Health Standards Organization (HSO) has received over 1,100 comments from 155 individuals and organizations on the draft British Columbia (B.C.) First Nations, Métis and Inuit Cultural Safety and Humility standard (HSO 75000:2021 E Cultural Safety and Humility BC).
The development of this standard was driven by a First Nations-led technical committee and supported by the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), with additional input from Métis Nation BC.
It aims to help create a culturally safe environment in the health system, encourage health care providers to provide care with humility, and end Indigenous-specific racism.
The final standard, which will be published in 2022, will be a guiding resource that supports systems and organizations in addressing Indigenous-specific racism and building an accessible, respectful and culturally safe environment for Indigenous people as they interact with the health system.
Of the people who provided comments, 30 per cent self-identify as Indigenous. The technical committee is integrating these responses into the final draft of the standard for publication next spring.
This has only been possible thanks to the thoughtful and knowledgeable contributions of many dedicated individuals from across Canada. This included responses from all BC's health authorities, the BC Ministry of Health, and Indigenous patient partners from the Patient Voice Network.
Though this organizational standard is being developed first in BC, the process will inform the direction at a national level.
QUICK FACTS:
- Focusing on the implementation of cultural safety and humility in healthcare, this standard is the first of its kind in Canada.
- The publication of the standard is a response to Recommendation 8 of In Plain Sight, the report from the BC government's investigation into systemic racism against Indigenous patients in the health system.
- Options for integrating the standard into quality assessment and improvement practices are currently under review.
- The FNHA is the first and only provincial First Nations health authority in Canada, working to transform and reform the way health care is delivered to First Nations in BC.
