Truth and Reconciliation Day-A Call for More Inclusive Healthcare

September 30 represents Canada’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.  It is an opportunity for Canadians to reflect on how we as a nation can act to repair the harm that colonialism has caused and is still causing today.  This post of The Doctor Is In will celebrate the incredible Indigenous Peoples of Canada and explore what truth and reconciliation could and should look like in healthcare.  

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada outlined calls to action for our nation, our government, and our citizens.  These calls to action were active steps we could take, not empty promises.  The Indigenous Peoples of Canada deserve more than words-they need action and change.  The report includes 7 specific calls to action on healthcare, highlighting the harms that our healthcare systems and workers have caused Indigenous Peoples and communities and stating specific actions that will begin to heal these wrongs.

The calls to action ask us to acknowledge that the current state of Indigenous health is a direct result of government policies and residential schools.  It calls on us to implement the healthcare rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada that are outlined in international and constitutional law and under the Treaties agreed upon between Indigenous communities and the Canadian government. 

They ask us to establish tangible goals that will close the long standing health gaps that exist between Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous communities.  To commit sustainable funding for Indigenous healing centres while recognizing and respecting the values of traditional Indigenous healing practices.  It calls on us to increase representation of Indigenous people in our healthcare workforce and ensure that all healthcare workers are trained to provide culturally safe and informed healthcare for Indigenous patients.

These calls to action are critical to the health and safety of Indigenous Peoples across Canada.  Every person in Canada deserves to feel safe, welcomed, and heard by the healthcare workers who care for them.  Despite this, Indigenous patients continue to experience barriers to care and discrimination in our healthcare system.

As the president of the Ontario Medical Association, I acknowledge my participation in a health system that has harmed Indigenous patients.  I acknowledge that in my training, there were limited opportunities to learn about tangible approaches to increasing cultural safety and decreasing discrimination in our healthcare system.  As a profession, the physicians of Canada can commit to learning, listening, and acting to make our healthcare system a more welcoming community.

Every physician and healthcare worker is responsible for improving our system so that Indigenous patients may experience culturally safe and inclusive, high quality healthcare. It starts with an individual decision to learn more about Indigenous history and Indigenous health.  And then it moves into tangible advocacy on an individual, community and system level to support Indigenous Peoples.

I want to thank our Indigenous healthcare advocates-the community members, the patients and the healthcare workers who dedicate their time to educating our system and its workforce.  It is challenging work to fight to change a system that was not designed to include you.  Your work is precious and the time and effort you spend making this system a better place for Indigenous Peoples is so appreciated.  Thank you.  I commit to learning and listening from you and to acting as an advocate for Indigenous Peoples throughout our healthcare system.  Join me in that commitment.