Practice resources to support Truth and Reconciliation

September 30 is a day to reflect on the tragic legacy and ongoing trauma caused by the residential school system in Canada. This day also marks the potential to embrace attitudes and actions that support the resilience of Indigenous peoples and the opportunity that physiotherapists have to promote reconciliation and healing.

The following tools and practical documents have been created by and for physiotherapists across Canada. Many of these examples have been developed in collaboration with Indigenous communities, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers, resulting in meaningful practice resources that support culturally safe care and health equity.

Explore the links below for inspiration, tools, and knowledge about how you can respond to The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, honour those impacted by Residential Schools, and engage with Indigenous communities.

We will also be sharing these tools on our social media channels, and encourage you to share them widely with your colleagues.

Health Support Services are available to Indigenous peoples across Canada, and can be accessed below.

Visit the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

Learn about the Survivors’ Flag

Discover the Indigenous territories you live and work on through Whose Land

Practice Resources

We extend our deep thanks to the members of the Global Health Division’s Indigenous Health Subcommittee, and to Dr. Stacey Lovo, for guidance and support in identifying resources.

• Indigenous Health– Physiotherapy Practice magazine (Sept./Oct. 2019 — Vol. 9, No.5). This issue features several engaging articles that link the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action with reflections and actions from physiotherapists across Canada.
• Indigenous Cultural Safety, Cultural Humility and Anti-Racism: Practice Standard Pocket Guide. This brief guide outlines practical actions physiotherapists can take toward in six domains. These include self-reflective practice, strengths based and trauma informed practice, and creating safe healthcare spaces in which the holistic needs of Indigenous clients can be met.
• Indigenous Language Rehab Materials for Chronic Low Back Pain. These community-directed educational brochures and videos in 6 Indigenous languages provide information about how to take care of one’s back.
• Community-directed pain assessment and development of a culturally responsive pain scale (the Community Directed Pain Scale, CDPS) in a Northern Saskatchewan Cree community. The CDPS supports cultural safety and patient-centred interactions to facilitate more comprehensive pain assessments.
• Chronic Pain and Reconciliation: An Introduction
  • An overview by Erin Keough, pht, this blog post describes one PT’s work to develop a 30-page document for a project about chronic pain and Indigenous populations. The document was created specifically for the community, and this a summary page provides additional information about it on the nonprofit group called Justice Centered Rehab. The blog post is to open the discourse that the current medical system is not designed or aligned to best help Indigenous populations across Canada. The information collected from this community represents only a snapshot of what Indigenous communities may want or need

Community Rehabilitation Worker (CRW) program for Northwestern Ontario First Nations

• Development and evaluation of the CRW program. This paper describes the use of a participatory action framework to collaboratively develop and evaluate a CRW program to support health equity and access for rural and remote Indigenous communities.
• Description of the CRW role and training. A CRW is a local Indigenous community member who is trained in rehabilitation principles and skills to support elders and Home and Community Care clients. This document describes an overview of the role and training, which has been developed collaboratively with the community as described

Elder exercise and falls prevention program

These resources have two components: a  Training program package, and Elder Exercise Class (videos in Cree, Oji-Cree and Ojibway)

• Guidelines for Rehabilitative Care Discharge Planning (Home, Regional Hospitals and Indigenous communities). This document is intended to be a reference when planning discharges for clients who want to return to their home community in Northwestern Ontario for rehabilitative care, inclusive of Indigenous communities.