Grant: Project Grant

This project aims to address quality of care with First Nations members in emergency departments in Alberta. First Nations members visit emergency departments at almost double the rate of non-First Nations persons. Previous research also shows First Nations members have distinct experiences of emergency care. For example, First Nations members' decisions about when and even whether to seek emergency care are impacted by concerns about stereotyping and experiences of marginalization. Working collaboratively with First Nations partners, this project will document differences in First Nations emergency department patient visit statistics and develop understandings of these differences through First Nations narratives of their emergency department experiences, as well as through discussions with emergency clinicians. An Elder Advisory Board formed for the project will work with researchers to produce First Nations definitions of emergency department quality of care. These definitions will expand beyond current Western understandings of quality of care for the benefit of both First Nations and non-First Nations patients.