Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
EditorialEditorial

Caring for aboriginal peoples

Nicholas Pimlott
Canadian Family Physician April 2009, 55 (4) 331;
Nicholas Pimlott
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
Figure

Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may not remember. Involve me and I’ll understand.

Native American proverb

I immigrated to Canada from Manchester, England, at the age of 8 with my family. What little I knew about Canada came from watching a television program, “The Forest Rangers,” which starred the great Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent. I naïvely and happily imagined a new life living in a wooden fort in the North, befriended by aboriginal kids who would introduce me to fishing, hunting, woodcraft, and a life of adventure in the outdoors, just like Chub and his friends on the television show. Instead, we landed in a thriving, modern city, Winnipeg, Man, not that different in many ways from the place that I had come from. There were aboriginal kids in the schools that I attended, but not many, and I knew little about them. Growing up in Winnipeg, a city, like many in Canada, with a substantial aboriginal population, I was exposed to many of the usual stereotypes that nonaboriginal Canadians have about our Native peoples. It was only when I got to university, and then medical school, that I began to learn more about the history of aboriginal people in Canada, and the connection between this history and their current health issues.

Making connections

This month’s issue of Canadian Family Physician focuses on aboriginal health and features a Residents’ Views article by Catherine Elliot and Sarah de Leeuw, 2 interesting, but very different, research studies, all woven together by a Commentary by Dr Ann Macaulay, a leader in family medicine research in Canada.

In “Our aboriginal relations. When family physicians and aboriginal patients meet” ( page 443), Drs Elliott and de Leeuw start with a personal story about looking after a First Nations woman with pneumonia and some valuable lessons learned, and end with a challenge to us all to avoid the “pathologization” of aboriginal peoples by using our natural curiosity as physicians about the lives of individuals to deepen our understanding of them.1

It is well known that there is an epidemic of diabetes among Canada’s First Nations peoples.2 In this issue Oster et al ( page 386) add to the growing literature on the problem with a large descriptive study examining the state of diabetes care among First Nations people living on reserves in Alberta.3 Not surprisingly, the authors found that diabetes care was suboptimal, with high rates of undiagnosed complications of diabetes, and diabetes-related problems substantially contributing to emergency department visits and hospital admissions. This study will provide the springboard for the SLICK (Screening for Limb, I-eye, Cardiovascular and Kidney complications of diabetes) project to make substantial improvements in diabetes care for Alberta’s First Nations communities in the future.

Also featured in this issue ( page 394) is a qualitative study by Dr Len Kelly and his colleagues from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine at Sioux Lookout, Ont, exploring the experiences of bereaved family members of First Nations patients who received palliative care at the local hospital.4 Among the many interesting findings in the study is that for First Nations people palliative care is a community and family experience in a way that is not usual in Western society.

Coming together

The importance of all 3 of these articles is touched upon and brought together in a deeply thoughtful Commentary by Dr Ann Macaulay entitled “Improving aboriginal health. How can health care professionals contribute?” ( page 334).5 Dr Macaulay is a leading Canadian and international family medicine researcher, well known for her expertise in conducting participatory research among the Mohawk community of Kanahwake, QC. Dr Macaulay provides a broad overview of the history of Canada’s aboriginal peoples and the effects of this history on the health problems and inequities that they currently face. She then offers a blueprint for health professionals to improve the health of Canada’s aboriginal peoples that includes fundamental changes in the way we provide patient care, conduct research, and deliver medical education. The key message—aboriginal people must be fundamentally involved in all aspects of this process.

Footnotes

  • Cet article se trouve aussi en français à la page 333.

  • Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada

References

  1. ↵
    ElliottCTde LeeuwSNOur aboriginal relations. When family doctors and aboriginal patients meetCan Fam Physician2009554434(Eng)CFPus (Fr)
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. ↵
    First Nations Centre, National Aboriginal Health OrganizationFirst Nations regional longitudinal health survey (RHS) 2002/03—results for adults, youth and children living in First Nations communitiesOttawa, ONFirst Nations Centre, National Aboriginal Health Organization2005
  3. ↵
    OsterRTViraniSStrongDShadeSTothELDiabetes care and health status of First Nations individuals with type 2 diabetes in AlbertaCan Fam Physician20095538693
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  4. ↵
    KellyLLinkewichBCromartyHSt Pierre-HansenNAntoneIGillesCPalliative care of First Nations people. A qualitative study of bereaved family membersCan Fam Physician2009553945e17
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
  5. ↵
    MacaulayACImproving aboriginal health. How can health care professionals contributeCan Fam Physician2009553346(Eng)3379(Fr)
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 55 (4)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 55, Issue 4
1 Apr 2009
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Caring for aboriginal peoples
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Caring for aboriginal peoples
Nicholas Pimlott
Canadian Family Physician Apr 2009, 55 (4) 331;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
Caring for aboriginal peoples
Nicholas Pimlott
Canadian Family Physician Apr 2009, 55 (4) 331;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Making connections
    • Coming together
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • Our aboriginal relations
  • Diabetes care and health status of First Nations individuals with type 2 diabetes in Alberta
  • Palliative care of First Nations people
  • Improving aboriginal health
  • Les soins aux Autochtones
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Of curing and healing
  • De la thérapeutique et de la guérison
  • Rethinking body mass index
Show more Editorial

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2022 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire