A big issue that isn’t focused on near as much as it should be is racism towards Indigenous people in the healthcare setting and how it negatively affects the care they receive. “Within the health-care context, unfortunately, the kind of unintentional implicit associations which lead to differential treatment are alive and well.” In a case reported by CBC a native women went to seek medical attention for a severe stomach pain and discussed this issue with the ER doctor, she continued to tell the doctor that she has struggled with drinking and finding a place to live. She received a prescription from the doctor for what she thought was something to help with the pain when she returned home she found that the physician scribbled a drawing of a beer bottle circled with a slash through it. It is this kind of behavior that makes it difficult for the native population to seek help when they are ill and it pushes them to wait until it may be to late.
A study was done called First Peoples, Second Class treatment, which outlines the negative stereotypes about Indigenous people and an “unconscious, pro-white bias”. For Indigenous that encounter such racism in a healthcare setting it impacts when they decide to receive the care possibly making it to late to treat some illnesses. Unfortunately this was a case for a native homeless man who went to a hospital in Winnipeg for a possible bladder infection, as he visited the hospitals ER frequently the hospital staff had him waiting 34 hours until another client notified security that he had died, CBC has a Report of this mans struggle (28 seconds).
The study states that because Indigenous people face the racism so much in this setting they tend to make a plan on how they are going to deal with what faces them when they enter the hospital. Meaning that before they enter the hospital they know that they will be faced with racism and they brace themselves for what is about to happen.
CBC released a podcast and article October 4th 2014 around First Peoples, Second Class Treatment that included a quote that really bothered me “You go to a clinic, and they don’t treat you as a human being. You’re somebody that’s wasting their valuable time, that they could be spending on somebody more deserving of the health-care system,” says McFadden.
As I enter the healthcare profession I hope to change that feeling of being unwanted and that they are wasting a health care professionals time, we are all human and when we are sick we are vulnerable and need someone to show compassion and to provide a safe and trusting environment. As I hope to work in the ER, I want to become the friendly face that welcomes not only Indigenous but all cultures in to show them that we are here to provide them with the care they need and to help them through the difficult time, being sensitive to their cultural needs. This may be giving them your hand to hold to ensure they do not feel alone, being welcoming to their many family members and others that may visit from their community, or ensuring that they understand what you are preforming before you begin doing so.
During Indigenous Perspectives on Health and Healing at CBU we had two CBU nursing graduates who are also Indigenous come and speak to us. The spoke to us about the many things that need to be taken into consideration when caring for someone who is Indigenous for example the fact that they don’t tend to make eye contact, the way they show pain and how you ask them about their pain is very different then other cultures. Also the fact that when one of the members of a community is sick and in the hospital all of those who are apart of that community come to visit and be with the person at their time of need. Tanas and Terrance made it clear to us that their beliefs is that if they die at night it is harder for them to find their way to the spiritual world and at night is often when they need the most comfort.
I believe that it is time for Cape Breton and the rest of Canada to realize its 2015 and racism should not exist, we are all humans and deserve to be treated equally and with respect.
Two-Eyed Seeing for Health 