Indigenous Health, Northern Health and the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) present a new short animated video for health care professionals on compassion-informed care. The video is intended to support health care professionals in their ongoing journeys to create respectful relationships with the people they serve – particularly Indigenous peoples and Indigenous communities.
Compassion-informed care starts by recognizing and acknowledging that trauma exists, then focuses on people’s strength and resilience. It’s based on encouraging open conversation, listening to people’s stories, and building trusting, respectful relationships.
The executive producer of this project is Dr. Margo Greenwood, Northern Health’s Vice President, Indigenous Health, and the NCCIH’s Academic Leader.
The six-minute video is narrated by Dr. Evan Adams from the Tla’amin First Nation, near Powell River, BC. Dr. Adams is the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Public Health, Indigenous Services Canada. In this role, he works to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that the health system is safe and accessible for Indigenous people across the country.
Written by Julia Petrasek MacDonald and Shelby Petersen and animated by Joanne Gervais, the video includes explanations of key terms such as “developmental and historical trauma.”
The video, released in 2022, is available to watch on the Indigenous Health website, the NCCIH website, and YouTube.