Change through Education
Uvbi Osatohangbon
Sir Sandford Fleming College
GNED 128
Cherylanne James, Sarah Beardy
Feb. 19/2023
- Summary of Proposal (Use Complete Sentences)
I plan on collaborating with an indigenous organization to create an education plan that will be used for training healthcare staff on Indigenous perspective with the intention of one day making it a mandatory part of staff training, as well as integrating it into student education.
- How will it address the emotional, physical, spiritual and mental needs of the community?
Indigenous people in Canada experience racist struggles on a daily basis leading them to having to constantly fight or stand up for their right to gain access to basic Healthcare (Heather Yourex-Wes, 2022). Even with the increased attention to the health outcomes of Indigenous peoples, not much as changed. (Ray, L. et al, 2022). As a result, challenges remain when attempting to ensure adequate access to appropriate health care toward indigenous people (Lavoie, J. et al, 2021). There are many Healthcare workers that don’t realize how their actions is in turn leading to negative impacts and the distrust of the healthcare system as a whole. Partnering with an Indigenous organization to create an ideal education plan that can be used to train staff can set us on the right path to be able to change this and build a new system that is inclusive of everyone.
- How is it beneficial to the community from a holistic viewpoint? Provide examples of how it may impact Indigenous community, family, organizations, governance and/or food/medicine security.
Some examples of racism encountered within the healthcare system include the stereotype linking Indigenous identity to alcoholism, common amongst Canadians. The destruction of traditional First Nations medical wisdom and the preference of Canadian governments to respond to non-Indigenous peoples. With the plan I am proposing stories like that of Brian Sinclair who died in the waiting room after waiting 34 hours to be seen for a treatable illness (Phillips-Beck, W., 2020), could potentially stop being a problem or something for indigenous people to worry about.
- How will this strengthen Indigenous- non-Indigenous relationships and collective capacity?
History shows that the healthcare system was established and is still geared toward excluding Indigenous people. As a result, many Canadians, including medical professionals, feel empowered to engage in racist systems, despite not being aware of or understanding the racialized damages (Hantke, S. et al, 2022) creating as a result a social stigma against Indigenous people which can cause problems like depression or fear. This is why to be able to build the kind of relationship that will allow to strengthen indigenous-non-indigenous relationships, collective capacity and trust, it is important for us to be able to build a new system in which the environment is more inclusive diverse and fair. To be able to this we must start wit