Decolonizing Frontline Healthcare in a Rural-Urban Indigenous Community Health Center

Acknowledging ongoing inequitable access to healthcare for Indigenous Peoples and answering the call for frontline healthcare workers to be continually more decolonizing in their practices, this study seeks to understand the experiences of providers in their decolonizing journey at Central Interior Native Health Society (CINHS). Seven focus group sharing circle participants and six interview participants responded to questions developed by the inquiry team, exploring areas of personal-professional, systemic, regulatory body, and education-level decolonizing practices, focusing on areas of successes or barriers with recommendations toward overcoming these challenges. Six photovoice participants explored how they embed client feedback into their professional practice through photos they took. Knowledge gained was additionally translated through the wisdom of Elders. The study findings stress the importance of moving from performative promises about decolonizing commitments to actioning decolonizing policies and supports directly at the frontlines of healthcare services. Here, providers build strong relationships with patients and work closely with Indigenous communities to co-build health policies and practices. Moving from efficiency metrics to focus on the experiences of patients and providers is integral. With a systems focus on patient and provider experience, healthcare providers are given the resources they need to prevent burnout, staying engaged in close patient-provider relationships and client-empowered care. This study calls for a seismic culture shift in healthcare, one that sets expectations for provider and systems reflexivity, experiential learning. CINHS and all healthcare organizations and providers are called on to be brave and bold, grounded in humility and continually moving towards a decolonizing future.

Author dc:creator

• Rogers, Tammy

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Heykoop, Cheryl

• School of leadership studies

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25316/ir-19714

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:null:10613/28088