As a Community of Practice, we gather throughout the year at various events, the largest of which is the annual Wellness Summit. The summit is a great place to celebrate the amazing work that is going on across the province, be inspired, and connect in community with like-minded people who are passionate about post-secondary mental health and addiction. For more information, explore the resources and community reports from previous events below. We also invite you to explore the calendar for upcoming HCA opportunities (i.e., Regional Gatherings and Wellness Summit) and other events we thought might be of interest to the community of practice.
Upcoming Events
HCA 2024-2025 Regional Gatherings – Calgary
Events Date: January 30, 2025 / 8:30 am – 1:00 pm
Register now for the January 30th Regional Gathering in Calgary! Date – January 30, 2025 Time – 8:30am-1pm Location – Bow Valley College – Esmail and Safana Bharwani Hall (N231) North Campus, Calgary, Alberta Regional Gatherings provide an opportunity to learn about HCA, impact future priorities of HCA, and…
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HCA 2024 Wellness Summit
The HCA 2024 Wellness Summit took place June 13 & 14, 2023 at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta.
The theme of this year’s Summit, “Introspection: Looking Back to Look Forward,” centered the focus on HCA’s mission and vision, finding balance in the face of change, and the importance of meaningful relationships as contributors to wellness in post-secondary communities.
Read more about the Summit here: HCA 2024 Wellness Summit: Summary, Resources, and Community Report
2023-2024 HCA Regional Gatherings
Regional Gatherings are a combination of a Community of Practice Meeting and a Campus Visit. These gatherings will provide an opportunity to learn about HCA, impact future priorities of HCA, and connect for meaningful conversation with a diverse group of stakeholders in campus mental health.
Regional Gathering Purpose:
To increase understanding of who HCA is and what we do
To provide an opportunity for impact on the work of HCA and to gauge resonance with the community of practice
To curate opportunities for a diverse group of stakeholders to have meaningful conversations about student mental health
View the Community Report from the Edmonton Regional Gathering here.
View the Community Report from the Online Regional Gathering here.
View the Community Report from the Calgary Regional Gathering here.
HCA 2023 Wellness Summit
The HCA 2023 Wellness Summit took place June 13 & 14, 2023 at Red Deer Polytechnic in Red Deer, Alberta. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the event by presenting, hosting and participating!
The theme of this year’s Summit, “Leading Change: It Starts with Us,” sought to inspire systemic change on post-secondary campuses at the individual, community, and institutional levels.
Read more about the Summit here: HCA 2023 Wellness Summit: Summary, Resources, and Community Report
HCA Winter 2023 Student Lunch and Learn
The first HCA-hosted Student Lunch and Learn was held online through the Zoom platform on February 28, 2023 from 1-2pm. The event was facilitated by HCA student staff and students from SAIT and Bow Valley College, and attended by 11 students from 6 Alberta campuses.
Read the summary from the Winter 2023 Alberta Student Lunch and Learn here.
The HCA Student Lunch and Learn event will return in the 2023/2024 academic year. Stay tuned for more information!
2022-2023 HCA Regional Gatherings
Regional Gatherings are a combination of a Community of Practice Meeting and a Campus Visit. These gatherings will provide an opportunity to learn about HCA, impact future priorities of HCA, and connect for meaningful conversation with a diverse group of stakeholders in campus mental health.
Regional Gathering Purpose:
To increase understanding of who HCA is and what we do
To provide an opportunity for impact on the work of HCA and to gauge resonance with the community of practice
To curate opportunities for a diverse group of stakeholders to have meaningful conversations about student mental health
View the Community Report from the Calgary Regional Gathering here.
View the Community Report from the Online Regional Gathering here.
View the Community Report from the Edmonton Regional Gathering here.
HCA 2022 Wellness Summit
The 2022 HCA Wellness Summit took place online over 3 days from June 14 to June 16. Thank you to everyone who joined us throughout event for sharing in learning and collaboration.
The theme of this year’s Summit was “Connect, Collaborate, Celebrate” and was intended to honour the strong foundation of Health Campus Alberta and its origin of bringing people together who work to create caring campus communities.
To read more about the summit click here: HCA 2022 Wellness Summit: Summary, Resources, and Community Report
The 2022 HCA Wellness Summit celebrated the community and moved our work forward by building connections and refining our collaboration. The keynote address which took place on day 2 of the Summit was recorded and can be watched and shared in the video link below:
HCA 2021 Community of Practice Meeting
Held online on November 2, 2021, the meeting was attended by 33 participants from 12 Alberta campuses, 4 community organizations and 1 non- Alberta campus. 48% of those attending were new to HCA in the past year. We connected with one another, exchanged ideas and gathered input to inform the direction of HCA.
The Collective Learning Activity asked attendees to identify a challenge or question, then join a breakout group to discuss common themes arising from everyone’s challenges and questions. The themes covered many areas of practice and used the collective capacity of the groups to identify how to approach solutions for the questions and challenges raised.
For a more detailed summary of input and themes, view the community report.
HCA 2021 Wellness Summit
The HCA 2021 Wellness Summit took place online over 3-days from June 15 to June 17. Thank you to all who joined us for this experience in learning and collaboration.
This summit’s theme, Telling Our Stories: Processes of Reflection and Growth, focused on our shared landscape of post-secondary mental health that continued to feel the impact of campus restructuring while responding to the pandemic and shifting education and service delivery. In the process, individuals have continually adapted to support their communities throughout some unique challenges, both personally and professionally.
This summit looked to our experiences in navigating connection and redefining community not as an outcome but as an on-going process towards growth.
