Activities
HEALInG Program
Healthy Eating Activities (and) Lifestyles (for) Indigenous Groups
This 10 week program has been designed to provide realistic and practical information for women facing social, emotional and financial difficulties and to support these women in their decision to take control of their lives, making positive lifestyle changes. The program is presented in a culturally appropriate manner and consists of 3 components:
Healthy Activities
The program consists of 9 weeks of physical activity classes incorporating a selection of exercises and activities to practice a healthy lifestyle. It is anticipated that increasing physical activity levels will not only improve fitness levels, it will help the women feel better about themselves, build confidence levels and raise individual self esteem, as well as helping them to better cope with the demands of daily living. The type of physical activity undertaken, is tailored to the group.
Healthy Eating
5 weeks of the program targets healthy eating principles such as:
- Dietary guidelines, food groups, serving sizes
- Fats and sugars in food
- Reducing the amount of fat, sugar and salt in meals
- How to make meals healthier
- Budgeting for balanced meals and
- Understanding food labels.
Healthy Lifestyles
The program includes one specific session on lifestyle diseases prevalent amongst Aboriginal communities such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke. Information on associated risk behaviours and strategies to reduce risks are included. This session is facilitated by a qualified health professional and participants are given appropriate contact details for further information.
Also included in the program are sessions on understanding self esteem, goal setting and overcoming life barriers.
The HEALInG program manual 
supports the program implementation. A Training manual 
has also been developed to support future facilitators.
The program is run in partnership with the YWCA, CHEGS and Aboriginal Health NCAHS.
The Oral Health "Strong Smiles" Program
The "Strong Smiles" program is an oral health promotion program that has been developed to raise awareness of the 5 key NSW messages for a healthy mouth: eat well, drink well, play well and stay well. The program targets 3-5 year olds in the early childhood setting. The program is culturally appropriate for Aboriginal children however, has a flexible delivery approach depending on the audience.
This 5 week program of one hour sessions per week covers the following topics.
- Sometimes foods/everyday foods
- Strong smiles
- Water is good for you
- Getting teeth checked
- Teeth brushing and review
All sessions include a story linked to either nutrition or oral health, small group games based activities, healthy eating sessions and a song relating to the session theme.