|
About the NCCAH | |
Visit our new website for resources, news and stories on Aboriginal health initiatives. We welcome your comments: nccah@unbc.ca
|
|
 | | Get the latest headlines |
|
|
LAKE Journal:
Special Issue on Indigenous Peoples, Health, and Place |
 | | LAKE: A Journal of Arts and Environment |
Lake: A Journal of Arts and Environment is publishing original fiction, poetry, essays, interviews, and visual arts related to Indigenous peoples' health as connected to place. This special issue is supported by the NCCAH and will be published in the fall of 2011. Stay tuned!
|
| New Website launched | |
Aboriginal Sexual Health Resource Site - The Native Youth Sexual Health Network and the Aboriginal Health Initiative at the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have put together a new website as a resource for Aboriginal women's reproductive and sexual health care information. It offers policy statements, fact sheets, and cultural-competency guidelines for health professionals, students, and community members.
|
|
New Journal focuses on urban Aboriginal issues in Canada | |
aboriginal policy studies is a new online, peer-reviewed and multidisciplinary journal from the University of Alberta that publishes original, scholarly, and policy-relevant research on issues relevant to Métis, non-status Indians and urban Aboriginal people in Canada.
|
|
|
 Children, Land, Health ~
At the NCCAH, it's all inter-connected
At
our summer 2011 newsletter!
Meegwetch,
Margo Greenwood
Academic Leader,
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health
|
|
Aboriginal health in Canada: a patchwork of policies
 | |
Looking for Aboriginal Health in Policies and Legislation, 1970-2008 - The Policy Synthesis Project |
Canada's health system is varied, complex and inconsistent when it comes to serving Aboriginal peoples. A new NCCAH report tracks Aboriginal-specific policies and legislation to 2008 and notes, for instance:
- the only jurisdiction with a Métis health policy is the Northwest Territories;
- the Ontario Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy is the most comprehensive Aboriginal-specific policy framework in Canada, and
- the one jurisdiction in the country recognizing traditional healing practices is the Yukon.
The report also highlights new models supporting Aboriginal control of health services and initiatives. Looking for Aboriginal Health in Policies and Legislation, 1970-2008, and a related fact sheet provide evidence that Aboriginal health policy in Canada remains largely patchwork - and that jurisdictional issues have increased rather than declined.
Led by Dr. Josée Lavoie at the School of Health Sciences, University of Northern B.C., the report authors suggest that a national umbrella Aboriginal health policy may be necessary to address significant gaps in service and jurisdictional ambiguities that directly impact the health of Aboriginal peoples.
back to top
|
|
Welcoming Dads to the circle of care...
Video documentary coming soon!
 | |
Duane Jackson, a proud Dad and early childhood educator, at the NCCAH father involvement gathering. |
Duane Jackson is a proud Gitanmaax father from the west coast of BC. As an early childhood educator, he's also a model for Dads in the post-residential school era who are engaged in the care of their children.
The NCCAH will soon release a documentary film inspired by our national showcase bringing Dads like Mr. Jackson together with Elders, program leaders and others to better support Indigenous fathers in communities, programs, research and policies in Canada.
Participants at the February 2011 event included fathers like Leo Hebert who learned in mid-life how to connect emotionally with his family; Elders like Rose Point who shared insights into how she was raised as a child; and program leaders like Jake Gearheard who touched on radical social and cultural change for Inuit men in the Arctic.
As highlighted at the gathering, programs like "Fathers and Sons on the Land" in Clyde River, Nunavut, can go a long way to reach out to fathers, reconnecting men to culture, to family and to community.
|
| | Fathers and Sons on the Land is a program in Clyde River, Nunavut encouraging cultural reconnection for men. Photo courtesy of Ilisaqsivik Society. |
You can visit our website to see our slideshow, read highlights, and access graphic posters that visually capture the insights shared at the gathering.
To request a copy of the upcoming DVD, which will also be posted on our website, please email us at nccah@unbc.ca.
back to top
|
| Connecting people, place and health
A new alliance between ecohealth and holistic approaches to Aboriginal health
 | |
Dr. Margot Parkes is helping find common ground between ecohealth and Aboriginal health. |
The health and well-being of Aboriginal communities is closely linked to connection with the land.
Margot Parkes is Canada Research Chair in Health, Ecosystems and Society at the University of Northern B.C. and author of a new NCCAH review that identifies potential common ground between ecohealth and holistic approaches to Aboriginal health. Parkes is at the forefront of a new generation of research and practice bridging divides between social and environmental views on health.
In the NCCAH review, she notes the current tendency to emphasize the environment as a source of illness and contaminants, focused on such issues as hazards in food, water and soil. "This leads to a view of the natural world as a source of illness rather than a basis for life."
She also notes that analyses of health inequities tend to overlook the role of the physical environment as a fundamental factor.
Building on the strengths of both Indigenous knowledge and ecohealth is "fertile ground that could help foster a future for Aboriginal communities where ecosystems, equity, health and culture can flourish," she suggests.
back to top
|
We are welcome here! Changing hospital care in Canada...
 | |
Staff at Whitehorse General Hospital gather by the Na'ku healing room, where patients and families can find support in traditional ceremonies. Photo: Cathie Archbould
|
Elders used to a traditional diet of moosemeat, caribou and bannock would be welcome here.
