By the end of March, 100 people in the GNWT’s health department will have completed cultural safety training, said Health Minister Glen Abernethy in the legislative assembly on Jan. 16.
“Relationship based care is a priority,” said Health Minister Glen Abernethy. “Clients want mutually respectful and trusting relationships with their provider.”
The mandatory cultural safety training for all health care workers was implemented after an external investigation into the death of Hugh Papik, a 68-year-old Inuvialuit man who died after a stroke in 2016 when staff at the Aklavik Health Centre thought he was drunk.
Following his death, Manitoba physician Marlyn Cook gave 16 recommendations to the GNWT to combat racism in the territory’s health care system.
The health department used the recommendations to create a plan to improve the health and social services for Indigenous clients.
The department is also developing human resources strategies to increase the number of Indigenous people in the workforce.
Discrimination in plain view
Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Tom Beaulieu commended the changes as “positive” and recalled his own experiences with discrimination while he was the territory’s health minister.
While visiting the Yellowknife Primary Care Clinic, the receptionist was “short, curt and very rude to me for absolutely no other reason than me showing up as an Aboriginal person,” said Beaulieu.
“I found that to be quite an experience because I was the minister of health at that time,” he said. “I was surprised and shocked and believe many of the stories that have been told since then. I have heard many stories about the attitudes the health workers have towards Indigenous people that I represent. It seems like such a simple thing but it's so huge for Aboriginal people."
Beaulieu asked if the model could be expanded to other branches of the GNWT, including income support and human resources.
“The short answer is yes,” said Abernethy, adding that he first wants to see how cultural safety training impacts the health department.
Nahendeh MLA Shane Thompson also voiced his support for expanding cultural safety training across departments.
Advisors with the department’s Indigenous health and community wellness division have been, “open to sharing their knowledge with other departments,” including the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, said senior cultural safety advisor Mahala Yakeleya Newmark.
“We know that this work is valuable for all people. Although (health) is our focus, we’ve made room and time for that,” she said.
Deh Cho MLA Michael Nadli commended the department for its efforts.
“It’s timely and it’s an effort to trying to at least make some forward steps in terms of the whole decolonization effort. This is a major undertaking and I support it 150 per cent,” he said. “If we have institutions that serve us Dene, they should have a level of compassion and understanding of the belief systems that Dene have ... to at least meet the interests of people who make the North their home.”
People accessing health care deserve a high level of service, he said.
“There is an expectation that institutions like health care centres in the community are going to be able to respond if they’re in a position of need and they ask for help. Institutions have to respond,” said Nadli. “It’s how our people are treated at the local level.”
“If our constituents are telling us that, we have to believe them. I think there has to be some serious review that those things should not happen,” he continued.
Abernethy agreed there is “mistrust” in the system as a result of historical experiences but creating a formal complaint process will ensure better quality service, he said.
“We don’t anticipate that trust will be restored like that,” said Abernethy, snapping his fingers. “It's asking a lot of people who have a history and maybe lack trust but we need them to work with us. We will learn from every single situation.”
Translation and plain language service needed
Yellowknife Centre MLA Julie Green told the committee she witnessed a “disturbing” incident where a locum physician at Stanton Territorial Hospital raised their voice at a woman whose first language was Dogrib.
The physician wanted to intubate her, but neither the woman nor the person with her understood what the doctor was saying.
“He raised his voice,” she said, adding that when the woman didn’t understand a second time, he raised his voice again.
“I called him out on it because it was humiliating. Intubation might not be a word that even people in both languages would understand,” she said.
Health services should ensure that physicians are explaining medical procedures to patients in plain language, she said.
The department is currently undertaking a review of interpretation services, said Newmark.
“We know communication is critical and that we’re going to support that through our training,” she said.
The department is continuing to offer web-based, interactive training and community based workshops to help staff interact with residents.