Summary:
The Canadian Medical Association, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the Canadian Nurses Association are working on ways to incorporate Indigenous knowledge and practices in health care.
The Call to Action:
We call upon those who can effect change within the Canadian health-care system to recognize the value of Aboriginal healing practices and use them in the treatment of Aboriginal patients in collaboration with Aboriginal leaders and Elders, where requested by Aboriginal patients.
Analysis:
In June 2021, the Canadian Nurses Association released a Declaration Against Anti-Indigenous Racism in Nursing and Health Care. The declaration states that they “recognize the value of Aboriginal Healing Practices and will work to incorporate them in the treatment of Aboriginal patients in collaboration with Aboriginal healers and Elders when requested by Aboriginal patients (TRC Call to Action #22).”
The Declaration was created by leaders of the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, Canadian Nursing Students Association, and Nurse Practitioner Association of Canada, with input from the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association.
The associations met in November 2021, for the first National Summit on Racism in Nursing and Health Care in Canada, to discuss the progress of individual, organizational, and cross-nursing work related to combating racism in nursing and health care.
The second National Summit on Racism in Nursing and Health Care in Canada is scheduled for November 2022.
In March 2020, The Canadian Medical Association Journal released a peer-reviewed analysis of Indigenous-led health care partnerships. Referring to the TRC’s Call to Action #22, the analysis concluded that “Emerging evidence suggests that Indigenous-led health service partnerships improve holistic (inclusive of mind, body, emotion and spirit) health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples, as well as access to care, prevention uptake and adherence to care plans.”
The analysis reported that “healing specialists, Knowledge Keepers and Elders who are skilled in understanding and working within Indigenous cultural worldviews and determinants of health are increasingly needed in medical partnerships, decision-making processes and patient care.”
In October 2017, in response to Call to Action #22, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada approved a recommendation from the Royal College Indigenous Health Committee (IHC) that “Indigenous Health become a mandatory component of residency education, meaning curriculum, assessment and accreditation throughout medical training would address the health inequities and racism faced by Indigenous Peoples,” according to a Summary Table of Royal College Projects and their contributions to TRC Calls to Action.
It also revised its Indigenous Health Values and Principles Statement (first released in July 2013).
The Royal College’s Indigenous Health Committee, an independent body that comprises Indigenous physicians, scholars and other health care professionals, led the development of the revised Indigenous Health Values and Principles Statement and an Indigenous Health Primer, both released in 2019.