Indigenous perspectives on health and wellness, substance use, and harm reduction

Runtime: 32:29

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Summary

Nearly five British Columbians are dying every day of an overdose, but Indigneous peoples in our region face disproportionate harms: If you’re Indigenous, you are four times more likely to die of an overdose than the rest of the population

In this episode, family physician and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Robert Fox and journalist David Ball discuss why clinicians should be mindful of the disproportionate impact of overdose crisis on Indigenous peoples, and best practices to address the disparity.

Lineup

In this episode, you’ll hear:

3:19 – Oh Po Kwa Nee, also known as Claudette Cardinal – Community investigator with Canadian Observational Cohort Collaboration (CANOC)
11:36 – Dr. Terri Aldred – Primary care physician, Carrier Sekani Family Services

Pearls

Here’s what listeners can take away from this episode:

It is important to practice cultural safety. Cultural safety is an approach to health care delivery that emphasizes awareness and introspection on the part of the clinician.
It is important to realize that Indigenous peoples continue to have considerably less access to determinants of good health because Canada was purposefully structured this way. The cultural safety approach requires a clinician to be aware of this inequality and how power differences led to it, and how power differences perpetuate it.
Culturally competent care results in a better experience for both patient, providers, and organizations. Cultural competency does not refer to learning details about cultures other than our own, it refers to everything that is needed for health care to be effectively delivered in cross cultural situations.

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Organizations

Online learning

Guidance

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