Dr. Chelsea Gabel, a Red River Métis woman, was appointed last month to lead the institute. It’s one of 13 that make up the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the federal funding agency for health research.

“I’m an arts-based, community-engaged scholar,” Gabel said. “I’m not your typical CIHR health researcher.”

Gabel is on a national listening tour to hear about the priorities of Indigenous health researchers. She was a keynote speaker at the 12th annual Indigenous Health Research Symposium at UM, held Nov. 13 and 14 on the Bannatyne campus.

The gathering was hosted by Ongomiizwin – Research, part of the Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. The overall theme was “Changing the Narrative.”

Gabel holds a Canada Research Chair at McMaster University in Indigenous well-being, community engagement and innovation. She highlighted that the CIHR will soon launch a national funding program to support Indigenous health researchers as they transition into faculty positions.

Across the country, she said, Indigenous research is increasingly being conducted through an Indigenous lens, fully involving communities, using data-collection methods such as storytelling, and ensuring that communities have sovereignty over their research data.        

“Unlike previous generations … we can carry out research that is developed with, by, and for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples,” Gabel said.

Dr. Linda Diffey, director of Ongomiizwin – Research, also reflected on changing the narrative in research.

“By prioritizing methodologies arising from Indigenous knowledges and supporting data sovereignty, we can amplify Indigenous voices and ensure that research aligns with community-driven priorities,” Diffey said.

Dr. Vanessa Van Bewer

Dr. Vanessa Van Bewer, a Red River Métis assistant professor at the College of Nursing, gave a keynote presentation about a research project she recently led. The project focused on identifying disparities experienced by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) nursing students at UM, and on challenging colonial narratives in nursing education.

Taking a decolonizing approach, the study involved BIPOC nursing students as collaborative research assistants and data analysts. Qualitative data was gathered through sharing circles.

One finding, Van Bewer said, was that the attention now being focused on Indigenous identities and curriculum content in nursing education can make Indigenous students feel singled out.

“Indigenous students experience hyper-visibility, where Indigenous topics are highlighted but not deeply engaged with, which can feel superficial and inauthentic…. This often places students in uncomfortable roles, feeling pressure to represent their culture, which adds stress and creates a sense of tokenism.”

Special supports that are intended to help Indigenous students succeed in nursing school can have an isolating and pathologizing effect, the study found.

Because Indigenous students are the only racial or ethnic group that is asked to self-identify when they apply to the University of Manitoba, they are the group that’s seen as having deficits, Van Bewer said.

“Are there problems amongst other groups of students? Well, we certainly wouldn’t know it. We don’t collect the data on that.”

The professor urged UM to expand its data collection to include all racial and ethnic groups, thoroughly analyze the data, and consider whether the targeted supports offered to Indigenous students should be broadened into more inclusive supports. 

Dr. Marti Ford

The final keynote speaker at the symposium, Dr. Marti Ford, is associate dean, Indigenous education in the UM Faculty of Education. She is of mixed Inuit and settler heritage.

Ford spoke about collaborating with Brandon University researchers to deliver and evaluate a land-based cultural program for Indigenous men.

The men took part in ceremonies and acquired traditional knowledge through activities such as moose hunting, drum making and sweat lodge building. They used the participatory “photovoice” method to document these experiences.

The study found that the program fostered close relationships and a sense of purpose among the men, awakened their Indigenous pride and had strong healing effects on their mental health.       

“There’s a growing body of research on the importance of cultural connection, teaching and ceremony, particularly in relation to Indigenous health and well-being,” Ford said.

An advanced practice nurse (APN) is someone who has a master’s degree or doctorate level education in nursing, said Ariel Wilcox, who co-chaired the event with fellow GNSA member Abbie Kawadza. “With this expanded knowledge, APNs are seen in the nurse practitioner, researcher, administrator and educator roles, among many others.”

The event, held virtually, included three speakers – two educators and a nurse practitioner – who each brought a unique perspective on EDI.

Dr. Vanessa Van Bewer, assistant professor at the College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, spoke about the role of storytelling in EDI.

“Stories are really powerful. They help us make sense of the world,” she said. “We all tell stories and carry stories within ourselves.”

Van Bewer has a PhD in nursing from UM. She joined the faculty in 2021 and her work is focused on exploring the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives, methodologies and approaches in nursing education, practice and research. She also uses her background as a Métis spoken word artist and storyteller in her career as a scholar.

Van Bewer shared three spoken word pieces in her presentation, including one that she wrote while in the PhD program, called On the Back of a Raven, which she presented at the Helen Glass Research Symposium in 2019.

She also discussed how storytelling can be used in health-care research to learn more about patients, clients, families and communities.

“Stories help us make connections within cultures, groups and communities. They can help us challenge stereotypes, generalization and prejudice by helping people engage in meaningful dialogue,” she said.

Dr. Rani Hajela Srivastava, dean of nursing at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., gave a presentation on integrating culture with care.

“I’m from India and moved to Canada as an adolescent. My background is that of an immigrant, so very much tied into the culture, and since then the health-care culture,” she said.

Srivastava is recognized for her leadership in cultural competence and bridging academia and practice environments. She has written several book chapters and articles on topics of cultural identity, religion, ethics and family-centred care. As well, she is author and editor for The Health Care Professional’s Guide to Cultural Competence, which had its 2nd edition published last year.

Srivastava offered strategies for nurses to integrate culture into their care, such as being an active witness and ally and “unlearning.”

