Student leader drives health promotion in Colchester County

Emilia Fitzgerald’s path to community advocacy, healthcare work and leadership began with a brief chat with volunteers at the Truro and area Community Health Board (CHB) during a weekly farmers market.

Emilia graduated this spring from Dalhousie University with a bachelor of health promotion and, earlier this year, the honours student stepped into the role of co-chairperson of the same CHB.

A member since 2024, Emilia views her time with the health board as an experience during which she strengthened her leadership skills and deepened her understanding of health-related opportunities and challenges in Colchester County.

“I wanted to give back to my home community,” she explains. “I wanted to be able to apply and experience health promotion work beyond the classroom.”

Her interest in health promotion began after she switched programs in her second year at Dalhousie. She had started in general sciences but quickly realized she was drawn to the preventative, strengths-based approach at the centre of health promotion.

“It was the perfect switch,” she says. “As the health system is dealing with its challenges, looking at ways we can prevent people from even needing to use it is really the way I like to look at things.”

Her involvement with the CHB has given her what she calls “real-world perspectives” or insights into the work of local organizations, their responsibilities and impacts they have, despite limited resources. Hearing directly from non-profits about issues such as unhoused and mental health stigma has been eye-opening, she says.

“I knew these challenges existed, but it was different hearing about them directly from the people doing the work,” Emilia adds. “It really broadened my understanding of what’s happening in the community.”

Emilia completed an internship with Nova Scotia Health’s Mental Health and Addictions health promotion team, which further bolstered her interest in combining research with community based work. She begins her master’s degree at Dalhousie this fall.

Her time on the health board included serving on the wellness fund committee, which distributes grant funding to local organizations. Seeing the results of those grants at last year’s celebration event was one of the most rewarding moments of her involvement, she says. “It was really cool to see the process, like reading applications and then seeing the work that was actually being done with that money.”

She hopes CHBs continue expanding their advocacy role while increasing their presence in community spaces. “It would be nice to have more engagement, as in physically being in public places a bit more,” she says.

Her advice for others who are considering joining a community health board? First, just attend a meeting to see what it’s all about.

“It’s a great way to meet interesting people and learn about what’s happening in your community,” she says. “The flexibility and opportunities make it the perfect place to get involved.”

Emilia says she is grateful for the connections she has made and the perspective the CHB has given her. “It has been the perfect opportunity to learn about the inspiring work. I’m grateful for the real world perspectives this has given me.” 

Photo of Emilia Fitzgerald.