First Nations Health Authority Regional Case
The First Nations Health Authority regional case builds on significant developments in health governance in BC. In 2013, programs and resources serving BC First Nations health and well-being were transferred to the FNHA, the first province-wide health authority of its kind in Canada. FNHA works with BC First Nations, federal, provincial, and non-governmental organizations to improve health outcomes for BC First Nations people.
Regional Case Updates
Since mid-2020 we have moved to a new cross-ECHO format of sharing Regional Case updates - please see the latest updates for the First Nations Health Authority Regional Case on the following Padlet links, or for cross-ECHO updates via our “Updates” page.
Summer 2020
As for most people, the pandemic has completely disrupted our case-study work that relies upon sustained interaction with FNHA and other public health practitioners. But, we have taken the old adage, 'never let a good crisis go to waste', and on April 15th, SFU ECHO Co-PIs Tim Takaro and Maya Gislason launched a weekly webalogue series along with SFU's Planetary Health Research group, CoPEH Canada, NextGenU, and Shift Collaborative entitled, Learning for Planetary Health Lessons from a Pandemic. The weekly series has covered a range of intersectoral learnings with two action agenda sessions up through the end of June. Our goal is to use the crisis to promote bouncing forward, not back, on issues of multi-species equity, climate and energy policy, mental health, urban planning, global health and Indigenous rights.
Our team has been actively involved in the cross-ECHO discussions, led by Jordan, around what it might mean to build upon the Cal-EnviroScreen methodology by applying GBA+ and assets-based lenses and making it more relevant to the Canadian context. On May 4th, a GECHO (Geospatial ECHO) meeting was held online to bring together the geospatially-minded partners across the network to tackle some of the technical aspects that would be involved in such a process, as well as to share resources and tips around data collection and analysis as it pertains to our overlapping interests. The momentum that has begun in the GECHO group shows great promise to help us collectively move forward with these important tasks, in addition to promoting a sense of community throughout the network in times of isolation.
Drawing from a sustained effort within ECHO to integrate social and ecological theory, data, methodological innovations in tools and integrative practices, Maya, Dawn, Jordan, Katie and Angel have been applying our learning in work with Women and Gender Equality Canada. This research has pushed our thinking about how to use intersectionality as a theory to propose a design for modeling the climate impacts on systematically marginalized populations. This work pays particular consideration to how to meaningfully centre Indigenous health and wellbeing. Further to this federal work, a new project with the Climate Action Secretariat will enable Maya, Dawn and Jordan to engage with the FNHA as partners that will be consulted with to learn how to take an intersectionality approach to understanding the impacts of climate change in BC on specific populations. This also includes questions as to how to not only understand but centre the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities with a focus on gendered impacts. Within this project we will conduct a desktop case study analysis on the Grand Forks floods in 2018. We are currently seeking an Indigenous Advisor to offer feedback on this work—stay tuned for further updates!
Spring 2020
There have been changes to our Regional Case membership since the last newsletter. We are very thankful for Linda Pillsworth's involvement and contribution to our team during the first half of the ECHO Network program. While Linda has moved into a two-year interchange outside of the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), we welcome Dr. Daniele Behn-Smith to our Regional case. Daniele has been the BC province's Aboriginal Health Physician Advisor since 2015 and we are extremely excited to have her join our Regional Case!
The changes to our team have provided us with an opportunity to re-examine how we want to focus our efforts over the remainder of the ECHO Network's research program. Specifically, we are working to align our case study with the efforts of The First Nations Population Health and Wellness Agenda (PHWA). The PHWA is a partnership initiative between the offices of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at FNHA and the Provincial Health Officer (PHO) at the Ministry of Health. It presents an eagle-eye view of First Nations health and wellness in BC that is grounded in First Nations teachings and guided by reconciliation and relationship building. It uses a strengths-based approach to focus on wellness and resilience, and two-eyed seeing to bring together First Nations and Western ways of knowing. The overarching goal of this work is to support First Nations to achieve the vision of healthy, vibrant, self-determining children, families, and communities. Our regional case activities will include making space to explore initiatives such as the We Walk Together project, and strengthening intersectoral actions for First Nations health and wellbeing.
As for upcoming events, the FNHA's Environmental Public Health Services (EPHS) Interior team has the honour of joining and supporting the Gathering Our Voices 2020 Indigenous Youth Event from March 16th - 19th. The gathering will be occurring on Secwépemc traditional territory (Kamloops, BC) and the EPHS team will be highlighting important program areas as well as the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network.
