New Mi'kmaw health authority receives nearly $9M in federal funding

A new Mi'kmaw health authorityyears in the making hasreceived nearly $9 million in federal funding totakemore control of designing and deliveringculturally safecare for Mi'kmawpeoplein Nova Scotia.

Tajikeimk which translates as "to be healthy"inEnglish willbuild on existing health and wellness programs in the province's 13 Mi'kmaw communities, while also collaborating with Nova Scotia's health authorityto ensure "high-quality, culturally safe and wholistic approaches" wherever people live.

"We do access services within the current health system within Nova Scotia, so I think it's about creating those relationships and improving the services and the care for Mi'kmaq," Sharon Rudderham, the new director of health transformation for Tajikeimk, told CBC Radio's Information Morning on Monday.

She said it's also important build morehealth and wellness services on reserve so people can access them where they live.

Tajikeimk has been in the works since about 2018, and last weekthe federal government said it would spend $8.96 million over the next two years to support the authority's growth.

Lindsay Peach, the organization's new executive director, said transforming health care in Nova Scotiarequires systemic change and a lot of "thoughtful collaboration."

"This federal commitment of funding and support is an important milestone on our journey to develop a new, self-determined health system that is guided by Mi'kmaw culture and values, rooted in two-eyed seeing and informed through community engagement," Peachsaid in a statement about the funding last week.

Barriers to care

Rudderham, who spent 20 years working as health director with theEskasoni Community Health Centre in Cape Breton,saiddata clearly shows the stark disparities in health outcomes for Mi'kmaw peopleand the general population.

"Often individuals are stereotyped, or it's not a safe environment when trying to access the services, often due to barriers in communication," she said.

For example, Rudderham said there are no translation services as part of the province's toll-free mental health crisis line. It's meant Mi'kmaw speakers from across the province often call the Eskasoni crisis line when they're in distress.

Listen to Sharon Rudderham's full interview with Information Morning:

The phone line offers services in both English and Mi'kmaw, 24/7.

"It's a culturally supported service that uses both Western approaches and Indigenous models, or Mi'kmaw models of care," Rudderham said.

Designed for and by community

Last week, Tajikeimk announced that it's working with a Montreal organizationto set up a new early years program that will offer supports, from prenatal to preschool,for young families.

Rudderham said Mi'kmaw healthorganizations across the province havebeen breaking down barriers in the health system for decades, and listening to community members to hear what services they need.

"We've already seen in the past that programs and services designed by the community receive more uptake in the community and there's a real understanding of what we're trying to do," she said.

Tajikeimk will build on that work,Rudderham said, while also taking lessons from First Nations elsewhere in Canada.

"B.C. First Nations have successfully transitioned to managing and establishing a First Nations health authority, so we're hoping to learn from the B.C. exampleand to build a model that is a high-quality service for the Mi'kmaw here in Nova Scotia," she said.