Enhancing health care – Queen’s Gazette

Monday January 23, 2017

New research highlights the importance of culturally safe care for Indigenous patients with diabetes.

In Canada, rates of Type 2 diabetes are three to five percent higher in Indigenous peoples when compared to non-Indigenous peoples. Not only this, but Indigenous Canadians typically have poorer health outcomes during treatment of diabetes.

Queen’s family medicine professor Dr. Michael Green has co-authored a study with colleagues from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the University of Calgary, and the University of British Columbia on the healthcare experiences of Indigenous patients with diabetes.  The study found that many patients experienced culturally unsafe care – a factor that may contribute to poorer health outcomes.

“Many of the participants in our study reported that negative experiences with the health care system made them reluctant to seek the care they needed or to want to actively engage in the care of their diabetes,” says Dr. Green.

Read More: http://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/enhancing-health-care