diversity Education to staff

Our community education in topics:

• Health System and Health Benefits
• Health Care Options,
• Health Insurance System
• Culture of the Canadian Health System
• Health Information and Health Care Interpreting Services
• Resources for People with Chronic Diseases
• Medical tests and Specialists
• Senior Health Benefits and Support Services
• Health Topics for Families with Children
• Oral Health Resources for Children 0-6 Years of Age
• Healthy Eating for Babies 0-1 Year of Age
• Picky Eating for Children
• Safety Car Seat Training
• Health Topics for Adults and Older Adults
• Packing a Healthy Lunch
• Choosing Healthy Foods in Canada
• Nutrition for Seniors
• Emotional Wellness
• Stress Management
• Beat the Germs (Hand Hygiene and Flu Prevention)
• Women's Health Services
• Travel Health Risks - Visiting Friends and Relatives
• What You Should Know About Hep C, Hep B and HIV
• Preventing from getting communicable diseases
• Oral Health and Resources for Adults and Older Adults
• Emergency Preparedness
• Reducing Cancer Risks

Early Childhood and Perinatal Mental Health

Provides spectrum of clinical services to support parent-child relationships.

Collaborative Mental Health Care provides screening and consultation to professionals who provide services to infants and children 0-5 yrs. The consultation may be limited to a session between the CMHC consultant and the service provider, but it most often involves a joint session with the service provider and the child and parents. The service doesn’t provide direct therapy or case management.

Early Childhood Mental Health (children - birth to kindergarten entry) provides consultation and therapeutic interventions for infants, young children and their families. We offer consultation on the child’s overall development and relationships, short term intensive therapy in the home, education and group therapy for parents. The purpose of the program is to improve caregiver-child relationships and increase the social/emotional functioning of the individual child.

Family Care Clinic

Provides primary family healthcare programs and services with a focus on staying well, preventing chronic disease, and managing chronic diseases. Linked with other healthcare services and community services, FCCs (Family Care Clinics) are good for people who:

• need a family doctor
• have a chronic disease
• have an addiction problem
• have mental health needs

Check locations to see if Walk-Ins are accepted or if by appointment only.

Fluoride Protection for Toddlers

Children only need to have a few teeth to start getting fluoride. Applications are given 4 times, once every 6 months. For eligibility information visit our website.

At the appointment:

• The child sits on their parent's lap while staff apply fluoride on the child's teeth using a brush, which takes less than a minute.
• The child can eat and drink right after the treatment.
• The fluoride sticks to the teeth and protects them. It slowly wears off when the teeth are brushed.

If the child has asthma, bring his or her asthma reliever medicine to the appointment.
This provincial prevention service is available in all AHS (Alberta Health Services) zones.

Health Information / Records Management

Provides patients with information from their health records

Completes patient charts, collects data, data entry and coding, collects patient information, dictates notes, and transcribes inpatient and outpatient charts.

Immunization - Adult and Seniors Services

This service provides routine immunization for adults and seniors. Suggested immunizations;

• a booster dose of tetanus / diphtheria vaccine every 10 years
• an adult booster dose of pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine, often combined with one of the tetanus / diphtheria boosters (dTap)
• annual influenza vaccine - for all Albertans 6 months of age and older
• pneumococcal vaccine - for all adults 65 years of age and older and adults with certain health problems

To find out which vaccines are recommended for you and to book an appointment for immunization, call your nearest community/public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community/public health centre is, you can call Health Link at 811.  Bring any immunization records you have to the appointment, especially if you were immunized in another province or country.

For more general information about immunization, go to Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca or call Health Link.

Immunization - Infant and Preschool Services

Alberta Health Services provides routine immunization for infants and children across Alberta. Immunizations are free of charge for infants and children who live in Alberta.

Immunizations are recommended for infants starting at 2 months of age. Routinely recommended vaccines include: diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, polio, Haemophilus influenza type b, rotavirus, meningococcal, pneumococcal, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (chickenpox), and influenza.

For the routine immunization schedule, go to immunizealberta.ca.

Additional vaccines may be needed depending on your child’s health conditions or other risk factors.

Immunization is effective. Other than providing safe drinking water, no other health intervention works as well as immunization to reduce disease and death rates. Immunization protects whole communities. The more people who are fully immunized in a community, the safer everyone is.

Immunization is safe.  It is much safer to get immunized than to get the diseases that vaccines protect against. 

For more information, and to book an appointment, call your nearest community/public health centre. If you are not sure where your nearest community/public health centre is, call Health Link at 811. Bring your child’s immunization record to the appointment, especially if your child was immunized in another province or country. 

For more general information about immunization, go to Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link at 811.

Immunization - School Services

This program provides routine immunizations to children in Grades 1, 5, and 9 in school. Before immunizations are given, records are reviewed to see what immunizations each child needs. A consent is then sent home. No immunizations will be given without consent from a parent or legal guardian. Immunizations in this program include:

• Grade 1: for children who have not received routine preschool immunizations, which includes diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella
• Grade 5: Offers Hepatitis B, human papilloma virus (HPV) and varicella (chickenpox) immunization to children who aren't immunized or have NOT had Hepatitis B or varicella disease. In August, 2014 HPV vaccine started being offered to grade 5 boys and girls. There is also a catch-up program for the grade 9 boys and girls who did not receive their vaccine in grade 5
• Grade 9: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and meningococcal vaccine is offered

Neonatal Transition Team, Postpartum Community Services

This community-based specialized service provides:

• support for the family following infant discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit;
• information about the infant's health, abilities and special needs;
• regular assessments of the infant's health, growth and development;
• guidance to enhance infant nutrition;
• liaison with the infant's physician and specialists;
• referrals to other services and community resources, as required.