To read more about the summit, including session recordings and summary notes from the breakout sessions, click here: HCA 2021 Wellness Summit: Summary, Resources, and Community Report
Our shared learning at the HCA 2021 Wellness Summit resulted in exciting collaboration and ideas. The presentations and conversations that took place on day 2 and day 3 of the Wellness Summit were captured in graphic recordings that can be explored by watching the below videos in full screen:
HCA 2020 Community of Practice Meeting
The 2020 Healthy Campus Alberta Community of Practice Virtual Meeting was held on November 5th, 2020. The meeting was attended by 36 participants from 12 Alberta campuses and 3 community organizations. It was a great opportunity to connect, experience the exchange of ideas, and gather input to inform the direction of HCA.
The breakout discussions at the CoP Meeting centred around two themes that attendees identified as being key priorities in their work: Supporting Staff Wellness & Capacity, and Engaging Students and Increasing Connection Online. For a more detailed summary of breakout discussions, view the community report below.
Community Report: HCA 2020 Community of Practice Meeting
Community Invitation and Agenda
HCA 2020 Wellness Summit
The HCA 2020 Wellness Summit took place on June 23, 2020 in an online format, with Pre-Summit Webinars on June 16 and June 18, 2020. Thank you to all who joined us for this experience in learning and collaboration.
This summit’s theme, Moving Upstream, sought to highlight the preventative and health-promoting actions we can take to address the root causes and social determinants that influence mental health. By building caring campus environments, supportive relationships, and personal skills, upstream approaches to mental health can enhance our community’s ability to flourish during times of uncertainty and change.
The Summit began with Pre-Summit Webinar #1: Upstream 101, presented by Dr. Fabiola Aparicio. We learned about the social determinants of health and what it means to move upstream in mental health promotion and prevention on postsecondary campuses. Click here to learn more or view the slides from this webinar.
Pre-Summit Webinar #2: “Moving Upstream in Challenging Landscapes” was an interactive webinar facilitated by Carla Kembel from Alberta Health Services. Carla helped us understand some challenges we might experience and encouraged us to draw upon our community’s collective capacity to swim upstream. Click here to learn more and to read the summary notes from our discussion.
To read more about the summit, including summary notes from the breakout sessions and the keynote recording, visit Event Summary and Resources: HCA 2020 Wellness Summit. Our shared learning at the HCA 2020 Wellness Summit resulted in exciting collaboration and ideas. We’ve summarized them in the word cloud you can see below.
Community Report: HCA 2020 Wellness Summit
Event Program: HCA 2020 Wellness Summit
Agenda: HCA 2020 Wellness Summit
Community Invitation: HCA 2020 Wellness Summit
HCA 2019 Community of Practice Meeting
The 2019 Healthy Campus Alberta Community of Practice Meeting was held on November 5th at Red Deer College. The meeting was attended by 38 participants from 15 Alberta campuses and 3 community organizations. It was a great opportunity to connect, experience the exchange of ideas and gather input to inform the direction of HCA.
Our table discussions left us with some great ideas to consider and some concrete action steps. Open the community report to view the next steps that were decided by the group.
HCA 2019 Reception
On June 17, 2019, Healthy Campus Alberta held its first-ever reception. The evening was an opportunity for Alberta’s post-secondary mental health and wellness community of practice to gather and celebrate. Held at the Bow Valley College, we had representation from 6 community organizations and 13 campuses! Attendees were from 5 different provinces.
Community Report: HCA 2019 Reception
HCA 2018 Connections Summit
Organized by an advisory committee of stakeholders from across the province, the HCA Connections Summit gathered Alberta’s post-secondary mental health and wellness community of practice. The event was themed “Connections”, celebrating campus approaches, the student voice, as well as exploring dimensions of wellness and providing opportunities for collaboration. Held on November 8, 2018 at the University of Alberta, the summit had 128 attendees with representation from 23 campuses and 11 community organizations.
Community Report: HCA 2018 Connections Summit
Agenda: HCA 2018 Connections Summit
Community Invitation: HCA 2018 Connections Summit
HCA 2018 Wellness Summit
HCA 2017 Wellness Summit
The 3rd annual Healthy Campus Alberta Health and Wellness Summit was held on June 20 and hosted at the University of Calgary. The summit had 193 attendees including students, faculty, staff, administrators, government and community partners. The theme of Resilience was based on significant interest from the Community of Practice, who are ready to take action.
Summary Brief: HCA 2017 Wellness Summit
Program: HCA 2017 Wellness Summit
Agenda: HCA 2017 Wellness Summit
Community Invitation: HCA 2017 Wellness Summit
HCA Community Meeting Summary Brief (January 31, 2017)
January 31, 2017 in Edmonton was our annual Healthy Campus Alberta meeting. We were excited to have 23 members from 11 campuses, community and student groups present to collaborate together in moving our community forward. The weather was exceptionally challenging, so a huge thank you to everyone who was able to attend. We were also glad that everyone arrived in Edmonton and then made it home safely after the meeting.
Summary of Community of Practice (CoP) Meeting
GOAL:
Participants were asked to consider a variety of questions related to emerging topics on campus, as well as the operations of the CoP; the following information emerged out of table discussions
SUSTAINABILITY OF HEALTHY CAMPUS ALBERTA
- Increased membership and grow connections
- North and South provincial campus presence
- Cooperate with Student Unions and Student Associations
- Platform development for social media (Facebook, LinkedIn) and webinars
- Have representatives identify why sustainability is of value to their campus
- Use practicum programs for students to learn and participate
- Increase social media presence
- Sign on with commitment
- Showcase different campus’ success
- Awareness, involvement and buy-in are needed