Chatham-Kent paramedics are taking a lead role in a new effort to improve the health of people living in social housing.
Residents at McNaughton Manor in Chatham will soon be able to access health care knowledge and expertise at weekly paramedic led clinics.
“It’s an opportunity to have a paramedic who’s trained in community para-medicine on site,” says Kristen Williams, Manager of Tenant Relations for Chatham-Kent Housing. “One of the things she’s going to look for is what trends is she seeing where she might be able to bring other partnerships, other services on site that might be helpful to promote better health and well-being.”
Williams says the pilot project has an information gathering component as well.
“This innovative partnership will really support the strong body of research that indicates that supportive housing is an effective strategy to assist individuals to maintain their housing,” Williams says. “But we will be measuring that, there’s a partnership with McMaster University, we will collect data to determine what the next steps will be.”
The project is 100% funded by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s Community Homelessness Prevention Initiative.