Education

Indigenous Awareness & Sensitivity

Indigenous Support Line

The Indigenous Support Line is now available province-wide to support Indigenous patients and families with culturally safe care. Front-line care providers are also invited to call the line if they need help assisting patients.

Listeners are clinically trained front-line healthcare providers equipped able to provide support for a variety of concerns and issues including wayfinding, language translation, traditional practices, on-site cultural supports and more, regardless of where someone is in their healthcare journey.

Call 1-844-744-4744 Monday through Friday from 10 am to 6 pm. Learn more at ahs.ca/ISL.

The purpose of the Supporting Indigenous Peoples in Continuing Care resource is to strengthen the knowledge and skills of those who work both directly and indirectly with Indigenous peoples and their families and communities in continuing care settings. This document is intended to augment Alberta Health Services’ (AHS) Indigenous Awareness and Sensitivity e-learning modules, available below.

There are seven courses in the Indigenous Awareness and Sensitivity program. This course will:

  • Part 1A: Our People - Provide Alberta Health Services staff with an awareness and sensitivity resource that reflects Alberta's First Nations, Inuit and Metis history, demographics, geographical diversity, and current issues.
  • Part 1B: Our People - Provide information about Alberta's Indigenous communities and populations.
  • Part 1C: Our People - Provide information about present-day realities for Alberta's Indigenous people. It explores the social determinants of health and how these factors affect access to health care.
  • Part 2A: Our Culture - Provide insight into some of the cultural traditions, worldviews, and health perspectives that may be important to Indigenous people accessing care.
  • Part 2B: Our Culture - Offer new perspectives on working with Indigenous patients and families. It will provide some strategies that can be implemented into daily practice.
  • Part 3A: Our Wellness - Pursue the goal to develop an awareness of how the health system can become more responsive to the needs of Indigenous patients and families.
  • Part 3B: Our Wellness - Demonstrate the ways that the 5 core competencies work together to contribute to improved health service delivery to Indigenous people.

First Nations Discharge Planning Guide