As an example of unlearning, she shared how she used to struggle with pronouns.

“In school I learned that correct grammar meant ‘they’ were plural. It took me a long time to unlearn that and learn that it was more important to  acknowledge people as they see themselves, not as I saw them or what I thought was correct,” she said.

The third speaker, Ann Nzeruem, is a family nurse practitioner who founded Mara Home and Health Services, a Winnipeg-based organization that provides home and community-based health care services in Manitoba.  

Nzeruem discussed diversity in Canada’s health workforce, noting a disparity at all levels, including leadership roles.

She noted that in a 2022 study of more than 3,000 health-care leaders in Canada, five of 12 deputy ministers and 61 of 118 hospital presidents or CEOs were identified as women. However, individuals perceived as racialized held only seven of the 118 highest level hospital leadership roles in the country, and those that were both racialized and women held only five of these roles.

“When patients see their race represented in their health-care providers, they are more likely to have a positive care experience,” she said.

She also discussed health inequities for groups including Indigenous people, those with a lower socioeconomic status and anyone in the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

The conference raised funds for N.E.E.D.S. Inc., a Winnipeg-based group that offers supports to newcomer children, youth, and their families.

Watch the full conference.

Women leaders in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences say it’s also a day for recognizing the inequities that remain, particularly for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and other people of colour) women and girls.

Reflecting on the 2022 International Women’s Day theme, #BreakTheBias, Dr. Marcia Anderson, the Cree-Anishinaabe physician who is the Rady Faculty vice-dean of Indigenous health, social justice and anti-racism, notes that it’s been more than 30 years since employment equity initiatives were introduced at Canadian universities.

Yet a 2019 study by Dr. Malinda Smith of the University of Alberta shows that the senior leadership at Canada’s U15 group of research-intensive universities, including UM, is still overwhelmingly white and largely male. 

At those 15 institutions, the study found, university presidents were 80 per cent white and 87 per cent male. Provosts and vice-presidents (academic) were 100 per cent white and 67 per cent male. Deans of faculties and schools at the universities were 92 per cent white and 68 per cent male.

“The work that has been done has not adequately removed the barriers to the advancement of Black, Indigenous and other racialized women,” Anderson says. “The theme ‘break the bias’ presents an opportunity to question why advancements have mainly benefited White women, and to refocus on continuing progress for Black, Indigenous and other racialized women.

“Anti-racism is a core foundation of our work at this time. Explicitly identifying the obstacles experienced by Black, Indigenous and other racialized women and intervening in structural ways is how we will work to break the bias.”

We asked other women leaders in the Rady Faculty to reflect on the theme of “break the bias” and how it connects with the Rady Faculty’s commitment to approaching equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) through an anti-racism and social justice lens. Here’s how they responded:

Dr. Vanessa Van Bewer, assistant professor, College of Nursing:

Bent

The bias is not broken

Maybe slightly bent

Measure not the breaks

But the bias of the bend

 

Underneath this skirt

Moccasins well bent

But like bias not broken

Warrior sisters hell bent

Dr. Ming-Ka Chan, co-director, Office of Leadership Education, Max Rady College of Medicine:

“Equity means that everyone is provided with what they need to succeed, and everyone has a sense of belonging. Intersectionality is so critical – considering all the axes of power and privilege. I’m motivated by seeing groups and individuals working together to co-create and think about how our spheres of influence overlap and intersect.

“For example, wellness requires being and feeling welcome. That sense of belonging and how we foster that is being explored in the context of oppressed individuals and groups. That is encouraging.”

Raman Dhaliwal, associate vice-president (administration) and executive director, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences:

“Gender equality is an important piece, but there are many other factors that contribute to barriers for women. Breaking the bias in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences means providing an environment where all individuals feel supported and have equitable opportunities, without being disadvantaged.

“Although I personally have felt supported in my career growth and progression at UM, when I’m participating in leadership discussions, I do notice that sometimes I’m the only person around the table who looks like me or has had a similar path in life. I look forward to being part of further advancing a workplace free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.”

Dr. Delia Douglas, anti-racism practice lead, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences:

“Our policies, strategies and collective actions for social justice should speak to the complex ways in which gender diversity, race, class, disability and sexuality intersect. It’s imperative that we implement policies and practices that address the integrative nature of women’s lives, namely the different histories and particular vulnerabilities that inform the specific nature of their oppression.

“It’s important to avoid either/or approaches to addressing social justice, so that we don’t reinforce white supremacy while challenging gender inequality.”

Dr. Hagar Labouta, assistant professor, College of Pharmacy:

“We still have a long way to go for an equitable world in which differences are celebrated. We have not done enough to combat forms of discrimination such as Islamophobia, anti-Asian racism and xenophobia. The Rady Faculty has made great strides, but we may further need to create a safe environment for students, staff and faculty to give feedback to our leadership on perceived biases and lived experiences.

“I hope that as a female principal investigator (lead researcher), a hijabi and a visible minority, I send a message that scientists have no stereotype.”

Valerie Williams, director, equity, diversity and inclusion, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences:

“Raising awareness of the negative impacts of bias is important, but we also have to recognize that 60 minutes of implicit bias training will do little to change people’s decision-making. I suggest we focus less on attitudes and more on our policies and systems, as these play a key role in creating the conditions that influence behaviour.

“Let’s create a call-in (as opposed to call-out) culture at Rady and hold one another accountable. If we see someone making a decision based on a bias, let’s speak up and ‘call it in’ with kindness, respect and compassion.”