Posted • Last updated
Closed
Commitment: Short-term
Connection method: Virtual
Open to Provincial Region, Indigenous patient partners across the province
Last updated
Volunteer Opportunity
The General Practice Services Committee (GPSC) invites you to join a province-wide virtual knowledge exchange on culturally safe and appropriate ways to deliver primary care to Indigenous people and communities.
Keynote speaker N’alaga, Avis O’Brien will share her personal journey as a Haida and Kwakwaka’wakw woman, and Harley Eagle, MA, Dakota and Ojibway, and a member of Whitecap Dakota First Nation will then continue the learning and facilitating the event, including dialogue with a physician panel.
Lead Organization/Department
Doctors of BC, Primary & Community Care Transformation
Aim
The aim of this event is for participants to:
• Understand the impact of culturally unsafe and culturally safe care
• Identify tangible resources and tools to support practitioners in providing trauma and resiliency informed health care rooted in belonging and cultural safety
• Formulate ways to create space in the health care system to better meet the primary care needs of Indigenous Peoples
The role of the patient partners will be to participate in the dialogue on culturally safe care in break out room discussions.
Level of Engagement:
This opportunity is at the level of inform on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that you will be provided with balanced and objective information to assist in understanding alternatives and solutions.
Eligibility
Open to Indigenous patient partners across the province who:
• Have experience of using primary health care e.g., accessing a family physician, nurse practitioner or allied health professional
• Are comfortable sharing their story in a breakout group setting related to whether their experience of primary care has been culturally safe or not and sharing the value they see (or don’t see) from this type of dialogue.
• Are comfortable attending this event via Zoom
If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and Patient Partner Commitments, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact Cassy Mitchell.
Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 5
• Date and Time: Thursday, June 9th, 8am – 12pm (4 hours with a short break included)
• Location: Virtual participation via Zoom
• Commitment: One time
Reimbursement
No out of pocket expenses are anticipated for this engagement opportunity. However, if you meet the eligibility criteria, but have concerns about your ability to participate, please contact Cassy Mitchell cmitchell@bcpsqc.ca to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation.
Recognition for time will be provided according to the health care partners’ organizational policies.
Background
Following the In Plain Sight report in 2020, many Divisions of Family Practice ran cultural safety training and there is currently a hunger for more learning. Health authorities have developed their own frameworks for cultural safety and the College of Physicians and Surgeons issued a new practice standard in February 2022.
Physicians are embracing this topic, doing a lot of their own self learning and wanting additional dialogue/resources. Furthermore, they are interested in what changes and decisions they should be making in their own practice.
The primary care leads from the health authorities, Ministry of Health, First Nations Health Authority have been invited, in addition to the physician leads and executive directors of the Divisions of Family Practice. It is estimated that 400-500 people will be attending this event.
The keynote’s story is one of trauma. This story may trigger personal stories and participants will need to prepare to hear this difficult journey.
If additional supports are needed, please contact:
– 24 Hour Crisis Phone Service 1.800.784.2433
– Indigenous Support Line 1.800.588.8717
– Métis Support Line 1.833.638.4722
CONTENT NOTE: Keynote speaker N’alaga, Avis O’Brien will share her personal journey as a Haida and Kwakwaka’wakw woman, highlighting the intersectionality of colonial genocide, systemic separation from Indigenous identity, land and culture, and the mental health and addiction struggles that come as a result.
Harley Eagle, MA, is Dakota and Ojibway, and a member of Whitecap Dakota First Nation. As an Indigenous facilitator and consultant, he will continue the session providing focused learning on cultural safety, Indigenous Peoples’ history, colonization, and how to take a decolonized approach to trauma-informed practice, understanding systemic racism and what it might take to address it.
