2018 RhPAP Rural Community A&R Conference
10-12 April 2018, Brooks, Alberta
2018 saw the second RhPAP Rural Community Conference held in a rural Alberta community. A call for proposals resulted in several community submissions to hold the conference. The community of Brooks was chosen as our conference location this year.
Our conference theme “Stepping it Up/ A Renewed Impact” focused on the attraction and retention of all health-care providers in rural Alberta communities. This theme reflected RhPAP’s new and expanded mandate in rural health care.
In her initial keynote address “Stepping It Up to Get ‘Er Done” Brenda Herchmer shared key learnings, strategies, and inspiring stories from across the country that celebrated successful community building and development initiatives and, ultimately, transformative change and innovation.
The 2018 conference included many valuable networking and socializing events. It kicked-off with a with drinks, snacks, and musical entertainment at the Red Roof Studio, a quaint art gallery near Duchess, Alberta on the evening before the first day of the conference. The next evening offered the gala event that celebrated the health-care professional attraction and retention work of the 2017 RhPAP Community Award recipient.
2018 Conference Presentations
- Panel Session: Health Professions in Rural Alberta – Knowing the Landscape
- Round Table Discussions: Health Professions in Rural Alberta – On the Ground Experiences
- Panel Session: The Attraction and Retention Continuum
- Panel Session: Collaboration and Partnership on Rural Health
The conference also included panel sessions and round-table discussions exploring the roles of health-care providers in rural Alberta, how best to enhance community attraction and retention with these roles in mind, and the impact of and means to enable enhanced collaboration and partnerships among the individuals and organizations that support health care in rural communities.
Workshops
A Get ‘Er Done Guide to Transforming Communities – Brenda also provided a full-day workshop that explored what a renewal process looks like and how it can strengthen community attraction and retention work in rural Alberta. Her workshop was fun and interactive and offered boots-on-the-ground strategies, resources, and tools that conference delegates could take advantage of in their own communities.
Workshop 1:
- Introductory activities
- Making a case for community building
Workshop 2:
- A framework for transforming communities
- Strategies and tools for strengthening and building your team
Workshop 3:
- How-to’s for applying a community development approach
