New website helps Alberta parents deal with common childhood illnesses

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has launched a new website to help parents through common minor childhood illnesses.

The Health Education and Learning (HEAL) website was created by emergency room doctors and clinicians and offers information on how to manage certain illnesses. It also helps parents determine a proper course of action for treatment.

Dr. Naminder Sandhu told Global News the goal of the site is to empower parents to understand which illnesses might be managed at home and how to best treat certain symptoms.

“But no means is this program meant to dissuade people from using emergency departments.

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“We want people to always maintain a level of comfort,” Sandhu said. “The hope is that the information on the website will help parents make informed decisions.”

Sandhu said the objective behind the project is to offer a one-stop site of reliable information in simple language on a platform that is easy to navigate.  All of the video and text comes from doctors and clinicians who parents would likely encounter anyway if they were to go in to one of the children’s hospitals in Alberta.

The website took five years from inception to its launch Thursday and is specific to Albertans. Most of the funding came from an innovation grant through the department of pediatrics at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.

The HEAL website is supported by other AHS initiatives like Health Link.