September 2019
Dionne Sanderson and Jordan Brubacher presenting at the 2019 ECHO Annual Meeting in Moncton, NB.
Our case study enjoyed preparing and presenting at the ECHO Network Annual Meeting in Moncton, New Brunswick in late May. Our presentation took us on a journey, which started at the headwaters of a river, down different tributaries, and through eddies while learning about the importance of the Indigenous worldview of circular learning. The process of creating the presentation helped us to realize how far we have come as a case study but also that the journey has much more in store for us! To help us move forward on this journey, we are very excited to welcome two new members to our Regional Case team – Dawn Hoogeveen and Katie Bauder!
The First Nations Health Authority is in the process of developing a climate change and health adaptation program and a few tools are being explored to potentially be included in the program. A fruitful first discussion occurred between UNBC and FNHA to discuss the UNBC Geospatial Archive Portal and how it may be further utilized as a tool for BC First Nations communities. Several BC First Nations are already successfully using the portal, which is an open source software tool.
FNHA’s approach to climate change and health adaptation focuses on building community capacity and using community driven approaches. The availability of affordable and meaningful tools is vital for the success of any community-based project. Together with appropriate promotional materials and training, both the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network and the cumulative anthropogenic impacts map can potentially become useful climate change mapping tools for BC First Nations communities.
April 2019
On March 20th and 21st the FNHA Environmental Public Health Services (EPHS) and LEO Network Coordinator (Tom Okey) partnered to participate in the 2019 Gathering Our Voices Indigenous Youth Leadership Training event in Port Alberni, British Columbia. The event was a success in engaging youth on numerous environmental public health topics; such as drinking water, food safety, and housing. The BC LEO Network also utilized a different strategy to engage with youth and their chaperones, by inviting them to place a dot where they live on a large map of BC and discuss the unusual changes that they are noticing on their traditional territories as well as at the local level of their communities. In utilizing a large map to tangibly and visually depict change and location, the dialogue was enriched by his strategy and it will be incorporated into other outreach opportunities for the LEO Network.
March 20th was an engaging day for our case study as we participated in a relationship building and information sharing meeting with representation from the ECHO Network, the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) and members of affiliated research and health communities in BC. The purpose of the meeting was to bring these important groups together to discuss current equity, rural and urban data realities as well as strengths, limitations and opportunities within our current research context.
Finally, our case study made it to an international stage, thanks to Margot Parkes presence at the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) Conference in New Zealand at the beginning of April. We are grateful to Margot Parkes who presented on our case study's behalf. The presentation was titled "Visualization and analytic tools for community engagement on social-ecological health impacts of resource extraction".
December 2018
In October, Linda Pillsworth (FNHA Manager, Environmental Public Health Services) attended the BC Social Studies Teachers Association Professional Development Conference. She presented with Tom Okey (BC HUB LEO Network Coordinator) and Tracey Murphy (Social Studies teacher, Saanich School District No.63) on their work with the “Student – Elder Inquiry in Environmental Change” project on the LEO Network. The project and a teaching unit were well received and there was some keen interest in the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network being utilized as a tool in the classroom to explore the discussion on climate change and it’s impacts. A benefit noted during the workshops was that the LEO Network provides potential links across different disciplines such as science and social studies.
Our regional team is excited to have Lindsay Beck (FNHA Manager, Population Health & Wellness) back from her maternity leave and we are very thankful for Krista Stelkia’s participation on our case study team in Lindsay’s absence.
For the purposes of the First Nations Population Health and Wellness Agenda, a joint initiative between FNHA and Provincial Health Officer, we were tasked with identifying an indicator that represented an Indigenous understanding of the land-wellness connections that support First Nations physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. This indicator development process represents an opportunity to shift the paradigm from a seeing the environment as a source of hazards towards an innovative, health promoting and strengths-based approach which fosters reciprocal maintenance – “to take care of each other, our communities and our natural environment” (Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986). For Indigenous peoples around the globe, the land is paramount. Their and all of humankind’s health and wellness is inextricably linked to land – the source of life. To further this ‘ecological health indicator’ work, a series of Knowledge Holder Workshops will be occurring in February 2019 where community perspectives, knowledge and stories will be shared.
