Valley grad values community health board experience

Serving on the Eastern Kings Community Health Board has helped set one Horton High School graduate up for success as she starts university this fall. 

Ainslie Gale begins medical science studies at Dalhousie this fall after volunteering for two years on the board learning about the role of health and healthcare in people’s lives. 

The Wolfville resident gained a new understanding of the social side of health, how it affects people in her community and how to tackle the challenges. Ainslie wants to be a physician with a specialty, but for now is keeping her options open. 

"I've always been really interested in healthcare and it’s something I want to go into, but I’m still figuring out exactly where I fit,” she says. “That’s part of why I got involved with the Eastern Kings Community Health Board. I was curious about what they did, and it seemed like an amazing opportunity.”

Ainslie says there are many valuable takeaways from her time on the board. It wasn’t just the work of the collective that opened her eyes to health-related issues in Kings County, she says.

“I had never heard of the social determinants of health, or the kind of work that community health boards do. “Ainslie explains. “I’ve found it interesting to learn how those factors actually affect our health - not just individually, but as a community and as a population. It’s a whole side of health I hadn’t considered before.”

Social determinants of health are things in our lives that can affect how healthy we are. These include how much money we make, how much school we’ve finished, and what kind of job we have. For some groups—like Indigenous Peoples, LGBTQ people, and Black Canadians—health can also be affected by unfair treatment, racism, and painful events from the past.

In middle school, Ainslie was diagnosed with scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, which meant she spent lot of time in and out of hospital for treatment.  Already drawn to biological science, Ainslie wasn’t flustered by the number of medical appointments, but rather, he was motivated by the professional work ethic of her caregivers, and her positive experience of the healthcare system.

During her time on n the community health board, Ainslie delighted in discussing strategies for bridging  gaps between the social determinants of health and the efforts of hospital staff and healthcare professionals.

“Many people need knowledge and resources before they even reach the point of seeing a primary care provider,” explains Ainslie. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, but from an advocacy standpoint, I believe engaging households is incredibly important.”

How does Ainslie best describe her experience being a member of the board?

“It means being a voice for the youth in my community. Many people on the health board haven’t been in high school or experienced teenage life for a long time, and the past few years have been incredibly unusual,” she says. “That’s why I feel it’s so important to advocate specifically for young people in our community.”

Photo of Ainslie Gale of Kings County.