In an effort to spark new engagement with First Nations communities across B.C. and beyond, UBC has created a new home for practitioners of indigenous health.
The UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health (CEIH) will serve as the single point of contact within the university for support, training and resources on indigenous health.
The centre is an amalgamation of the Division of Aboriginal People’s Health and the Institute for Aboriginal Health. It will be led by Nadine Caron, an Assistant Professor in the Northern Medical Program of the Faculty of Medicine, and Martin Schechter, a Professor of the School of Population and Public Health and its former Director.
The centre will work with the First Nations Health Authority and other institutions in B.C. to increase the number of Aboriginal students aiming to become health professionals, broaden UBC’s curriculum in Aboriginal health, and expand knowledge and awareness of the health challenges facing Aboriginal people.
“The health disparities that exist between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians are persistent,” Dr. Schechter says. “The Centre will work to find ways to advance the health of Aboriginal people, leading to better outcomes for patients.”
The heart of the Centre’s mission, Dr. Caron says, is to empower Indigenous peoples to take on a more active role in making their own health care decisions.
“The disparities persist, and so perhaps it’s time for the whole concept of self-determination to come into health care and health disciplines, so individuals in their communities can have the capacity to find the solutions themselves,” says Dr. Caron, a general surgeon at Prince George Regional Hospital and the first Aboriginal woman to graduate from UBC with a medical degree. “We want to increase the research capacity in Indigenous health and to enable community members to do their own research, setting their own priorities.”
CEIH will also build upon programs already in place at UBC, including the summer science program, a one-week camp for Aboriginal students in grades 8 to 11, and the UBC Learning Circle, a webinar and videoconference series that focuses on Indigenous health. An Indigenous speaker series with the School of Population and Public Health, where the Centre will be based, is scheduled to start in early March.
The CEIH, housed in the multi-disciplinary UBC School of Population and Public Health, will be the single coordinating point for Aboriginal health initiatives within UBC, as well as a contact for health organizations external to UBC. The UBC Committee of Health Deans and the First Nations Health Authority currently provides funding for the Centre’s activities.
“This new Centre will allow us to build synergies across our many diverse Indigenous health initiatives,” says Gavin Stuart, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Vice Provost Health.
“The Centre is replacing older and more marginalized structures with a more stable and sustainable home in which faculty and staff can do even greater work,” says Linc Kesler, Senior Advisor to the UBC President on Aboriginal Affairs. “The Centre strengthens the university’s long-standing commitment to Aboriginal engagement.”