Nats’eji: Exploring Understandings of and Experiences with Indigenous Wellness Services and Healing Practices at Stanton Territorial Hospital, Northwest Territories

Background: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has called for improved collaboration between Indigenous and biomedical healing approaches. Likewise, in the Northwest Territories (NWT), where over 50% of residents are First Nations, Inuit, or Métis, local Indigenous leaders have emphasized the need for better collaborative healthcare models at Stanton Territorial Hospital. In support of these calls, this research examines how Indigenous patients and biomedical healthcare providers understand and experience Indigenous wellness services and healing practices at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife, NWT. Research objectives: The project (1) describes participants’ experiences with Indigenous wellness services at Stanton Territorial Hospital; (2) examines the factors that shape participants’ experiences with Indigenous wellness services; and (3) explores how Indigenous patients and biomedical healthcare providers might envision Indigenous healing successfully working with biomedical hospital care. Methods: I carried out a qualitative study from May 2018-June 2022 that was overseen by a regional Indigenous advisory committee and conducted in accordance with OCAP (Ownership, Control, Access, Possession) principles. Guided by Two-Eyed Seeing and post-colonial theory, the research design involved three strategies for data generation: (1) virtual and phone interviews with 41 Indigenous Elders, patient advocates, biomedical healthcare providers, Indigenous Wellness Program staff members, policy makers, and hospital administrators about the study objectives; (2) iterative sharing circles with Indigenous Elders at three different stages in the project; and (3) reflexive journaling. Findings/discussion: Elders and patient advocates emphasized that while Stanton Territorial Hospital’s Indigenous wellness services played an important role connecting Indigenous patients with cultural supports, the hospital was still not effectively bringing Indigenous healing into hospital care. Participants suggested that structural factors (i.e., policy and governance decisions) and deeply rooted forces (i.e., racism, colonialism, and biomedical dominance) underlie the delivery of care at Stanton Territorial Hospital and inhibit Indigenous and biomedical collaboration. Participants’ responses also revealed three models for how Indigenous healing and biomedical hospital care could successfully work together: (1) the integration model; (2) the independence model; and (3) the revisioning relationship model. The findings of this study underscore that greater structural and systemic transformations may be needed at Stanton Territorial Hospital to promote meaningful collaboration between Indigenous healing and biomedical hospital care and improve the delivery of culturally safe care for Indigenous patients.

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