FOUNDATIONAL CHANGE
Health is a Treaty right and a human right.
The healthcare system today has been shaped by government rules that hurt Indigenous people, causing racism and violence. Many Indigenous people have faced bad treatment, from not getting care to being treated unfairly. This history of mistrust and misunderstanding has made Indigenous people scared to go to the doctor. Systemic racism is a big part of why this happens. People in the healthcare system might not realize the harm they do. Healthcare workers need to learn more about Indigenous people, their culture, how they heal, and what they think about healthcare. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015 told governments and healthcare systems to do better for Indigenous people.
The Better Together Project is creating healthcare services and programs that are safe and easy for Indigenous people to use, using their own knowledge.
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The regular healthcare system doesn't include Indigenous peoples' traditional ways of staying healthy and healing. This was pointed out in the TRC calls to action, which say we need to start including these practices now and in the future.
The Better Together Project knows traditional healing practices on the land are important. They want every place they create to help the whole person—body and mind. Indigenous people will help decide how to heal, stay healthy, and get care.
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In 2023, guided by Elders, the BTP partners came together in a special ceremony. They made a promise to the Creator, to the project, and to each other to start things off right. All partners, like leaders from Indigenous communities, ATC, AHS, NLHF, and U of A, gathered in a ceremonial tent with gifts to ask for blessings and guidance on the project. Since then, the BTP has been true to its promise by working together to use Indigenous knowledge in every part of the project. They are changing healthcare services and how they are given in the region.
“Two-Eyed Seeing refers to learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing and from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing and to using both of these eyes together.”
To change how health and care are seen from an Indigenous perspective, the BTP was built using Indigenous ways of thinking, being, and doing as its foundation.
The Better Together Project follows teachings from a medicine wheel and kinship circle, based on the natural laws of the Bush People of the North. Created together by project partners, the BTP framework (Fig. 1) shows how different worldviews and knowledge are connected in the project. Two-Eyed Seeing helps combine Indigenous knowledge with systems thinking. This framework sets up how the project is run, focusing on strengths and led by Indigenous people. It looks at how the project fits into bigger systems and keeps Indigenous people and communities at the center. All decisions, from the project's goals to how services are given and kept going, follow natural laws.
Medicine wheel
At the heart of the BTP framework is a medicine wheel that shows four important areas: safety, access, space, and culture. These areas help balance the feelings, thoughts, body, and spirit of the project. They also help communities grow and stay healthy.
The second circle shows the project's life cycle, like a person growing up. At first, it learns about safety, awareness, planning, and goals. As it grows, it starts making plans for places and how to give services. When it's older, it focuses on keeping things going and sharing what it knows for the future.
The outer circle is like the forest where the project works. It's a big, strong system, like an old forest, that's hard to change. But even old forests change sometimes, giving new chances for life to grow.
Alberta's healthcare system is changing soon, and there are many problems in healthcare. The Better Together Project can help by making it easier for Indigenous people to get health services in new and better ways.
