Inner city event: More networking needed : health symposium

Page 3

Increasing cross-cultural dialogue between medical practioners and the Native community is required to better serve urban Native held care needs.

This was the overall recommendation delegates submitted to the Inner City Health Symposium, held in Edmonton on Jan. 28, 29 and 30.

Allowing sweetgrass ceremonies, using medicine pouches and other traditional spiritual practices in hospitals, providing traditional foods to patients and adopting a consultation process with the Native community were suggested to improve health care services to Native people.

About 100 delegates attended the symposium which examined present health care delivery practices, in urban areas, and to share successful approaches to remedy problem areas in delivery to urban Native populations in Canada.

Elders, doctors, health services personnel and interested public participated in workshops addressing components of delivery.

Traditional Native approaches to health care, contemporary health services, health among the Elders, services for children, setting community priorities and linking agencies with Native people were some of the workshops offered.

Dr. Chan Shah explained how the Regina General hospital developed a Native liaison unit to meet Native health needs of children up to 14 years old.

"We have failed drastically in looking after the health care needs of the Native community. Natives have a different value system; in Regina the Native community acts a massive extended family," noted Shah.

The Regina hospital studied the problems which brought kids to hospitals and this resulted in the establishment of an annual cross-cultural conferences on health care.

Elders present at the symposium supported the call for more dialogue between cultures, as a way of increasing awareness on health needs and services, said Maria Carey, conference organizer.