Faces of Ethics: Indigenous Care Coordinators

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, in collaboration with Anishnawbe Mushkiki and Grand Council Treaty #3, has established Indigenous Care Coordinators to support Indigenous inpatients through culturally sensitive care and Patient and Family Centred Care.

Happy Ethics Week!

As part of our Ethics Week celebration, we’re excited to highlight the role ethics plays in various areas across the organization with a feature called “Faces of Ethics.” Ethics is for everyone, and together, we can make decisions that matter.

Indigenous Care Coordinators

What does your department do?

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), in collaboration with Anishnawbe Mushkiki and Grand Council Treaty #3, has established Indigenous Care Coordinators (ICCs) to support Indigenous inpatients through culturally sensitive care and Patient and Family Centred Care (PFCC). ICCs help Indigenous patients navigate health and mental health services, act as liaisons with local organizations, and advocate for patients’ needs.

ICCs work in collaboration with all TBRHSC support staff such as social workers, patient flow coordinators, nurses and physicians to ensure culturally safe care and discharge enhancing patient satisfaction and experience through comprehensive, culturally respectful care.

Their services include:

  • Language support in Cree, Oji-Cree, and Ojibwe
  • Culturally sensitive education and information
  • Coordination of discharge planning and connection to community resources
  • Arranging traditional care, spiritual support, and iPad lending for virtual connections
  • Assisting with health benefits, assisted living arrangements, and equipment needs

Learn more by watching this video or reading this information sheet.

What ethical questions arise in your area?

Indigenous family structures go beyond the nuclear families living under one roof. Their views are interconnected to the land and have strong ties to relationships from families, communities, and Nations. Each community has unique values and beliefs based on their Indigenous teachings of health, illness, birth, and death and will differ across our region. Suffering from Canada’s past histories of residential schools, Indian hospitals, and lack of basic care have made Indigenous populations vulnerable, with many unmet basic health needs and medical equipment in their communities.

Ethical questions that arise include:

  • Having to mediate who the family decision maker will be
  • Refusal of traditional items or requests
  • Refusing medications based on discrimination
  • Ensuring traditional end of life ceremonial requests are approved

Ethics Affects Us All. If you’re facing an ethical dilemma or have questions, reach out to the Bioethicist, or a member of the ethics committee for support.

Bioethicist: Michelle Allain – michelle.allain@tbh.net | 807-630-0406