Cultural safety in health-care settings is meant for everyone. However, for Indigenous Peoples and communities, a history of hardship and colonization carries an intergenerational and detrimental legacy that impacts people’s present-day realities. Comparative health statistics reflect unacceptable disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in Canada.

IPL aims to improve Indigenous health outcomes by increasing access to culturally safe care for Indigenous Peoples and communities in BC rural settings. When Indigenous Peoples feel safe and trust their health-care setting, they are more likely to access health services. The IPL project aims to develop rural health professionals’ sense of cultural humility and ability to deliver care that is experienced as culturally safe by co-creating and delivering content in partnership with Indigenous patients and Elders. 

We support Indigenous communities interested in developing community-specific Indigenous cultural safety and humility training for their local physicians, co-create and deliver curricula to support trauma and resilience-informed practice and facilitate relationship-building and communication between communities and providers. We offer support through our Elder-led group of cultural safety educators along with administrative and financial resources.

Guiding Principles

Working together with Indigenous Nations and communities, rural physicians and health professionals to foster cultural humility, address systemic anti-Indigenous racism and improve the health of Indigenous peoples.	Community and patient voices drive this work.	Recognizing and dismantling systemic oppression, colonization and individual bias. Building and strengthening relationships between Indigenous Nations and physician communities by creating opportunities for learning, self-reflection and dialogue.