Standing near a wild sage bush, Chasity Cairns (centre) teaches about the four sacred medicines of Indigenous people; sage, tobacco, cedar and sweetgrass. NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING, APRIL 27, 2023
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Members of Medicine Hat’s Indigenous community say the recent launch of Alberta Health Service’s South zone Indigenous Support Line is a step toward providing more comprehensive health care for Indigenous peoples in the region, however additional investments and resources are also needed.
On May 1, AHS announced it would be expanding its Indigenous Support Line to the South zone, nearly one year after it first launched in the North zone.
A subdivision of Health Link, the province’s public telehealth service, the toll-free support line which aims to provide Indigenous Albertans with culturally-informed care and support in navigating the health-care system.
The line, staffed entirely by Indigenous Health Link staff, operates from noon to 8 p.m. weekdays and can be accessed by calling 1-844-944-4744.
Shantelle Malley, an Indigenous Support Line staff member, says the line is an important resource as it helps support the unique mental and physical health needs of Indigenous Albertans within a Westernized health system.
“There is a lack of trust in many of the systems for our Indigenous people,” said Malley. “I think (building trust) just comes down to having somebody there who is part of the system, or in the system, to (amplify) their voice.
“So (with the Indigenous Support Line) we do our best to support them in every way that we can, and in any difficulties that they’re having in the health-care system.”
Medicine Hat College Indigenous engagement and student support manager Chasity Cairns says she’s in favour of the Indigenous Support Line, as she believes it offers Indigenous people a safe space to access care.
Cairns, a social-worker by trade, explained that Indigenous and Western understandings of health and medicine differ significantly. In most Indigenous cultures, Elders are trained as healers of both mental and physical ailments, who provide treatment by way of healing ceremonies and practices, like sweat lodge ceremonies, pipe ceremonies and smudging, or with the four sacred medicines of the Indigenous people; sage, tobacco, cedar and sweetgrass.
“Those different things are a part of our Indigenous mental health and physical health,” said Cairns. “But when you think about (existing) health services, we’re not doing those things … But if there was Indigenous-focus (in the health-care system), we would be.
While Cairns is glad to see enhancements and expansions of Indigenous-focused care, she feels there is still much work to be done, specifically in terms of increasing knowledge about Indigenous health and medical practices, creating new Indigenous cultural spaces in health-care facilities and introducing more Indigenous health services and supports staffed by Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals.
“There’s not enough people doing the work,” said Cairns, explaining the lack of Indigenous-focused health services and supports is an issue seen regionally and across the province.
“In Medicine Hat, Miywasin Friendships Centre has a crisis intervention worker, they have a counsellor and they have other different types of supports, but that’s it. And even then, they only have one person per program,” said Cairns.
“(As well), we don’t actually have Elders in Medicine Hat, so we have to get the Elders to come from out of the community.”
