Introduction
Indigenous peoples frequently have difficulty accessing appropriate primary healthcare services supplied by mainstream institutions. It can be challenging to ensure that indigenous peoples have access to health care since they frequently face additional challenges, such as ignoring their experiences with discrimination and racism. The indigenous community has significant opportunities to solve these concerns due to the government’s legal framework and policy initiatives that strive to preserve the rights of indigenous community members. The article’s purpose is to identify Indigenous peoples’ challenges in gaining access to primary health care and then study how Indigenous health care services sought to overcome these hurdles.
Background Context
Throughout human history, several attempts and conferences have been formed to provide indigenous and non-indigenous groups with equitable access to medical treatment. According to the 1982 Act, Inuit, Metis, and First Nations people are all examples of what the Canadian government considers aboriginal individuals (Allen et al., 2020). Compared to members of the general community, the indigenous group has a much inferior overall health status. The ongoing struggle of indigenous populations with poor health outcomes is aided by particular barriers that tend to limit their access to health care.
Some barriers to access were the inadequate quality of health care services, racial discrimination in health care centers, and long wait times. Among the most critical barriers is the difficulty in recruiting and retaining qualified medical workers, long wait times, and limited access to diagnostic and preventive services and amenities (Greenwood et al., 2018). Concerns have been raised about Indigenous peoples’ cultural rights due to the seeming lack of concern demonstrated by accessible healthcare practitioners for the lives of Indigenous people (Horrill et al., 2018). In an effort to assist people in living healthy lives, the concept of public health rules was first presented in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotions in 1986 (Wilberg et al., 2019). As a result, all people, whether of Indigenous or non-Indigenous background, are expected to have equitable access to medical treatment.
Cultural Rights Barriers to Access to Healthcare Services
Due to the social and cultural boundaries within their communities, indigenous peoples frequently encounter unequal access to medical care. According to the Canadian Act of 1984, the federal government must guarantee that everyone has access to appropriate medical treatment, regardless of their cultural heritage (Reid et al., 2019). Research indicates that the Act does not impose any obligation to provide culturally adequate healthcare; an in-depth review confirmed this (Kitching et al., 2019). It is difficult to guarantee that all Canadians have equal access to medical treatment because the Indian Act prohibits all situations connected to the Act. It makes it more challenging to ensure everyone has equal access (Wylie & McConkey, 2018). On the other hand, indigenous people have a wide variety of cultures, some of which may be familiar to various individuals working in the healthcare field (Kitching et al., 2019). As a result of the widespread presumption among medical professionals that Aboriginal people have low levels of education, they do not consider it essential to be worried about the health of Aboriginal people.
Language Barrier
One obstacle preventing indigenous people from receiving healthcare services is a divide caused by differences in language and culture. For example, it may be difficult for some indigenous people to get medical care since they cannot communicate in French or English. This is especially true for Inuit communities in some areas of the country (Allen et al., 2020). Because patients and medical professionals come from different cultural backgrounds and speak different languages, medical experts could overlook significant patient symptoms (Reid et al., 2019). Because of this, patients do not follow through with the therapies that have been recommended to them, which results in the healthcare requirements of patients not being met.
Racism
Indigenous people in Canada experience a significant barrier in the form of racial bias in healthcare facilities, which prohibits them from receiving medical assistance. The proportion of indigenous people suffering from unpleasant ailments is increasing, and prejudice is largely to blame (Reid et al., 2019). For instance, it is not uncommon for Indigenous people in Canada to have shockingly high rates of chronic disease, necessitating access to specialist care. Due to high levels of discrimination within healthcare facilities, sick Indigenous persons are likely to have limited access to medical services. The conventions that support the standards of health care in Canada are founded on biases and discrimination that have historically been directed toward Aboriginal community members (Greenwood et al., 2018). When individuals from the Aboriginal community seek healthcare services, they are at risk of being mistreated by medical professionals and having negative stereotypes perpetuated about them. This is what the perspectives of members of the Aboriginal community suggest (Horrill et al., 2018). Medical mistakes, such as incorrect diagnoses and delayed detection of life-threatening conditions like cancer, are more likely to affect Aboriginal people than any other population.