July 2018
Just before Dease Lake, BC – photo by Jordan Brubacher
The FNHA Regional Case team has been busy presenting around the province! Early May 2018 kicked off the presentations at the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Managing Health of Fish and Wildlife Conference in Kimberly, British Columbia. The presentation introduced the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network to the group and how it could be used for the surveillance of ecological changes. The LEO Network was well received and the Tahltan Central Government and Tahltan Guide & Outfitters Association invited us to present at the Northern Wildlife.
We recognized that this was a great opportunity to work with First Nation communities in the NW BC so we quickly got our ‘ducks in a row’ to make the trek up to the opposite end of the province for June 1 -2, 2018. Jordan Brubacher (Research Assistant) presented on the cumulative anthropogenic disturbance maps he has been working on and Dionne Sanderson (Regional Case Coordinator) introduced the LEO Network. It was an excellent symposium. The disturbance map stimulated some great conversations among attendees around resource development and the LEO Network was viewed as a valuable tool that could be put to use in the northwest BC.
March 2018
FNHA Regional Case team members have had a busy start to 2018, including planning its engagement in the Gathering Our Voices event (March 20-23, 2018; www.gatheringourvoices.ca) and progressing Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network activities. In collaboration with team members of the regional case, Jordan Brubacher is continuing work on integrating multiple spatial data sets into a single and easy to read map describing the total physical human impact on the environment. The team is calling this cumulative impact “anthropogenic disturbance”. Such a map is helpful when trying to combine the large amount of spatial data describing human activities that has become available in recent years such as roads, forest cut blocks, mines and oil wells.
Ecological disturbance is associated with many ecosystem services that rural and remote communities are disproportionately dependent upon. The regional case has also begun exploring ways to describe and visualize associations between social determinants of health and anthropogenic disturbance. The final map will be made available for public use in the coming weeks via the UNBC Stewardship Portal.
The two SFU Co-leads of the regional case, Maya Gislason (PI) and Tim Takaro, are currently pursuing funding opportunities to bring together key researchers, decision makers and partners affiliated with the ECHO Network and the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) to further conversations regarding how to meaningfully apply an integrative health equity lens to complex social and environmental health issues, a key aspect of ECHO Network research.
December 2017
The BC Hub for the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network has hosted a few more great monthly webinars since our last update. The most recent webinar’s focus was on “LEO in the Classroom”. Tracey Murphy, asocial studies teacher with Saanich School District on Vancouver Island, shared her experience of introducing the LEO Network to her grade 10 class. Her class has just begun to dive into the LEO Network and the benefits of using this platform are already being identified. A few examples of these benefits are that the students are learning new skills, learning and engaging with the Elders in their communities and the LEO Network is providing a platform for teachers to integrate Indigenous Knowledge into their curriculum. It is very exciting to see how this work will progress over the school year! The webinar session was recorded so if you are keen to listen to the session please contact us.
Our regional case team had our first meeting in early October and we are having our second meeting in the middle of December. FNHA has been working on the development of an ecological indicator for health and the approval of overarching research ethics related to the ECHO Network project. Jordan Brubacher, Research Assistant working with our regional case, has been creating great GIS visualizations (i.e. maps) exploring the anthropogenic exposures on the environment for potential use in environmental health research.
September 2017
The LEO Network BC hub has monthly webinars with guest presenters.
We continue to have monthly webinars for the BC Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network. Cait Nelson, Wildlife Health Biologist from Ministry of Forests, Lands & Natural Resource Operations, provided a presentation on “Understanding Chronic Wasting Disease” (CWD) during our July webinar and there is now a CWD Project on LEO to help track this disease throughout BC. Our outreach for the LEO Network continues and we are currently working with other LEO hubs to develop LEO lesson plans to be utilized in classrooms to engage youth in the LEO Network.
The wildfire situation in BC this summer has kept FNHA very busy and highlights the significance of extreme weather due to climate change. Heavy smoke has blanketed the southern half of BC for almost two weeks now and hopes are for rain and a change in weather patterns in the forecast soon!
Our core team has some changes occurring with one of our Knowledge Users, Lindsey Beck, going on maternity leave. We are happy to announce that Nicole Cross, FNHA Regional Director of the Northern region, will be joining the ECHO Steering Committee. We are in the process of organizing our initial regional hub meeting so the team can come together late August / early September.
