Culturally safe health care for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples
Cultural safety in health care for Indigenous Peoples makes them feel respected, safe and free from racism and discrimination when they interact with their health care system. Culturally safe health care supports Indigenous Peoples in drawing strength from their identity, culture and community.Reference1
Systemic racism and adverse health care experiences faced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples have been associated with poor outcomes and, at times, preventable deaths. Despite the significant impact of systemic racism, limited data exists to hold health systems accountable for it or to drive positive change.Reference2
Measuring culturally safe health care across Canada
Federal, provincial and territorial governments acknowledge the right of Indigenous Peoples anywhere in Canada to fair and equal access to high-quality, culturally safe health services.Reference3 Establishing pan-Canadian measures of cultural safety and anti-Indigenous racism in health care is a step in the process to achieve this.
While health system decision-makers are accountable for delivering care that is culturally safe, only Indigenous Peoples can define what that looks like and determine strategies for putting it into practice. With the leadership of and support from First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, CIHI has started work in this area.
- 2020: Implementing the Policy on the Release and Disclosure of Indigenous-Identifiable Data
- 2021: Developing a comprehensive framework to measure cultural safety in health systems
- 2022: Supporting the Providence Health Care (British Columbia) demonstration project on cultural safety measurement
- 2023: Co-designing a tool to measure interventions that address anti-Indigenous racism, and using the measurement data to develop cultural safety indicators
- 2024: With the Indigenous-led Cultural Safety Measurement Collaborative, developing principles for selecting indicators, baskets for priority indicator development and indicators for measuring cultural safety
- 2025 onward: Engaging with First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments, organizations and communities for feedback on selected cultural safety indicators, and development and reporting of those
CIHI’s approach to contributing to First Nations, Inuit and Métis health and wellness is grounded in respectful engagement and appropriate Indigenous data sovereignty and governance.
Related resources
References
1.
Northern Health. Cultural safety: Supporting increased cultural competency and safety throughout Northern Health. Accessed July 23, 2024.
2.
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Measuring Cultural Safety in Health Systems. 2021.
3.
Government of Canada. Working together to improve health care for Canadians. Accessed July 23, 2024.
How to cite:
Canadian Institute for Health Information. Culturally safe health care for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. Accessed April 25, 2025.
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