Indigenous Techniques for Overcoming Health Care Discrimination
First Nations people, including Inuit and Métis, are supported by the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs as they seek better lives and more prosperous futures for themselves and their communities. For the problem of Indigenous peoples being denied health treatment to be resolved, medical institutions must ensure that their policies are based on respectful interactions with Indigenous patients and their families. Care that is successful and respectful of Indigenous patients’ needs can only be achieved through open communication between medical professionals (Reid et al., 2019). Suppose Indigenous people are ever going to heal from the wounds inflicted by colonial practices and move past their negative experiences with health care in the past. In that case, all parties must work together to create a safe and accepting environment.
The organizational cultures of healthcare institutions bear a heavy weight of the past, normalizing colonial traditions that perpetuate the inferiority of Indigenous peoples and customs, even when background training can be beneficial. Continuous training and monitoring will be required to effectively challenge and transform this deeply established organizational culture within healthcare institutions and guarantee that new equity standards characterize the ethos of our healthcare system.
The Agency for Indigenous People
A jurisdictional patchwork governs the operation of Canada’s public health care system. This patchwork comprises the provinces and territories, the Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) program for First Nations and Inuit, and limited Métis programs administered by Indigenous Services Canada. All of these programs are funded by the federal government. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) committed to working in partnership with the Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICC) and indigenous peoples through its Indigenous Peoples Structures (IPS) to implement indigenous peoples’ mandatory representation (IPMR) in certain local legislative councils and policy-making bodies (Jones et al., 2019). This was accomplished by implementing indigenous peoples’ mandatory representation (IPMR) in certain local legislative councils and policy-making bodies.
Empowering Indigenous People
Community empowerment programs in Canada have given indigenous peoples more participation in their healthcare and quality of life. As a result of Indigenous peoples’ increased agency, there has been a concerted effort by regional governments to work with Indigenous communities to set priorities, improve services, and distribute resources more effectively. One of its primary goals is to increase Indigenous people’s involvement in policymaking that affects them. It is crucial to educate and inform local institutions like schools, businesses, and nonprofits to encourage them to collaborate with Aboriginal community members on health and wellness initiatives (Allen et al., 2020). Develop a strategy to increase the number of Aboriginal persons hired across the council’s service areas.
Changes in Place to Address Disparities
The Canadian government has established ongoing two-way communication with the heads of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis nations to establish common ground, co-create policy and evaluate progress toward common objectives. Respect for and recognition of indigenous peoples’ human rights is central to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After receiving royal assent, the United Kingdom’s United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act became law on June 21, 2021 (Kitching et al., 2019). To ensure that the Declaration’s principles of long-term reconciliation, healing, and cooperative relationships are implemented, this Act lays a framework for the Canadian government and Indigenous communities to follow.
Conclusion
Aboriginal people are exposed to bias and discrimination in health care. Racism is the most significant barrier to indigenous peoples’ access to adequate healthcare. Indigenous populations must feel protected to recover from the effects of colonial trauma and past mistreatment in health care. Like their colonial forefathers, healthcare institutions have codified brutal cultural standards that denigrate Indigenous peoples and their traditions. Inadequate legislation, cultural discrimination, racism, and a lack of a shared language contribute to the difference in healthcare access between indigenous and non-indigenous people. Unfortunately, this has resulted in additional difficulties, such as insufficient public education, refusal of preventative services, and excessive hospital wait times. While Canada has made progress to ensure that all individuals have access to adequate healthcare, Indigenous peoples continue to face challenges in this area. Cultural rights and racial prejudice undoubtedly play a part in Indigenous peoples’ inability to obtain equal access to medical care.
References
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