Latest news with #CulturallySafeCare
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
THE FIRST NATIONS HEALTH MANAGERS ASSOCIATION TO LEAD MULTI-YEAR INDIGENOUS HEALTH NAVIGATORS (IHN) TRAINING AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
OTTAWA, ON, June 19, 2025 /CNW/ - The First Nations Health Managers Association (FNHMA) is leading a multi-year project focused on developing a comprehensive training and curriculum program for Indigenous Health Navigators (IHN). IHNs have been recognized as essential roles within the Indigenous health system workforce. These professionals possess a deep understanding of the complex jurisdictional health landscape and the historical and current realities faced by First Nations patients and families. IHNs provide culturally safe and trauma-informed support, acting as vital bridges between community-based health services and the mainstream health systems often accessed in urban settings. Through this initiative, FNHMA will support the development of a national network by identifying and establishing standardized competencies that reflect the diverse skill set of the current workforce. These competencies are intended to complement the work of First Nations Health Managers and strengthen the overall health management framework within First Nations communities. Building on previous foundational work, the project will assess the existing landscape of the IHN role, propose a vision for its future evolution, and identify best practices and accredited training opportunities. Additionally, the initiative will focus on the development of core competencies, curriculum, and instructional materials, while delivering an actionable implementation plan to meet workforce needs and enhance career pathways for IHN. This initiative reflects FNHMA's ongoing commitment to capacity building and the advancement of Indigenous-led health services. As always, FNHMA's approach is grounded in engagement with its' members and partners whose knowledge and lived experience is instrumental in guiding the project's direction. FNHMA is pleased to announce that Dr. Pamela Toulouse has been appointed as the Lead Consultant for this initiative. Dr. Toulouse is a respected educator, researcher, and advocate with extensive experience in Indigenous health, education, and community empowerment. SOURCE First Nations Health Managers Association View original content to download multimedia: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CBC
10-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
10 new Indigenous patient navigators will help build trust, Horizon manager says
Social Sharing Horizon Health Network is hiring 10 new Indigenous patient navigators, bringing the network's total to 12. The network has seen the benefits of having people in this role since Indigenous patient navigators were hired for Fredericton and Miramichi hospitals in 2022, said Aaron Hatty, Horizon's regional manager of Indigenous health programming. "We have seen many positive outcomes from those relationships — seeing how patients feel supported, patients feel heard, less afraid," she said Tuesday. Hatty said the needs of Indigenous people and how they access the health care system might not be familiar to health care providers. This navigation is one part of an Indigenous navigator's role, she said. Another part is "discharge planning," she said, and involves knowing whom to call for community health nurses and mental wellness programming. The person in the navigator's role also makes sure patients have access to culturally safe care, including access to sacred medicines and smudging. Patients could get help filing official complaints as well, if necessary. Hatty, from Sitansisk, or St. Mary's First Nation, said she graduated 20 years ago and started out as a nurse in a small First Nations community. Being fresh out of university at the time and having worked in hospitals, she noticed a huge difference, especially in how Indigenous patients were treated when it came to discharge planning and transitions in care. Hatty said systemic racism is still real within health care as a whole. "Systemic racism does not necessarily, you know, translate into somebody intentionally deciding to be mean to somebody because of their different race," she said. "It even involves not having an understanding of these different complex systems or how, you know, things might be functioning for this particular person based on them being Indigenous or from an Indigenous community." Two of the new Indigenous patient navigators will be assigned to the Moncton Hospital and the Saint John Regional Hospital, while the remaining eight will be divided among the addiction and mental health and primary care teams. Hatty said one of the biggest challenges that Indigenous people might face in the health care system is about trust. She thinks these additional patient navigators will help with that. "We're not that far away from the residential school system, we're not that far away from Indian hospital systems, we're not that far away from expecting to be treated poorly automatically," Hatty said. "Knowing that you have that trusted person, or you have somebody that even looks like you, or you know somebody is going to understand you, can make a huge difference in terms of when you decide to access care [and] whether or not you stay and receive services."
