Disability Needs to be Decolonized: Ableism, Colonialism, and Why Indigenous Knowledges are Important to Health Research
Date and Time: Thursday, August 28, 2025 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. PT
Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting
As aspirations to ensure principles of decolonization and reconciliation inform the strategic directions of health research, policy, and practice, it is imperative Indigenous lived experiences and knowledges are meaningfully represented. In this presentation, Dr. Rheanna Robinson will draw on her experience as an Indigenous scholar that lives with chronic illness and disability to describe how her academic research within Indigenous Disability Studies represents a compelling example of how Indigenous knowledges offer the world meaningful representations of equity and inclusion in diverse and varying ways.
Guest Speakers:
Dr. Rheanna Robinson, Indigenous scholar & member of the Manitoba Métis Federation
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the link between ableism, colonialism, and why disability needs to be decolonized.
- Understand how traditional Indigenous perspectives advance equity, inclusion and accessibility.
This activity is an Accredited Group Learning Activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and approved by UBC CPD.
iCON has partnered with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Indigenous Health to develop Indigenous Health Rounds, which serve as a platform to bring Indigenous voices to health care providers, policy makers and health administrators for knowledge sharing, dialogue, and brainstorming solutions to combat racism and foster culturally safe healthcare settings for Indigenous patients and families.
Developing Educational Tools to Support Cultural Safety
In 2015, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and iCON jointly created a video and facilitation guide featuring First Nations and Indigenous Traditional Practitioners, to share knowledge and promote culturally safe care.
Watch video hereA Coming Together of Health Systems
Community-based Cultural Safety and Healthcare Transformation Dialogues
Since 2016, iCON has partnered with Indigenous communities and health authorities to co-host community Dialogue Events, bringing together Indigenous communities, patients, local western and Traditional Practitioners and administrators to discuss health system transformation and integration of traditional practices into healthcare settings.
Three Dialogue Events have been co-developed and co-hosted across 2017 and 2018 to explore improving access to traditional healing practices. Specific objectives include to:
- Inform local health authority about best practices for incorporating traditional healing practices from a community and physician perspective.
- Improve health professional understanding of traditional healing and the role of traditional practitioners.
- Introduce traditional practitioners’ perspectives to shift practices and incorporate traditional healing into delivery of health care in acute care.
- Invite Indigenous patients, caregivers and communities to share their perspectives and vision of attaining health and wellness.
- Identify areas for improvement in current processes in hospitals, emergency departments and other acute settings in BC to honour patient requests for access to traditional practitioners.
Header photo caption: Reconciliation Pole, Hereditary Chief 7idansuu (James Hart), Haida, photo credit to Hover Collective / UBC Brand & Marketing
