One of the most sought-after resources from Health Quality BC is our Culturally Safe Engagement Guide: What Matters to Indigenous (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) Patient Partners?
This guide, created as a companion document to our Guide to Authentic Patient Engagement, was the result of conversations with Indigenous patient partners, who shared what matters most to them – what makes them feel comfortable, respected and culturally safe – during interactions with health care providers. We learned that creating cultural safety involves deepening our understanding of Indigenous Peoples through learning about their history, traditions, cultures and contributions.
In Canada, June is National Indigenous History Month, with June 21 celebrated as National Indigenous Peoples Day. These are opportunities to recognize, learn about and celebrate the rich history, heritage, resilience and ongoing contributions of First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples.
And that’s where we see a powerful connection to the Culturally Safe Engagement Guide. It speaks to what individuals can do to improve their interactions with Indigenous populations, communities and patients, says Mark Matthew, Health Quality BC’s Director of Indigenous Health & Patient and Public Engagement.
At the heart of it all is Awareness and Understanding and Learning and Education – two of the eight principles of culturally safe engagement.
Why Learning and Understanding is at the Heart of Cultural Safety
When we learn about the people on whose lands we, as non-Indigenous settlers, respectfully reside, we can then better understand the impacts of colonialism in this country, and why it’s imperative to take action toward truth and reconciliation.
The Eight Principles of Culturally Safe Engagement
“Having an understanding and awareness of culture and traditions will be helpful in gaining that understanding,” says Mark, who is Secwépemc from the Simpcw Community. “So that you’re celebrating the right things, that you’re celebrating in an appropriate way. That you’ve dismissed bias and stereotypes and established maybe not an interpersonal relationship, but a relationship with the context of Indigenous People – how we have been impacted by colonial systems as well as some of the unique realities that are faced by First Nations, Métis and Inuit People. And, by gaining a better understanding of that, your ability and your skills around ensuring that your celebration on June 21st is meaningful and appropriate would be heightened.”
How the Culturally Safe Engagement Guide Helps
The Culturally Safe Engagement Guide is a tool that supports someone who wants to step into a space with an Indigenous individual or community and engage in a good way.
The guide supports health care partners to put cultural humility into practice when engaging with Indigenous Peoples. The aim is to help partners understand what a culturally safe engagement looks like, while providing suggestions on how to strengthen engagement approaches through the development of their own cultural humility.
A good place to begin before any engagement opportunity is with self-reflection: What are my assumptions about engaging with Indigenous patient partners? What intentions do I bring into the engagement process? How have the norms of colonial society influenced my thoughts and behaviours? And, what have I done to prepare – what have I learned about their history, culture and traditions, so that I am creating a culturally safe space for the engagement?
The Next Steps – Continuing the Learning Journey
Awareness and understanding are the starting points. It’s where you go next that will help expand your lifelong learning journey, says Mark, who sees it like a progression from general knowledge about the significant events that have impacted Indigenous Peoples, such as colonization, the Indian Act, residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, to becoming more precise in your appreciation of the impacts of those events themselves.
Having an understanding and awareness of culture and traditions will be helpful in gaining that understanding. So that you’re celebrating the right things, that you’re celebrating in an appropriate way.
Health Quality BC, Director of Indigenous Health & Patient and Public Engagement
“It’s understanding what that means within your own community, within the city that you’re in, the land that you’re on and how it was displaced, and who was there prior,” he says. “What was the language spoken? What was the name of the place historically and traditionally in time immemorial? What was the name of the river or ocean or body of water you’re nearby or the mountain that you’re close to?
“That appreciation is when you’re starting to understand the world in a way that is a departure from the colonial mindset, which is ultimately where we’d like people to move to.”
From there, it’s employing that acknowledgement in your everyday interactions with people, be it work or otherwise.
“Absolutely. We’re now talking about the allyship concept – how you’re moving from learning about somebody, someplace, some community, and gaining that sense of trust and respect, to walking alongside them and being supportive of them.”
Learn More
Download the Culturally Safe Engagement Guide and use it to help deepen your understanding of Indigenous Peoples through learning about their history, traditions, cultures and contributions.
