Dr. Charles Helm & Chrissy Irving—Community Health Navigator
This World Diabetes Day, Tumbler Ridge is taking a leading role in a new approach to diabetes prevention and remission.
We have an opportunity to demonstrate how a small rural community can contribute to a much bigger conversation about the future of diabetes remission — by putting food, community support and prevention at the heart of the response to Type 2 diabetes.
Every year on November 14, World Diabetes Day draws attention to one of the world’s fastest-growing health challenges. It is a day to raise awareness, encourage prevention, improve access to care and remind people living with diabetes that they are not alone and remission is possible for many with Type 2 diabetes.
The need for action has never been greater. According to the World Health Organization, the number of people living with diabetes worldwide increased from approximately 200 million in 1990 to 830 million in 2022. In Canada, an estimated 3.9 million people were living with diagnosed diabetes in 2023–24, with approximately 260,000 new diagnoses during that period.
Diabetes is not simply a matter of elevated blood sugar. It can lead to serious complications affecting the heart, brain, kidneys, eyes, nerves and circulation. With a new Health Coach / Navigator now being employed by the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark, Tumbler Ridge is making progress in a positive direction.
There is reason for hope.
A different conversation about Type 2 diabetes
For many years, people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes have understandably come to regard it as a progressive, lifelong condition that can only be managed with medication. Medication remains essential for many people, and nobody should discontinue or change prescribed treatment without medical supervision.
However, an increasingly important body of research is demonstrating that Type 2 diabetes remission is possible for people, using a ‘food-first’ and lifestyle approach. This opens up an important new conversation.
A food-first approach focuses on improving what and how we eat, making sustainable changes to everyday food choices and supporting the body’s ability to regulate blood glucose.
A new Health Navigator and Coach: connecting people with support
One of the most exciting developments in Tumbler Ridge is the introduction of a dedicated Community Health Navigator position. Chrissy Irving stepped into this new role just over a month ago and has been hard at work since setting things up, with her office in the Geopark’s Geo-Interpretive Centre
This is an important addition to the local health landscape and represents a novel (perhaps even globally unique) approach to integrating community-based health coaching and navigation specifically around Type 2 diabetes remission.
A person might receive a diagnosis of prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes and be advised to make dietary changes. But where do they begin? What foods should they choose? How can they make changes on a limited budget? Where can they find support? Who can help them navigate the available services?
The Health Navigator/Coach will help bridge that gap.
The position is intended to make the health care system easier to navigate, improve connections between existing services and provide ongoing one-on-one support.
The position has been made possible through funding support from Shared Care and the South Peace Mackenzie Trust, with additional community and organizational support from the Institute for Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition (IPTN) and the Rural Co-ordination Centre for BC (RCCbc) helping establish the initiative in Tumbler Ridge.
What will the Health Navigator actually do?
The role will be built around supporting individuals and strengthening the network of local organizations working towards better community health.
1. Individual health navigation and goal-setting
- Helping people navigate the options available to them.
- Supporting individuals with prediabetes, insulin resistance or Type 2 diabetes with one-on-one support.
- Providing encouragement, accountability and ongoing follow-up.
2. Community education and awareness.
- Organizing or supporting public information sessions and educational presentations.
- Participating in health fairs and community events.
- Raising awareness that Type 2 diabetes remission is possible.
3. Connecting people with local services
- Helping residents identify and access appropriate healthcare and community resources.
- Following up, where appropriate, to help ensure people are connected with the support they need.
What the Health Navigator will NOT do
It is equally important to understand the boundaries of this new position.
The Health Navigator/Coach is not a physician, nurse, dietitian or other regulated healthcare professional. The role is to support and navigate, not provide clinical advice.
The Navigator will not:
- Diagnose diabetes, prediabetes or other medical conditions.
- Prescribe medications or recommend changes to prescribed medication.
- Replace medical appointments, clinical assessments or professional dietary care.
- Provide medical treatment or independently manage diabetes.
- Interpret laboratory results or make clinical decisions outside the position’s training and scope of practice.
People considering dietary changes, particularly those taking insulin or medications that can cause low blood glucose, must remain connected with their healthcare providers. Changes in food intake can affect medication requirements, making appropriate clinical supervision essential.
Over the next few weeks and months meetings and educational sessions are being planned with the schools, seniors, and health centre staff. ‘Partners in health’ can be referred by a medical professional or allied health worker, or they can self-refer.
To book an appointment to see Chrissy, please talk to your health care provider for a referral, or self-refer by calling/texting 250-242-5411 or go to trhealth.janeapp.com to book an appointment. You can also email to book an appointment or for general questions, health@tumblerridgegeopark.ca
Also watch for the official Stomp of Approval for diabetic resources at the Tumbler Ridge Public Library and future plans to disperse this in local restaurants.
To find out more, scan the QR code, below:
