In sharing First Nations, Métis, and Inuit traditional knowledge alongside Western academic and medical knowledge, the authors demonstrate the potential gains of walking in two worlds, integrating the best of both Indigenous and Western knowledge, and honouring and respecting the diverse healing and medical practices available to us today. Shirley Tagalik - Chapter 3: Inuit Knowledge Systems,Įlders, and Determinants of Health: Harmony,īalance, and the role of Holistic ThinkingĪll of the contributors interviewed in this video series share a common concern with improving the health of Indigenous peoples in Canada and beyond. The crown of the tree, or the branches and leaves, represent the visible outcomes of the other elements combined. These systems include political, social, economic, and historical structures that influence the core, or trunk, in her metaphor-a reference to the moving parts or relationships that form systems of care and political/social dynamics, including the characterization of Indigenous people and the dominant discourses within health systems that influence the conditions in which people live. In her metaphor, the root system of the tree refers to the deep and often unseen foundations that shape the visible outcomes we refer to as health disparities. She uses the metaphor of a tree to explain how three separate but interdependent components of society work together to shape and structure the context of health outcomes. Non-Indigenous people and organizations involved in this transformation must be informed and respectful of the cultural differences and unique needs of Indigenous peoples.Ĭharlotte Loppie - Chapter 1: Structural DeterminantsĬharlotte Loppie’s explanation of the structural elements of health disparities helps provide a framework for understanding why health inequities persist despite decades of well-intentioned policies and programs that have aimed to address the chronic illnesses and health issues faced by many Indigenous communities. Along the way towards this ultimate goal, assisted health is based on the urgent need to “do something” to transform the realities of tremendous health challenges currently experienced by disproportionate numbers of Indigenous people. Madeleine Dion Stout - Chapter 13: Ascribed Health andĬontributor Madeleine Dion Stout describes a process of transformation in the health of Indigenous people in Canada as they move from a system of health that is ascribed, or imposed-and, since colonization has been marked by severe disparities-towards a state of optimal, achieved health based on Indigenous ways of knowing and being. With a significant majority of Indigenous contributors, Indigenous voices and ways of knowing are embodied in the text, providing a unique window into Indigenous knowledge about health from a variety of different perspectives. In their interview, editors Sarah de Leeuw and Margo Greenwood explain that the goal of this unique publication-the only book of its kind in Canada-was to privilege the deep, complex knowledge of Indigenous scholars, artists, community organizers, Elders, and health providers about the myriad determinants of health that affect their communities. Rethinking Determinants of Indigenous Peoples' Margo Greenwood and Sarah de Leeuw - Introduction: James Makokis, along with his mother Patricia Makokis, is one of ten authors interviewed in these videos featuring some of the voices from the highly-acclaimed book Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health in Canada: Beyond the Social, released in August 2015. Indigenous peoples in Canada lived healthy lives long before colonization-although as James Makokis points out in a recent video interview with the NCCIH, Western medicine tends to ignore the rich, complex, and effective forms of traditional medicine practiced for eons before the arrival of Europeans. Way of Life" from the Hospital Bed to Mother Earth Patricia and James Makokis - Chapter 19: Practising "the Good
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