Background

As part of the road to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Canada, it is important to address the challenges facing Indigenous people in the health care system. Engagement between the authors and Indigenous health professionals working in Southwestern Ontario identified a number of problems experienced by Indigenous peoples in the health system. 

• There is lack of culturally safe and compassionate care for Indigenous peoples living in London, Ontario

• There is lack of engagement of mainstream health care organizations around Indigenous peoples’ health in London, Ontario

• There is limited if any coordination between mainstream and Indigenous run health services,

• Priority service areas are cancer care, mental health, emergency, maternal health and diabetes care, based on high levels of need and particular challenges in these areas.

 

Research Aims

• To complete a situational analysis to identify gaps and promising practices

• To increase awareness among care providers of issues in care provisions for Indigenous peoples

• To assess ways to improve attitudes, knowledge and skills among health care providers

• To provide an evidence base to inform improvements in services for Indigenous peoples across hospital and community based health systems.

 

Methods 

Qualitative research questions explored:

• attitudes, knowledge and skills in working with Indigenous patients and families;

• positive and negative experiences; 

• challenges for patients and providers; 

• referrals between Indigenous-run health and healing services; 

• training they have had or would like to have on cross-cultural care; 

• resources they would need to provide better services for their Indigenous patients. 

 

Results

The results of this study demonstrated that care providers were aware of a wide range of barriers faced by Indigenous people in health services, from stereotypes held by providers that compromised quality care, to a lack of knowledge or discussion about the traditional and community-based health and healing services that Indigenous people were accessing. Respondents also noted that Indigenous peoples tend not to articulate their health issues to physicians, and often do not get the range of services that would be considered standard practice. 

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Wylie, L., & McConkey, S. (2019). Insiders' insight: Discrimination against Indigenous peoples through the eyes of health care professionals. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 6 (1):37–45. 

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