“We are all here to help people who are suffering. We want to help too.” Elder Gerry Oleman, Traditional Practitioner.

Last week a video titled A Coming Together of Health Systems: Traditional Practitioners featuring Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil Waututh traditional healers as well as Dr. Patricia Daly, VCH Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Public Health, was shown at the Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research. Gerry Oleman joined a panel of global presenters from Belgium and India as each presented a video for the workshop Equity and Rights in Health systems: Take 2.

The video A Coming Together of Health Systems: Traditional Practitioners is a partnership project between UBC’s Faculty of Medicine Digital Emergency Medicine, VCH and the Ministry of Health and was created to introduce health professionals to Indigenous traditional healing methods, provide ways to incorporate Indigenous healing for Aboriginal patients and to encourage discussion and appropriate action towards the integration of traditional healing into acute care settings.

“This video is important to share with staff because we need to find ways to partner with and include traditional healers within our medical system to improve the patient experience for First Nations and Aboriginal people,” says Dr. Patricia Daly, VCH Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Public Health.

VCH senior leadership have recently approved an Aboriginal Cultural Competency policy which includes health care services and programs that respect the right of First Nations and Aboriginal people to access cultural health care practices.

Along with the video is also a discussion guide meant to provide a thoughtful and action oriented discussion after viewing the video.

Watch the video

Watch video: A Coming Together of Health Systems: Traditional Practitioners

The VCH Aboriginal Health team has developed in-person and virtual Indigenous cultural safety learning opportunities for staff. If you would like to participate, please contact aboriginalhealthservices@vch.ca.

The VCH Aboriginal Health team has developed in-person and virtual Indigenous cultural safety learning opportunities for staff. If you would like to participate, please contact
aboriginalhealthservices@vch.ca.