Home is where the care is: Getting help with living at home

March 4, 2024
Shawn Penno has been a community health worker in Armstrong for more than two decades.

Thirty years ago, Shawn Penno moved from Kelowna to Armstrong to be with his now wife. He had been working as a manager in building products in Kelowna but missed being in health care. “Both my wife and her mom had been care aides, and I thought, it will take just six months of training to become a community health worker and then I’d go from there,” he says. “But I got into it, and I loved it.”

Today, Shawn is not only a community health worker, but a union shop steward, an instructor for safe patient handling, and a co-chair of the Occupational Health and Safety Committee. “It’s been a lifelong journey. I had been in medical school for a couple of years but had to leave for family reasons. I had a nurse once tell me, ‘You should be an RN.’ But I love where I am. I love the hands-on care and knowing so many people in town.”

Community health workers play an important in delivering care in the comfort of people's homes. Every day, hundreds of health workers across Interior Health visit thousands of clients to provide a range of services so they can live independently at home.

Stories@IH

Read our latest stories

3 Minute Read
Community & Culture

For nearly 3 decades, a small playroom in CMH emergency has been a sanctuary for children and families. Today, Avril’s Room is being reimagined in the new ED.

3 Minute Read
Health & Wellness

KLO Middle School students are learning about food in a fun, innovative and hands-on way thanks to a modular farm and a creek restoration project.

4 Minute Read
Community & Culture

Blending her two passions of teaching and health care, Echo Porlier aims to promote equitable access to education through her work in rural and remote nursing.

3 Minute Read
Community & Culture

Our Employed Student Nurse/Employed Student Psychiatric Nurse program offers students real-world experience under the guidance of an experienced RN, RPN or NP.

2 Minute Read
Community & Culture

Diana Heighes has much of her career at Royal Inland Hospital. For 10 years she has worked in day care surgery and even had a chance to work with her daughter.

5 Minute Read
Health & Wellness

Alison, a harm reduction coordinator with IH, explores how stigma kept her from seeking the help she needed. Read about her journey to wellness.

STAY CONNECTED

Receive news and alert posts, and Stories@IH blog posts, right to your inbox!

mail