New approach needed to deliver health care to Indigenous patients – U of Alberta

January 27, 2017

Panel discussion offers solutions to avoid systemic racism in health-care system

Nothing about us without us.

For Jaris Swidrovich, these five words describe the approach health professionals should take to improve health-care delivery to Indigenous patients.

“If we want to improve the health of Indigenous people, we need to include them as part of the process,” says Swidrovich, Canada’s first self-identified First Nations Doctor of Pharmacy. “This means we must consult with our communities, families, youth and elders. We need to learn from everyone – that’s the Indigenous way to learn.”

Swidrovich spoke about the challenges and offered strategies for improving health care for Indigenous patients during a panel discussion organized by the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Office of Alumni Relations.

Swidrovich’s maternal grandmother was a residential school survivor and his mother is a Sixties Scoop survivor. A lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan in the School of Pharmacy, he is a member of Yellow Quill First Nation and was born, raised and lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Read More: https://www.ualberta.ca/pharmacy/news/2017/january/indigenous-health?cmp=1