Biigajiiskaan combines traditional healing medicines and ceremonies, such as smudging, drumming and song, with western psychiatric treatment modalities.
HOPE, HEALING, CONNECTION AND WELLNESS An innovative, collaborative program of St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Atlohsa Family Healing Services is transforming the mental health care experience of Indigenous peoples.
In nature, a tree stump that is broken begins the vital process of providing essential nutrients for the growth of new life. It’s one small way living things work together in harmony for the greater good. The importance of doing just that is the concept of a momentous new program offered through St. Joseph’s Health Care London and Atlohsa Family Healing Services (Atlohsa). Called Biigajiiskaan (BEE-GAWJEES-GAWN): Indigenous Pathways to Mental Wellness, this innovative, collaborative program aims to break down long-standing barriers to care faced by Indigenous peoples and transform their mental health care experience. Indigenous peoples have experienced institutional trauma throughout the history of colonization, including within Canada’s residential school system and racially segregated “Indian hospitals.”
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“We know that the rate of mental illness and addictions among Indigenous people is more than double that of non-Indigenous individuals in Canada.” These experiences have led to the loss of language, culture, sense of safety and community. Still today, Indigenous community members continue to experience systemic racism and discrimination in institutions and many are reluctant to go to hospital or access help from health care agencies. “We know that the rate of mental illness and addictions among Indigenous people is more than double that of non-Indigenous individuals in Canada,” says Jodi Younger, Vice President of Patient Care and Quality at
