Community Proposal For A Community

The health of Aboriginal people in Canada is both a tragedy and a crisis (Aboriginal Affairs and North Development Canada, 2010). Aboriginals have a higher rate of death among aboriginal babies, twice the national average, higher rate of Infectious diseases example gastrointestinal infections to tuberculosis, and chronic and degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease are affecting more aboriginal people than they once did (AANDC, 2010). Availability of important medical facility is not enough to accommodate the growing medical needs of Aboriginals. A socioeconomic and cultural issue also hinders the access of aboriginals to access health care in the community.

Living conditions such as overcrowding of dwellings, poor sanitation, limited food and water supply and underserviced homes all contribute to the health and well being of this population group. Overcrowding can greatly increase the risk of transmitting diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis A, and shigellosis. Studies have reported that these diseases have a higher rate in provinces that have a higher population of aboriginals, such as Ontario. (Dr. Chandrakant P. Shah. 2005, page. 21)

In that regard, the Cherokee Nation is collaborating with specialized people at both the University of Oklahoma and the Center for Dieses Control and Preventions to limit the spread of Hepatitis C among tribal members (Stogsdill, 2016). Moreover, they established a Hepatitis C eradication program that is consistently progressing in treating and diagnosing patients. One of the program’s aspects is to send a nurse to investigate in the patient case. The nurse works to identify the cause of Hepatitis C and tracks people who engage in similar activities to test them. Such activities can be getting tattoos, using drugs or sharing needles (Murphy, 2016). The program targets people between ages of 20 to 69 years old, because they are more prominent to be infected. As stated by Jorege Mera, the CN’s Health Services Director of Infectious Diseases, the aim is to protect at least 85% of the infected group (Murphy, 2016). Altogether, the program is still improving and saving many Cherokee Nation citizens from the painful long-term consequences of Hepatitis C. Establishing Health programs are not the only method to advance the health care system, but also building hospitals and health

The rapidity of the agency is hinged on past years of targeted scientific development and experiences, with the main focus on the health of the public health. This proficiencysteers the agency in the direction which is criticalin securing the state and local public health systems (Novick, Morrow, & Mays, 2008).

Adding to the conversation, academic scholar Daniel Carlock notes, “health disparities between Native Americans and the general population of the United States are a major health concern” (Carlock, Danielle). Hence, an inherent culturally based issue arises where natives are disregarding modern medicine and Western medical practices and instead turning to a traditional holistic approach. Alternative to standard science being the leading factor towards understanding illness and medicine, a cultural barrier divides indigenous peoples perception of the effectiveness of Western science in regards to traditional beliefs. This creates much difficulty for the U.S. government agency the Indian Health Service providing health care and assistance to federally recognized tribes and indigenous peoples. Commenting on Native American health discrepancies, professor James E. Cheek finds “the infectious disease rate in Native Americans populations was significantly higher than that of Whites”(Cheek, James E). This connects Native American cultural beliefs to an increase in medical disparities in relationship to following standard Western medical practices. With tradition ingrained in Native American culture, indigenous medical practices fail to focus on pathology and curing the disease, instead restoring balance between one's mind, body, and spirit is the focus of natives. Consequently, this is leading to standard Western medical practices and medicine being disregarded because Western culture in terms of medicine has been seen to impede important native spirituality beliefs. “The rates for the top ten underlying causes of death were significantly higher for Native American persons than those for whites” (Cheek, James E). This study accounts for the disparities in regards to

age, gender, or race. In Canada women and even more specifically Aboriginal women, are more

The North East LHIN continue to work on advancements in Aboriginal health initiatives that help improve access and coordination for the individuals who live in Northeastern Ontario. The challenges that occurred with the Northeastern Aboriginals were that they experienced lower health status, than the rest of the population that lived in Northeastern Ontario (NE LHIN, 2016). The reconciliation and health care strategy plan was a necessity for the aboriginals in order to improve gaps and duplications of services provided, unused technology due to lack of knowledge and staff and to overall sustain the community (NE LHIN, 2016). In the opportunities strategic direction, the plan's goal was to increase

I believe that increasing the autonomy that individual Indigenous communities have over their health care system needs to happen to incorporate all the diverse Indigenous cultures. We have seen in this class that when it comes to Indigenous peoples health issues’ need to be addressed by whole cultural communities rather than dealing with one individual wounds (Chandler & Dunlop, 2015). This is largely due to the shared cultural wounds communities have from colonization, residential schooling, and dispossession of knowledge (Wexler, 2016). For example, diabetes prevalence rates amongst Indigenous peoples across Canada have increased by 70% over the past 15 years (Martin, 2016). However, prior to the 1980s there was no reported incidences of diabetes for Inuit peoples and none for First Nations prior to the 1950s (Martin, 2016). Similarly, in Northwest Alaska, where suicide is a big issue amongst the Indigenous communities, there were no recorded youth suicides until the 1960s (Wexler, 2016). Therefore, allowing communities to make their own decisions would also prevent a potential mistake of painting all Indigenous communities in Canada with the same brush to arrive at a one-size-fits-all approach (Chandler & Dunlop, 2015).

