Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

In the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, nursing schools were called upon to take action toward reconciling the inequitable health status of Indigenous peoples, especially women. This paper explores how critical self-study among nursing instructors may foster greater comprehension of Indigenous women’s marginalization and the health inequities they experience, and, proactive change in decolonizing self-study approaches in nursing education. Indigenous women are adversely affected by income, Aboriginal status, geographic location, and gender – four key areas of health disparities identified by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Native Women’s Association of Canada assert that to understand these critical issues the voices of Indigenous women must be heard. Though what does it mean to incorporate these voices into curricula? In addressing these great institutional challenges, the integration of Indigenous perspectives and experiences into curricula must also be supported by concerted efforts to deconstruct and de-center non-Indigenous perspectives and experiences. This is a timely moment in academe when senior administrators across North American universities are encouraging critical self-study as an approach to decolonization. This signals a paradigm shift from faculty Indigenizing curricula to critically examining their role in either combating or perpetuating the marginalization of Indigenous peoples. How can critical self-study foster the professional development of nursing instructors with respect to decolonizing healthcare education? In perceiving the marginalization of Indigenous women as a healthcare education issue, what happens when we shift our attention from structures of power to structures of feeling?