Newborn Jaundice Screening Program

This program provides comprehensive screening for jaundice in the newborn in both hospital and community locations in Calgary. Identifying babies early and reliably provides a high level of safety for newborn infants and reassurance and convenience for parents.

As part of this program nurses in the hospital and community use a device called a Transcutaneous Jaundice Meter to measures how yellow the baby is. This device uses a flash of light and the procedure is accurate, safe, quick and painless. If the reading on the device is high, a blood test will be done.

Nutrition Counselling - Pediatric

Services provided for:

• optimizing growth
• allergy and food intolerances
• iron deficiency anemia
• inappropriate diets for age
• eating and feeding difficulties
• nutrient deficiencies secondary to restricted diets

Pediatric Behavioral Developmental Clinic - Child & Adolescent Mental Health Community Services and Mental Health Community Services

This service includes:

• assessment and treatment
• counselling (one-to-one and family)
• teaching for parents
• talking with schools and other community resources

Perinatal Education Program

Perinatal Education offers Childbirth Essentials at several locations in Calgary and surrounding area.

Our As Baby Grows category (birth to nine months) offers various classes for once baby is born.

Postpartum Community Services - Urban

Services include: 

• newborn assessments including checking for jaundice
• postpartum assessment for new mothers includes physical and psychosocial assessmetns including domestic violence
• support with infant feeding including lactation consultants to help with breastfeeding
• parenting information
• information about newborn care, safety, growth, and development
• referrals to social worker support as needed
• referrals to doctors and community services as needed

Registration

Patient Registration

• registers and pre-registers patients and collects demographic and financial information.
•  registers patients for  inpatient admissions, ambulatory clinic appointment, and  emergency department services

School Health Program

This service offers:

• public health nursing time and support to all schools in the region. Works in partnership with school communities to promote health and develop strong, supportive communities using a comprehensive school health approach.
• health promotion activities and support healthy eating-active living, injury prevention and positive social environments
• teachers, parents and students can consult with a public health nurse for nursing assessment of concerns about physical, emotional or social well-being.
• school aged immunizations through school based programs. Routine immunization programs occur in grades 1, 5 and 9
• public health nurses monitor, report and respond to communicable disease outbreaks within the school community

School Oral Health Services

Services are offered to eligible schools and may include:

• fluoride varnish, provided to kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2
• dental sealants, provided to Grade 1 and Grade 2

A child diagnosed with asthma must have their short acting asthma reliever medication with them to receive service.

Sexual and Reproductive Health - Clinical Services

Confidential drop-in services may include:

• birth control information, prescriptions and supplies
• free birth control for those who qualify
• emergency contraception (e.g., morning after pill, Plan B, Ella, Copper IUD)
• STI, HIV, and syphilis testing
• STI treatment
• pregnancy tests
• pregnancy options decisions support (parenting, adoption, abortion)
• post abortion check ups
• Pap tests
• care after a sexual assault
• HPV vaccine information and prescriptions

Note: starting Dec 1, 2016 For Calgary Clinics, some appointments will be available for routine services. Contact the clinic directly. 

For more information visit our website.

Shared Mental Health Care - Child and Adolescent

Connects family doctors with mental health consultants (psychologists, social workers, registered nurses, psychiatrists). Services include:

• identifying and assessing children and their families
• consultation and / or short-term treatment
• providing referrals to other mental health resources
• offering educational activities for doctors

Southern Alberta Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Prevention Program

Submission of the Risk Assessment form by a health care professional is required to determine a child's eligibility for palivizumab. Risk Assessment forms available on the RSV Prevention Risk Prevention Program website.

Tuberculosis Testing

Offers free tuberculosis (TB) skin testing to eligible Albertans. The Mantoux skin test is not recommended to diagnose TB.

Testing is done at public health centres throughout the province:

• North Zone
• Edmonton Zone
• Central Zone
• Calgary Zone
• South Zone

If you are not eligible for free testing but still need to be tested there will be a charge for the test.

For travel or work related TB testing contact the Travel Health Services in your area. With the exception of Edmonton, you would contact the Immunization Business Unit to have school or work-related TB skin testing done.

Volunteer Resources

Our volunteer roles share a commitment to improving the quality of the patient and family experience.

Volunteers are:

• way-finders who help guide patients and families around our busy facilities,
• friendly visitors who spend time with our socially isolated patients,
• patient and family advisors who provide input and direction to AHS on numerous committees,  
• supporters of our volunteer retail operations - where the proceeds are returned to AHS to provide patient care and comfort.

For general information about volunteering with AHS please visit our website.

Well Child Services

Provide appointments for:

• routine vaccination (2, 4, 6, 12, 18 months and 4 years of age)
• health education, health promotion and support for parents related to adjustment to parenthood, breastfeeding, infant feeding, nutrition and healthy eating, normal growth and development, etc.
• health assessment and screening to identify health concerns
• information and referral to community services, and community partnerships

There are 20 Community Health Centres (8 urban and 12 rural) across the Calgary Zone.