2 minute read
and legislation
from Indigenous health in federal, provincial, and territorial health policies and systems
by NCCIH-CCNSA
2. METHODS
This report reviews primarily grey literature, collected from October 2021 to April 2022, that is written or translated in English and publicly available on the internet. In scope, we focus on Canada and any federal, provincial, and territorial policies and legislation; treaty and self-government agreements (signed as of April 2022); and other related health care system initiatives or principles as applicable. There are two search strategies: one to gather government health policies and legislation (research objective #1), and a second to gather treaties and self-government agreements (research objective #2). The remaining four research objectives coincide with the work and findings of these two search strategies.
2.1 Search Strategy #1: Federal, provincial, and territorial health policies and legislation
Federal health policies and legislation were identified through federal departments and databases, including: Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Library of Parliament, and Government of Canada Publications. Institutional websites of the five national Indigenous organizations the federal government often engages with (i.e., Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, and Native Women’s Association of Canada) were consulted to fill information gaps and collect further context on policies and legislation. Academic databases were also searched for peerreviewed literature, including: Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII), Canadian Research Index, Canadian Periodicals Index, and Google Scholar. Provincial health policies and legislation were identified through institutional websites of provincial and territorial Ministries of Health, Legislative Assemblies, and centralized health authorities and agencies, supplemented by the CanLII to fill gaps as needed. When applicable, a combination of the following key words and search terms were used: (First Nation(s) OR Métis OR Inuit OR Inuk OR Indigenous OR Aboriginal OR Native OR Indian) AND (health OR wellness OR well*being OR traditional OR healing OR medicine OR medical OR practices).
Health policies and legislation were included in the report based on any mentioning of First Nations, Inuit, and/or Métis Peoples in the context of health and health care. Examples of this include, although are not limited to, provisions regarding access to, management of, or participation in health care and health policy making; delivery of culturally appropriate health services; respect for traditional healing practices or medicines; or establishment of jurisdiction for the delivery of care.
All included health policies and legislation were then charted in Microsoft Excel, including the document title, year of establishment,3 with excerpts showcasing their relevance to Indigenous health. Federal
3 Establishment in the context of this report refers to when legislation is given Royal Assent and when policies are implemented.