Addiction and Mental Health - Community Addiction Services

Clinicians work with individuals, and families where appropriate, to assess and develop collaborative treatment goals and service plans.
Services may include:

• short-to moderate term, outpatient counselling
• educational, skill, and support group programs in community and clinic
• referrals to other programs and resources

Addiction and Mental Health - Community Addiction Services, Child, Youth and Families

A range of treatment services to help Albertans improve their health, learn new life skills and recover from the harmful effects of substance use and problem gambling. Range of services include screening, assessment, individual and group counselling, referral to other resources, and aftercare support.

Assessment and treatment will include learning about your past history, present situation and identifying your goals. The counsellor will talk with you about the different treatment options, including counselling to help you reach your goals. Your counsellor will help you choose goals and strategies, make suggestions, and review your progress with you.

The office also offers information and support to anyone (including health providers and employers) about alcohol, drugs. tobaco, and gambling.

Prevention and promotion services are offered to help prevent problems and reduce harm related to substance use and gambling. Services include:

• school programs
• community programs
• workplace programs

Addiction and Mental Health - Community Mental Health Services

Provides outpatient assessment, treatment, and follow-up for individuals experiencing addiction and/or mental health concerns. Clinicians work with individuals across the lifespan, and families where appropriate, to assess and develop collaborative treatment goals and service plans.
Services may include:

• short-to moderate term, outpatient counselling
• educational, skill, and support group programs in community and clinic
• referrals to other programs and resources

Addiction Services - Prevention

Provides prevention services for people, families, schools, communities, and workplaces.

Addiction prevention support may include:

• consultation
• needs assessment
• education
• orientation to prevention best practice
• prevention activity planning
• other support as needed

Best Babies

Every pregnancy is a new experience. From the moment you learn of your pregnancy, there are plenty of things you can do to ensure the best for you and your baby.
Best Babies is a free and confidential home visitation program that supports expectant parents and their baby under the age of 12 months. We focus on:

• Family strengths
• Pregnancy and your family’s needs
• Increasing family’s health and well-being
• Supporting parents to strengthen their parenting and child development knowledge including developmental milestones
• Building supportive networks and connections to resources and services

Best Babies offers individualized home visits which include:

Information and support regarding:

• pregnancy and postnatal care
• parent and baby interaction and attachment
• child development including ASQ screening
• social connections
• healthy relationships
• health and well-being
• feeding baby and nutrition
• budgeting
• setting personal and family goals
• connections to community services and groups and service coordination
• addresses needs you may have about your pregnancy and other matters.
• access to a lactation consultant and registered dietician
• free nutritional resources such as free prenatal vitamins, supplements and food coupons, if eligible

For more information, visit the Before, During, and After Birth website

Building Blocks

A positive parent-child relationship is vital for your child's development, and so important for you as a caregiver. Building Blocks is a free and confidential in-home visitation program that supports parents/caregivers and their children under the age of 6 years. We focus on:

• Family strengths and needs
• Increasing family’s health and well-being
• Supporting parents to strengthen their parenting and child development knowledge including developmental milestones
• Building supportive networks and connections to resources and services

Building Blocks offers individualized home visits which include:

Information and support regarding:

• pregnancy and postnatal care
• parent and baby interaction and attachment
• child development including ASQ screening
• social connections
• healthy relationships
• health and well-being
• nutrition
• budgeting
• Connections to community services and groups and service coordination
• Addressing any needs you may have
• Access to a lactation consultant and registered dietician
• Setting personal and family goals
• any other areas you would like information on.

Environmental Public Health - Water Sample Bottle Pick-up and Drop-off

Drinking water, beaches and swimming pool water can be tested. Chemical water sampling testing is available and looks for common chemicals and trace metals found in water. Bacteria water sampling tests water samples for indicator bacteria to ensure water is safe.

For additional information,

• Environmental Public Health - Drinking Water
• Sample Your Water - Environmental Public Health
• Testing your drinking water in Alberta

Home Care Services

Helps people of all ages that live at home and need support, including:

• nursing services
• personal care services
• respite services
• palliative care
• wound care
• self managed care (SMC)
• living option assessments

Home Care team members meet with clients to assess their needs and create a care plan.

Immunization - Adult Services

This service provides routine immunization for adults. Suggested immunizations:

• a booster dose of diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough)(dTap) every 10 years
• dTap vaccine for pregnant women every time they are pregnant
• Hepatitis B vaccine (HBV) for unprotected adults born in 1981 or later. Some adults born before 1981 may need this vaccine if they are at risk for hepatitis B (e.g. health problems, type of work, lifestyle, contact with the virus)
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine for adults up to and including age 26 years who did not get it in school.
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) vaccine for adults whose immunization records do not show the recommended number of doses of measles, mumps, or rubella vaccine
• Chickenpox vaccine for unprotected adults
• annual influenza vaccine
• 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 ImmunizeAlberta.ca, 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 influenzae type b, hepatitis 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 immunizealberta.ca, Immunizations at myhealth.alberta.ca, or call Health Link at 811.

Immunization - School Services

Each year, Alberta Health Services, Public Health reviews immunization records for students in grades 1, 6, and 9 to see what immunizations each student needs. A consent form is then sent home with an information sheet for each vaccine recommended for the student. No immunizations will be given in school without consent from a parent or legal guardian. Immunizations in this program include:

• Grades 1, 6, and 9: Any routine childhood and school vaccines that may have been missed according to a review of the students immunization record on file
• Grade 6: Hepatitis B (HBV) vaccine for students who have not already completed a hepatitis B immunization series and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine
• Grade 9: diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis (dTap) and meningococcal (Groups A, C, Y, W-135) conjugate vaccine

Postpartum

Provides nursing care and support which may include:

• postpartum primary caregiver health assessment and infant assessment
• breastfeeding support
• infant feeding support
• information about parenting and baby care
• referrals to healthcare providers or community resources as needed

Preschool Oral Health Services

Fluoride varnish helps protect your child's teeth from tooth decay (cavities). It slows down decay already started.

Your child needs four fluoride varnish visits, six months apart, to best protect their teeth. Fluoride varnish is painted on your child's teeth. It takes less than one minute to apply. You can hold your child during the visit.

You can also ask any questions you may have about protecting your child's teeth.

If your child is diagnosed with asthma by a doctor, bring their quick reliever medication to the appointment. If your child feels anxious with dental visits it may trigger asthma symptoms.

This provincial prevention service is available across Alberta.

For more information and eligibility, visit our website: Preschool Oral Health Services

Public Health Services

Services provided by Public Health Nurses may include:

• immunizations
• communicable disease control (including Tuberculosis)
• prenatal / postnatal education
• postpartum caregiver / newborn support
• breastfeeding / infant feeding support
• health promotion / disease and injury prevention services
• school health services
• preventative oral health services for children
• referrals to other health care and community services as needed

Community Health Centres

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.

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.