The specific objectives of this study were as follows: (1) a rapid review of the hepatitis C literature employing an Indigenous lens; (2) a series of sharing circles of Indigenous peoples with lived hepatitis C experiences (3) analysis of sharing circle discourse by the research team and Community Research Associates; (4) a series of validation exercises with key informants to increase robustness and enrich findings; (5) team-building and multi-directional capacity strengthening; and (6) development a larger community-based operating grant application for future research funding consideration. I performed the foundational aspects of this project, including the scoping review, sharing circle planning and initial qualitative analysis.

This blatant discrimination and racism in the health care system makes it unsafe and uncomfortable for First Nations people to access health services. As a consequence, opportunities for early intervention and prevention of health problems are reduced significantly (HCC, 2012). When considering these consequences in terms of pre and post-natal care, Smith (2003) argues that weak preventative and health-promoting care during these times is a significant contributor to poor health outcomes throughout an individual’s life. Research conducted by Dr. Janet Smylie, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Toronto, indicates that the rate of First Nations infant mortality on reserves is double that of the national average (as cited in Webster, 2012). This shocking statistic is demonstrative of the failing efforts of any government initiated First Nations health care programming.

The aboriginal population in Canada is growing, and it is known that 56% of Aboriginals live on an rural reserve or community (Government of Canada, 2014; NCCAH, 2011). It is important to note that those Aboriginals living on reserves and in communities have a significantly higher rate of health issues than those living in cities (NCCAH, 2011). This stems from the limited access to healthcare that Aboriginal rural areas receive (NCCAH, 2011). The lack of healthcare causes higher numbers in diseases, conditions, and disorders among the Aboriginal people of Canada (NCCAH, 2011).

Aboriginals view healing as a journey which a person embarks on to help them reconnect or feed their soul and spirits. Their spiritual and strong connection to their surrounding lands is a key part of their healing journey (Douglas, 2013). In Canada, when an individual is sick we prescribe them with antibiotics or medication to fight the illness. This is our current way of “healing”. Today, we are seeing a push from many Aboriginals to combine traditional and modern medicine into their healing process (Douglas, 2013). To my surprise, some of our current medical practices today steam from our Indigenous roots, such as acupuncture, herbal medicines and naturopathy. Presently, there are more Indigenous communities in Canada who participate in combining traditional healing practices into their healing journey. This

P., Pearce, M. E., Christian, W. M., Patterson, K., Norris, K., Moniruzzaman, A., & ... Spittal,

My interest in Infectious disease began even before entering residency half way across the world in the unique country of Nepal. Nepal is rich in natural beauty with breath taking landscapes, diverse culture but is also one of the most impoverished. I had the privilege to witness first hand how the dedicated physicians living there do the most with less in one of the most remotest parts of Nepal. Majority of the cases were infectious in nature with differentials including organisms not as prevalent in the US: tuberculosis, typhoid, dengue, malaria, brucellosis and leptospirosis to name a few. What the physicians lacked in resources, they made up their close attention to detail in both the history and the thoroughness of their physical exam. My interest further developed during my residency years where I had the pleasure of working with seasoned infectious disease attendings and was exposed to an array of pathology… even seeing a handful of extremely rare

The ‘Community Architecture’ is kind of architectural practice between architects and users. Also, it can be described as architect follow the wish of users or community to design the building fit the requirement by using local materials and helps the residents to build the structure. Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) described ‘Community Architecture’ should follow the idea about "The aim of community architecture is to improve the quality of the environment by involving people in the design and management of the buildings and spaces they inhabit." () In general, architect call ‘Conventional Architecture’ product, nevertheless ‘Community Architecture’ represents the process rather than the product and most proponents claim that the built product of ‘Community Architecture’ is often better than the product of conventional architecture. “Community architecture means that the personal who inhabit it are involved in and may even be instigators of, its creation and its management as well. The inhabitants are the clients; and the architect works for, or at least with them--in contrast to the typical situation where architects and user never meet.” () The ‘ community architecture’ was the newly invented notion that user participation in the environment is more important than any of another architectural concept, especially in contrast to ‘conventional architecture’. The reasons of that could be limited resources, materials and