Development of the Indigenous Health Toolkit

Abstract

Indigenous patients frequently experience bias and racism in society and within medical encounters. Biased health care relates to delayed and worsened health care, as well as worse health outcomes. Evidence exists that training can reduce bias and improve care. However, no recommendations or requirements around Indigenous health education exist. Therefore, a team of 7 experts was formed to create a training guide called the Indigenous Health Toolkit to train healthcare providers to provide more effective care to Indigenous patients. Indigenous methodologies were applied to this endeavor to create recommendations and training which included engagement with Indigenous elders, community, youth, and businesses. A 7-module toolkit was created over one year to train healthcare providers to provide culturally congruent and bias-free care to Indigenous patients in hopes of reducing the gap in health disparities that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.