Evidence of meeting #26 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was addiction.
A video is available from Parliament.
10:05 a.m.
Liberal
Doug Eyolfson Liberal Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB
Thank you.
I went to medical school in the early 1990s. There was some training in population-specific health. Much of it was for first nations people. I went to medical school in Winnipeg, which, as you know, has a large first nations population. Do you find that there's been any improvement in the training of health care providers in terms of them having more awareness of the particular challenges of our first nations people?
10:10 a.m.
Executive Director, Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, Assembly of First Nations
I think there's interest. Certainly, there's a great movement in cultural competency training, but do we have measures to demonstrate the impact of cultural competency and client outcomes? We don't have that data currently.
I know there's greater interest in the College of Family Physicians to ensure that physicians have appropriate training in addictions, but also in understanding how to provide trauma-informed care to first nations populations. We don't know what the outcome of that is yet.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
Dr. Chase, in an article that was published recently you described a program that takes patients out on the land as part of their treatment. To quote, you said:
There are very few things I've been involved with in my medical career that I can say have made as much difference as this program. It is really very impressive.
Can you expand a bit on that program and how you think it may help?
10:10 a.m.
Family Physician, Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority
I mentioned that Eabametoong has a program that has evolved over the years. We started in 2010 in response to the state of emergency, and it has evolved. Whenever there is funding, people are taken out, with elders involved. They go out by canoe or by motorboat, and they get back in touch with their culture.
One of the first minor successes we had in the program was I had someone say to me, “For the first time in three years, my wife and I went out and got wood.” That may sound simple to you, but it wasn't just a trip to get fuel. It was a day out on the land. They laughed together and they worked together. They came back feeling really proud that they had gotten it. It was a spiritual connection that I don't fully understand—I am not Anishinabe—but I could witness it. That's where the successes come.
Sandy Lake also had a program. They took people out for two weeks. They were abstinent for two weeks, and they felt great at the end of the two weeks. When they went back to their community, where there was so much around and no real ongoing support, they all relapsed. It was a 100% relapse.
10:10 a.m.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Chief Day, on October 1, 2013, as a result of the British Columbia tripartite agreement on first nations health governance, B.C.'s First Nations Health Authority assumed the programs, services, and responsibilities that were formerly handled by Health Canada. Has this transfer or type of transfer of authority helped to support improved health and well-being for indigenous people and communities in that province? Is that a model you would suggest to us that might help in the transferring of authorities to first nations communities?
10:10 a.m.
Ontario Regional Chief, Assembly of First Nations
Thank you, Mr. Davies.
It certainly is the direction that we're going in. Last week we met with the health ministers. We in the indigenous communities were at the table representing the Assembly of First Nations. What we put forward is the first nations health transformation agenda. That is going to be conjoined to the health accord discussions and negotiations going forward. It essentially says to get first nations into the process in moving forward on first nation health jurisdiction.
We know that the B.C. experience is happening in smaller isolated areas throughout Canada. For first nations, once we have a place in configuring our solutions, and once we have that authority, we then start to put forward the real costs of treatment and the real costs of prevention and we get results. Certainly, first nation jurisdiction on health is key.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bill Casey
We've completed all our testimony right on time. The bells have just started to ring for the vote.
I want to thank the presenters for their answers and their concise responses to our questions, and I want to thank the members for their questions too.
Dr. Chase, you said that you hope this doesn't fall on deaf ears. I'm not exactly sure about the way you expressed it at the beginning, but you've added a unique perspective to this debate for us, and it will be reflected in our committee report as strongly as we can present it.
I want to thank all of you for your presentations. They were excellent presentations.
Now we're going to vote. This meeting is adjourned.