CAMH Reconciliation Working Group Awarded Leading Practice

Pictured above: Two members of the Reconciliation Working Group, Cynthia White, Traditional Healer, Aboriginal Service (left) and Terri Rodak, Librarian, Library Services (right), hung the official Leading Practice certificate from the Health Standards Organization in the main entrance of the Bell Gateway Building at Queen Street.

CAMH is pleased to announce that its Reconciliation Working Group (RWG), was recently awarded a Leading Practice by Accreditation Canada and the Health Standards Organization for their exciting and innovative work. A Leading Practice is a practice carried out by a health and/or social service organization that has demonstrated a positive change, is people-centred, safe and efficient.

The RWG is a 31-member committee comprised of Indigenous and non-Indigenous clinical and non-clinical staff members at CAMH tasked with reconciliation for transformational systems-change. The RWG is a direct response to Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action, particularly numbers 18–24 specific to health care. They tackle anti-Indigenous racism and its effects on staff members, patients and families.

The RWG is housed within Shkaabe Makwa, a Centre designed to drive culturally relevant systems initiatives to achieve health equity and community wellness.

“It has been uplifting to watch the membership and impact of the Reconciliation Working Group grow since its creation in 2017,” says Kahontakwas Diane Longboat, Elder – Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives at Shkaabe Makwa from the Mohawk Nation, co-chair of the RWG. “Indigenous Peoples cannot carry the burden of this work alone, and for real system-change to deepen, non-Indigenous allies and leadership must take ownership over our  progress towards truth and reconciliation.”

Along with responding to the TRC’s Calls to Action, the RWG provides educational, social and cultural opportunities to staff with a goal of fostering an understanding of the historical and intergenerational impacts of colonization, genocide, and the effects of trauma on the well-being of First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients. These learning opportunities also promote the resiliency provided by cultures, languages and ceremonies that contribute to healing and patient empowerment. The group utilizes the expertise and experience of Indigenous partners, patients and staff to help deliver important learning and content to the organization through a variety of mediums. For example, the RWG helped to organize CAMH’s first-ever Pow Wow in 2018, and throughout 2020–2021, they organized a speaker series highlighting the important work of Indigenous leaders such as award-winning author Jesse Thistle, and visual artist Lisa Boivin.

Perhaps their largest undertaking to date, the RWG recently released the CAMH Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan, a three-year strategy to build stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff, families and patients at CAMH. The plan invites everyone to take up the work of reconciliation with detailed actions to:

• Create a safe work environment for First Nations, Inuit and Métis staff and physicians.
• Create an environment where First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients and families feel safe to receive CAMH services.
• Ensure accountability for meeting targets associated with CAMH’s reconciliation agenda.

This strategy was initiated and developed by a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of the RWG before it was adopted by CAMH leadership.

Since its inception, the RWG has been contributing to systems-change through practices and policies in a framework of cultural safety and anti-Indigenous racism. Accreditation Canada and the Health Standards Organization will be sharing this Leading Practice with policy makers, the public, and organizations both nationally and internally who are seeking ways to improve the quality of health services. By sharing the RWG’s learnings with other health organizations, foundations and service providers, this group has inspired others to consider culture-based healing practices in their institutions.

“CAMH is on a continuous journey of listening, learning and taking action, and we still have a lot of work to do,” says Lori Spadorcia, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Partnerships, Chief Strategy Officer. “We must build culturally relevant systems in partnership with the communities we serve so that Indigenous Peoples have access to culturally safe care and supports, no matter which door they walk through across the health care system and beyond.”

Health equity, anti-racism, and reconciliation are pillars of the work of the RWG, in alignment with One CAMH’s strategic directions of Inspire, Include, and Impact. The RWG is transforming the culture of CAMH by providing opportunities for staff members to reflect on their individual and organizational attitudes, behaviours, practices and policies, and to take action to work towards a CAMH that prioritizes Indigenous cultural safety and allyship.