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Anti-smoking effort earns student award; Aboriginal kids start puffing before age nine
Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
The Edmonton Journal
Page: B4, Section: Cityplus, Byline: Jamie Hall
An Edmonton medical student has been recognized for his work devising programs to help aboriginal youths.
Daniel McKennitt is among the recipients of this year's National Award for Excellence from the Kaiser Foundation, an organization that raises awareness about substance abuse and mental health issues.
A second-year student in medicine at the University of Alberta, McKennitt, 25, founded the Aboriginal Health Group at the university to address what he saw as the unmet needs of the aboriginal community, particularly young people.
The health group is made up of a team of aboriginal students from a variety of faculties who work together to identify where needs are greatest, and to act as role models.
Their first project was to develop a curriculum after they discovered available anti-smoking programs delivered to elementary schools in the city weren't resonating with aboriginal children, whom statistics show often start smoking before the age of nine.
"We wanted to deal with smoking prevention in a culturally appropriate way, and there wasn't anything out there for aboriginal youth," said McKennitt.
The group consulted many elders, who advised them to draw from the global truths among aboriginal people to establish a program, such as the power of spirituality.
McKennitt said they felt they got through to the kids with their message, and next year plan to develop a program aimed at aboriginal teens who already smoke.
Over time, said McKennitt, the organization will evolve and develop other programs to tackle other problems within the aboriginal community, such as alcohol and drug abuse.
"We believe that the underlying problem with all of these issues is lack of self-esteem," said McKennitt.
"We want our young people to be proud to be aboriginal, and to practice and celebrate their culture."