Indigenous Cultural Safety

Indigenous cultural safety is an outcome based on respectful engagement that recognizes and strives to address power imbalances inherent in the health care system. It results in an environment free of racism and discrimination, where people feel safe when receiving health care.

Cultural humility is a process of self-reflection to understand personal and systemic biases and to develop and maintain respectful processes and relationships based on mutual trust. Cultural humility involves humbly acknowledging oneself as a learner when it comes to understanding another’s experience.

The Victoria Division is committed to creating culturally safe and respectful environments for all, implemented through the Victoria Primary Care Network.

All of the care teams in the Victoria Primary Care Network are eligible to participate in an Indigenous Cultural Safety learning journey. We hope that through these learnings our Primary Care Network team will be able to provide culturally informed care.

Training

San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training

San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training, “Core ICS Health”, is available online and is self-paced over an eight-week window and typically takes between eight-ten hours to complete. This self-learning program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada for up to 20 Mainpro+ credits. The course is available complimentary for those that have an Island Health email address. For those not employed by Island Health, the Division is currently supporting the registration fees. More information on the training.

Please email Katelyn Gordon for details on how to support your registration.

Looking for a personal conversation to discover additional learning opportunities relevant to you or your team?

Connect with Joan Brett, Victoria PCN Manager and Lead for Indigenous Health: [email protected].

Additional Resources

Victoria PCN linktree on Indigenous Cultural Safety
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King
The Deepest Well by Nadine Burke Harris
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph, et al.
Project of Heart: Illuminating the hidden history of Indian Residential Schools in BC by the BCTF
The Indigenous Learning Series (Canada School of Public Service)
BCCFP: Practicing Cultural Safety and Humility in the Response to COVID-19
BC Learning Circle: Cultural Safety in the Face of a Pandemic: Historic and Contemporary Realities through a Trauma-Informed Lens
Creating a Climate for Change – Cultural Safety and Humility in Health
FNHA website
Island Health Indigenous Cultural Safety
Resources for practicing differently with Indigenous clients:
- R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Model of Cross-Cultural Communication

- CIHR Guidelines for Health Research Involving Aboriginal People (2007-2010)
Examples of how to put cultural safety into action:
- Health Council Canada – Report on Creating Cultural Safety for Aboriginal People in Urban Health Care (2012)
This map of our region can help start conversations about the specific Nations a care provider might serve and open up avenues for learning about those specific Nations rather than Indigenous Peoples generally.
The Richardson and Williams (2007) article may be a starting point for conversations as a learning group.
Addressing Racism in Team-Based Care
- Learnings from the In Plain Sight report
- The In Plain Sight report
- In Plain Sight: Elaboration on the Review – Article by Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Laurel Lemchuk-Favel and Harmony Johnson that was recently published in the BC Medical Journal.
- Cultural Safety & Humility Action Series – Previous webinar series hosted in partnership by the First Nations Health Authority and BC Patient Safety & Quality Council.

Indigenous Cultural Safety

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The Victoria Division of Family Practice respectfully acknowledges that our office is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples, known today as the Xʷsepsəm and Songhees Nations. We are grateful to be working on these lands.

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