Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Indigenous people in Canada experience have poorer measurements of health, and continue to have decreased access to healthcare. In the past healthcare providers received very little education about the health challenges faced by Indigenous people. There remains a need to enhance the knowledge and skills for practitioners and to improve the quality of healthcare for Indigenous peoples in Canada. The Indigenous Health Conference is an interdisciplinary conference that will take place through the University of Toronto, on November 20th and 21st 2014. Although we realize that health equity for Indigenous peoples is a long-term process that involves multiple partners, we feel that this conference will make a contribution towards improving Canadian Indigenous peoples' access to quality healthcare. The conference agenda is led by the conference committee who are Indigenous health care providers, and/or individuals who have long term experience working with and advocating for health for Indigenous populations. The conference will comprise of plenary sessions, workshops and poster presentations. There will be a call for abstracts which will allow researchers and community workers to profile their work. All the keynote and plenary speakers are Indigenous, and most of the workshops are led by Indigenous leaders. Learning cultural competency and safety is a long-term process, but the two days of the conference is a beginning for many individuals who have never had any education. In addition, we are having a job fair to try to help match healthcare providers with employment opportunities working with Indigenous communities. This conference will allow sharing of ideas, new research and will allow the creation of research questions on high priority issues. We are planning on repeating this conference every two years. http://www.cepd.utoronto.ca/indigenoushealth