The Canadian Medical Association says its updated Code of Ethics and Professionalism places clearer expectations on physicians to provide culturally safe, trauma-informed and equitable care, including respecting Indigenous knowledge and approaches to healing.
The updated code, released last Friday and also available in Inuktitut, is part of the CMA’s reconciliation efforts and follows the association’s apology for harms Indigenous peoples have experienced within the medical system.
The CMA says the revisions were developed with Indigenous representatives and are intended to clarify physicians’ responsibilities around racism, discrimination and culturally safe care.
Dr Courtney Howard, president-elect of the CMA and an emergency physician in Yellowknife, said the changes are particularly relevant in the Northwest Territories, where Indigenous patients make up a large proportion of the population.
“It makes explicit what has been implicit for some time,” Howard told Cabin Radio.
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She said culturally safe care means physicians need to be willing to learn about the communities they serve, including Indigenous approaches to health and well-being, and to consider how their own perspective and practices affect patients.
Howard said doctors are already working to build that understanding by reaching out to local healers, Indigenous-led organizations and Indigenous leaders, and participating in initiatives such as medicine walks to learn about Indigenous approaches to health and well-being.
She said that work requires “humility and openness and curiosity,” and should be an ongoing commitment for physicians.
‘Act in alignment’
Providing culturally safe care can be particularly challenging in smaller and isolated NWT communities, where healthcare worker turnover can make it difficult for patients to build lasting relationships with providers.
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Distance can also affect care, Howard said, with patients sometimes having to leave their communities for services in Yellowknife, taking them away from family, work and their usual support systems.
But Howard said working in the North also gives physicians opportunities to learn from Indigenous knowledge and relationships with Elders.
“I’m hoping that this is one document … that can help physicians stand up a little straighter and speak and act in alignment with what is in their heart,” Howard said.
The CMA says the updated code is part of broader efforts to address racism and inequity in healthcare.