So would a patient who, with the support of a medical doctor, drinks balsam tea for an ailment - or a family seeking the healing ritual of a smudging ceremony.
At Whitehorse General Hospital in the Yukon, innovative
programming has been changing how care is delivered for First Nations, Inuit and Metis hospital patients since 1993.
Director Rhonda Holway-McIntyre said the programs have just
been recognized as a 'leading practice' in Canadian health care following independent assessment of the hospital's services by Accreditation Canada, which wrapped up its site visit in June.
Transforming the highly clinical world of hospitals to a culturally
 | |
Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre in northern Ontario merges modern technology with traditional First Nations principles to serve both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal patients. Photo: Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre.
|
safe home away from home for an Elder who may never been in a hospital, or a residential school survivor uncomfortable in institutions, is a significant challenge. It's also a key step in addressing health status disparities and the lack of access to appropriate and equitable treatment for Aboriginal peoples.
After nearly two decades of partnership with the Council of Yukon First Nations, Health Canada and the Yukon territorial government, the evolution in acute care structures and practice is beginning to shape services in other hospitals throughout the Yukon territory.
A growing trend....
More and more health organizations across Canada are working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and leaders to better serve patients from Canada's diverse Aboriginal communities.
 | | Serving wild game at Whitehorse General Hospital in the Yukon. Photo: Cathie Archbould |
In June, an "All Nations' Healing Room"was opened at Royal Jubilee Hospital in downtown Victoria, B.C.
Last year, Sioux Lookout's new Meno Ya Win state-of-the-art health centre was opened in northwestern Ontario, where 80 per cent of clients are Aboriginal. Meno Ya Win offers traditional food, medicine and healing programs -- along with innovative architecture, a staff of 300 who receive training in cultural competency, and a range of service to 30,000 outpatients.
As noted at Meno Ya Win, "genuine cross-cultural competency in health requires the effective integration of traditional and contemporary knowledge and practices on an organization-wide basis."
See our NCCAH slideshow and story highlighting this health care trend to learn more:
back to top
|
|
Aboriginal Vision Health posters in demand....
Preventing blindness, promoting vision health
The NCCAH continues to support the Vision Institute of Canada in a new poster campaign launched for 2011 Aboriginal Vision Health Awareness Year.
The need to promote eye health care for First Nations, Inuit and Métis children and adults is vital, especially when so many are living with Type II diabetes, a high risk for diabetes-related blindness.
The posters are one way to spread the word encouraging awareness of the role that vision checkups can play. Organizations like the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, and initiatives like the Diabetes Integration Project in Dauphin, Manitoba, are using these posters as part of their
health promotion and prevention work.
In Ontario, the posters have been distributed in the health care units of provincial corrections facilities and youth detention centres and are being used in a School of Nursing at the University of Ottawa.
The 2011 Aboriginal Vision Health Awareness Year campaign is supported by the Assembly of First Nations, the Chiefs of Ontario and other Aboriginal organizations. Alcon Canada is covering printing and distribution of the posters as a donation to the campaign. Dr. Paul Chris, of the Vision Instiute of Canada, welcomes requests for copies. He can be contacted at vicanada@look.ca and at apchris@rogers.com.
back to top
|
|
Centre News
Upcoming Events and Conferences
The NCCAH is contributing to the following international and national events, sharing perspectives on First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples' health with a variety of audiences:
Smarter Caring for a Healthier Canada: Embracing System Innovation - Canadian Academy of Health Sciences - Ottawa, September 15, 2011 -  This annual meeting will support serious consideration of what is needed to transform the Canadian health care system, with panels on equity, efficiency, community and sustainability. Dr. Margo Greewnood, Academic Leader of the NCCAH, will contribute perspectives that challenge all to 'think differently'about the potential for 'disruptive innovation.' Guests include Dr. Nancy Edwards, Scientific Director of the Canadian Insitutes of Health Research - Institute of Population and Public Health; Andre Picard, Public Health Reporter with the Globe and Mail Newspaper; and Dr. Jeff Turnbull, President of the Canadian Medical Association.
Health Promoting Schools: 15th journees annuelles de sante publique in partnership with the International Union for Health Promotion
 | | A Framework for Indigenous School Health: Foundations in Cultural Principles |
and Education - Montreal, Quebec, November 28-29, 2011: The
Journées annuelles de santé publique
(JASP) is the major annual continuing education meeting for public health in Quebec, and attracts over 2000 participants.
This year, the theme is on schools as a life setting where education and health can work together to support optimal learning. The NCCAH-supported Indigenous School Health Framework: Foundations in Cultural Principles document and its author Shirley Tagalik will be featured, building on international interest in the framework's holistic approach to wellness, focusing on care for the whole child. "The challenge facing health educators and practitioners today is one of decolonizing existing curricula and programs so there is a cultural fit," says Tagalik. The Indigenous School Health framework uses an approach that can benefit not only Indigenous children, but all children, she said.
.
back to top
|
|
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health
3333 University Way
Prince George, British Columbia V2N 4Z9
Tel: 250-960-5250
Fax: 250-960-5644
Web: www.nccah.ca
|
|
