Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
Written in 2012, this is required reading for anyone interested in what the action items actually are. For example, Call to action: #23. III. is “Provide cultural competency training for all healthcare professionals.” and #24. “We call upon medical and nursing schools in Canada to require all students to take a course dealing with Aboriginal health issues”.
AFMC Report on Indigenous Health
https://afmc.ca/medical-education/indigenous-health-needs
Medicine in Canada is a self-regulating and self-reflective system, and the Association of Faculties of Medicine in Canada (AFMC), comprised of all 17 of Canada’s medical Schools, figures prominently in many decisions regarding the health of the people of Canada through how our future doctors are taught. This report is AFMC’s deliberations on Indigenous health, notably on the recruitment of Indigenous physicians and responses of the medical schools to the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. See above.
Social determinants of health and the future well-being of Aboriginal children in Canada
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3448539/
This enlightened report from 2012 considers social determinants of First Nations, Inuit and Métis children’s health as opposed to biomedical explanations based in deficit. The World Health Organization defines social determinants of health as “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age – conditions that together provide the freedom people need to live lives they value.”
National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH)
https://www.nccah-ccnsa.ca/en/
The summary provided on the site states it best: “Established in 2005 by the Government of Canada, and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada, the NCCAH is one of six centres in the National Collaborating Centres for Public Health program, each focusing on a different aspect of public health. The NCCs are located across Canada, and each focuses on a different public health priority.” The six centres are:
NCC for Aboriginal Health at the University of Northern British Columbia, in Prince George
NCC for Determinants of Health at St. Francis Xavier University, in Antigonish, Nova Scotia
NCC for Healthy Public Policy at L’Institut national de santé publique du Québec, in Montreal
NCC for Environmental Health at the BC Centre for Disease Control, in Vancouver
NCC for Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg
NCC for Methods and Tools at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario
First Nations Health Authority
British Columbia is the first province to have a health authority solely devoted to Indigenous health! It evolved from the Transformative Change Accord: First Nations Health Plan in 2006. Established in 2013, the FNHA has been taking on the programs, services, and responsibilities formerly handled by Health Canada’s First Nations Inuit Health Branch – Pacific Region. The services are for health promotion and disease prevention and include:
- Primary Health Care
- Children, Youth and Maternal Health
- Mental Health and Wellness
- Communicable Disease Control
- Environmental Health and Research
- First Nations Health Benefits
- eHealth and Telehealth
- Health and Wellness Planning
- Health Infrastructure and Human Resources