Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations
Family caregivers and care providers are increasingly becoming more distressed and reaching a breaking point within current systems of care. First Nations family caregivers and the health and community providers employed in First Nations communities have to cope with colonial, discriminatory practic...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/11/2/65 |
| _version_ | 1797595249827119104 |
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| author | Amber Ward Laurie Buffalo Colleen McDonald Tanya L’Heureux Lesley Charles Cheryl Pollard Peter G. Tian Sharon Anderson Jasneet Parmar |
| author_facet | Amber Ward Laurie Buffalo Colleen McDonald Tanya L’Heureux Lesley Charles Cheryl Pollard Peter G. Tian Sharon Anderson Jasneet Parmar |
| author_sort | Amber Ward |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Family caregivers and care providers are increasingly becoming more distressed and reaching a breaking point within current systems of care. First Nations family caregivers and the health and community providers employed in First Nations communities have to cope with colonial, discriminatory practices that have caused intergenerational trauma and a myriad of siloed, disconnected, and difficult-to-navigate federal-, provincial/territorial-, and community-level policies and programs. Indigenous participants in Alberta’s Health Advisory Councils described Indigenous family caregivers as having more difficulty accessing support than other Alberta caregivers. In this article, we report on family caregivers’, providers’, and leaders’ recommendations to support First Nations family caregivers and the health and community providers employed in First Nations. We used participatory action research methods in which we drew on Etuaptmumk (the understanding that being in the world is the gift of multiple perspectives) and that Indigenous and non-Indigenous views are complementary. Participants were from two First Nation communities in Alberta and included family caregivers (<i>n</i> = 6), health and community providers (<i>n</i> = 14), and healthcare and community leaders (<i>n</i> = 6). Participants advised that family caregivers needed four types of support: (1) recognize the family caregivers’ role and work; (2) enhance navigation and timely access to services, (3) improve home care support and respite, and (4) provide culturally safe care. Participants had four recommendations to support providers: (1) support community providers’ health and wellbeing; (2) recruit and retain health and community providers; (3) improve orientation for new providers; and (4) offer providers a comprehensive grounding in cultural awareness. While creating a program or department for family caregivers may be tempting to address caregivers’ immediate needs, improving the health of First Nations family caregivers requires a population-based public health approach that focuses on meaningful holistic system change to support family caregivers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:34:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-557b335d9f0f479695a8f35516f94cdd |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9721 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:34:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-557b335d9f0f479695a8f35516f94cdd2023-11-18T10:01:54ZengMDPI AGDiseases2079-97212023-04-011126510.3390/diseases11020065Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ RecommendationsAmber Ward0Laurie Buffalo1Colleen McDonald2Tanya L’Heureux3Lesley Charles4Cheryl Pollard5Peter G. Tian6Sharon Anderson7Jasneet Parmar8Faculty of Medicine, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V6T 1Z3, CanadaSamson Cree Nation, Maskwacis, AB T0C 1N0, CanadaEnoch Cree Nation, Enoch, AB T7X 3Y3, CanadaDivision of Care of the Elderly, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T4, CanadaDivision of Care of the Elderly, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T4, CanadaFaculty of Nursing, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, CanadaDivision of Care of the Elderly, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T4, CanadaDivision of Care of the Elderly, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T4, CanadaDivision of Care of the Elderly, Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2T4, CanadaFamily caregivers and care providers are increasingly becoming more distressed and reaching a breaking point within current systems of care. First Nations family caregivers and the health and community providers employed in First Nations communities have to cope with colonial, discriminatory practices that have caused intergenerational trauma and a myriad of siloed, disconnected, and difficult-to-navigate federal-, provincial/territorial-, and community-level policies and programs. Indigenous participants in Alberta’s Health Advisory Councils described Indigenous family caregivers as having more difficulty accessing support than other Alberta caregivers. In this article, we report on family caregivers’, providers’, and leaders’ recommendations to support First Nations family caregivers and the health and community providers employed in First Nations. We used participatory action research methods in which we drew on Etuaptmumk (the understanding that being in the world is the gift of multiple perspectives) and that Indigenous and non-Indigenous views are complementary. Participants were from two First Nation communities in Alberta and included family caregivers (<i>n</i> = 6), health and community providers (<i>n</i> = 14), and healthcare and community leaders (<i>n</i> = 6). Participants advised that family caregivers needed four types of support: (1) recognize the family caregivers’ role and work; (2) enhance navigation and timely access to services, (3) improve home care support and respite, and (4) provide culturally safe care. Participants had four recommendations to support providers: (1) support community providers’ health and wellbeing; (2) recruit and retain health and community providers; (3) improve orientation for new providers; and (4) offer providers a comprehensive grounding in cultural awareness. While creating a program or department for family caregivers may be tempting to address caregivers’ immediate needs, improving the health of First Nations family caregivers requires a population-based public health approach that focuses on meaningful holistic system change to support family caregivers.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/11/2/65Indigenousfamily caregiversqualitativeparticipatory actionFirst Nations |
| spellingShingle | Amber Ward Laurie Buffalo Colleen McDonald Tanya L’Heureux Lesley Charles Cheryl Pollard Peter G. Tian Sharon Anderson Jasneet Parmar Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations Diseases Indigenous family caregivers qualitative participatory action First Nations |
| title | Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations |
| title_full | Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations |
| title_fullStr | Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations |
| title_short | Supporting First Nations Family Caregivers and Providers: Family Caregivers’, Health and Community Providers’, and Leaders’ Recommendations |
| title_sort | supporting first nations family caregivers and providers family caregivers health and community providers and leaders recommendations |
| topic | Indigenous family caregivers qualitative participatory action First Nations |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/11/2/65 |
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