How is racism in health care ‘broad’? This BC researcher collects stories of black, indigenous people

Ashley Wilkinson has found that racism is an ongoing challenge in health care settings in Canada, which is why the PhD candidate at Northern British Columbia University is getting the first hand accounts of black and indigenous people who say they have experienced it.

For his doctoral work, Wilkinson, who is also a research coordinator at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Onts, is interviewing unheard people in various Canadian communities, affecting their efforts to obtain proper health care.

Wilkinson said, “I have heard everything from micro-currents, racial slarses, physical violence, people (about) the use of matter and the challenges about the challenges that they are facing, just based on the fact that they are indigenous,” said Wilkinson.

Across the board, all these interactions have greatly hesitated people to return and take care.– Ashley Wilkinson, PhD candidate, Northern British Columbia University

So far, he has met customers at Positive Living North at Prince George, BC and Calgary Drop-in Centers. This week, he is in Thunder Bay to talk with people at Shelter House, which provides dwellings overnight to the south side of the city.

“All these interactions have hesitated to return and care for people,” Wilkinson said about shared health care experiences.

“There have been a lot of mistakes historically for these communities, and so the experiences they really affect their care-careful behaviors, proceed.”

There is adequate research that supports Wilkinson’s findings. For example, according to data 2024 Statistics from Canada SurveyOne in five reported one of the indigenous people to experience inappropriate treatment, racism or discrimination from health care professional compared to the previous year.

Although Canadian public health agency report from 2020 It was found that there is discrimination with black communities Growing deeply in the institutions, policies and practices of the country – As a result of the heritage of European colonization and slavery in Africa, which was legal in Canada until 1834.

Wilkinson hopes that his research can be used to help inform public health care policies, but she also wants customers and communities who have participated to reach their conclusions.

“We know that often, long reports sit on the shelves and they do not read. They are also not accessible to the people of the community, for whom English cannot be a person with their first language or different literacy levels.”

The way the research has been done on this subject, he has also harmed himself among these population, he said, “So I really want to do this project in a good way, where people are feeling, ‘I am doing something with the story that they have shared’.

Redeem

In BC, since a lot of research is located in Vancouver, Wilkinson also wanted to hear from people from small communities, he said.

As is a central center at Thunder Bay Northwestern Ontario, many customers from Shelter House have participated in research, said the organization’s development manager Champagne Thomson.

“We have seen a huge influx of people wishing to participate, which is incredible, as well as some people who have shared their experiences and said, ‘This is the first time that someone has ever taken me seriously.

“This is the first time I have been able to sit on the table with another racial person who is listening to me and not speculating about it, was it racism or it was not.” ,

Wilkinson has so far interviewed about two dozen people, which aims to operate between 45 and 60 interviews.

To make his research accessible, Wilkinson said, he is planning to report infographics and small, plain language-style for the participants.

Thomson said, “Thunder Bay is a hotspot for a lot of research, and I don’t think much of it is that it is coming back to the individuals who were extracted from information.”

“When we are planning, when we are looking at things, when we are investing in various institutions and types of care, I think it is really important that people with these living experiences are able to see their contribution to how it moves forward.”

‘It’s about giving something back’

The building relationship is a major part of Wilkinson’s project.

In Prince George, after interviewing individuals, he participated in the outreach of loss reduction. Across Calgary and Thunder Bay, he serves food to hundreds of customers “because I want each community to be mutual with each organization.”

“It’s not just about me and is about removing and removing that data. It’s about giving something back, now and later at the end of the project.”

Prior to each interview, she provides tobacco to indigenous participants and ensures that all customers are fed and hydrated. She also gives them a cash honorarium and homemade jam “because their time is valuable and their time is worth it.”

After completing his work at Thunder Bay, Wilkinson will hold an interview in a black homeless organization in Toronto.

“As a black researcher, a black scholar from (Greater Toronto region), I think it’s really an impressive experience,” he said.

“To create meaningful changes, we need to recognize people that the racism we are looking in our health care system is widespread, and from all these stories, there is no denying that racism is now present-and it is really my goal for this project.”