An indigenous perspective on the relationship of society to the people is the priority of health and well-being (Morrissette, 2006) which is why I thought about health care. LGBTTQ* people have very different health care needs than those who are not LGBTTQ* (Mule et al., 2009) and it could be beneficial to them if Canada’s health care system was sensitive to these issues. All other minorities have been addressed in Canada’s public health guidelines except for those who identify with LGBTTQ* (Mule et al., 2009). Many health concerns arise from the discrimination and ostracism experienced by LGBTTQ* people including increased suicide rates, higher smoking rates and alcohol abuse, and higher rates of depression which is 3 to 5 times higher than heterosexuals (Mule et al., 2009). Another sad fact in my opinion is that many LGBTTQ* people are too afraid to be open and honest with their health care providers which leads to over looked health conditions leaving them untreated and when the problem gets more noticeable it may be too late to treat (Mule et al., 2009). These conditions which are prevalent in LGBTTQ* people are increased rates of HIV in gay men, high rates of STI’s and hepatitis A and B, anal cancer which is 80 times more common in gay and bisexual men, cervical and ovarian cancer as well as reproductive issues in lesbians, and overall 21.8% of LGBTTQ* peoples health care needs are unmet compared to only 12.7% of heterosexuals (Mule et al., 2009). It is like the Reexamining LGBT healthcare video says, “To treat me you have to know who I am”, until LGBTTQ* people feel more comfortable sharing who they are they may continue to show these high rates of unfortunate conditions. An indigenous perspective says, “Before we give advice we must start with ourselves and our own place of meaning”, (Morrissette, 2006, p.182), I take that to mean, in this situation, that every person is different and requires different kinds of care and there are different things to consider when treating an LGBTTQ* person.
In October, 2005, the Public Health Agency of Canada took a perspective that has much in common with indigenous values in solving this problem by setting new public health goals for Canada that now include ways on how to help those who are LGBTTQ* (Mule et al., 2009). They are to improve our quality of life by keeping us healthy, “Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually”, (Mule et al., 2009). There are four goals I thought related to an indigenous perspective, the first is, "every person has dignity, a sense of belonging, and contributes to supportive families, friendships and diverse communities", this involves including LGBTTQ* individuals when developing policies and services (Mule et al., 2009). Social change in an indigenous perspective involves communication with the community (Morrissette, 2006) which is what this goal intends to do by including the LGBTTQ* community in these social changes. The next two goals also relate to community inclusion which is keeping us healthy by collaborating and gathering knowledge with the community and the next is that we all need to take part in our health care needs and goals (Mule et al., 2009). The last goal is of lifelong learning by continually educating the public about health care and service providers for LGBTTQ* people (Mule et al., 2009) and indigenous perspectives are about continually learning through life (Morrissette, 2006). To me these are very refreshing goals and sound like a good starting point in improving the health and well-being of the LGBTTQ* people.
Unfortunately these goals are not reflecting what is actually happening in Canada. Research conducted by DECODE (a global consultancy that does research for businesses) found that most of these goals are not living up to standards. For instance the quote on physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health is found to be inaccurate because Canadians find that the health care system focuses primarily on physical health than the others (DECODE). Lifelong learning does not seem to be playing out because those outside the education system are not receiving the same vast amount of information on health issues (DECODE). As well, the goal of community is leaning on a more individualistic side and certain groups are still falling behind (DECODE). An indigenous perspective sounds like a good approach to LGBTTQ* issues; it is very open minded and allows personal input into the problem which makes sense. It seems that good intent was there when the goals were made but for the change to actually occur there needs to be much more of an effort in place.
Peace N Love
Brittany
References
DECODE. Public Health Goals For Canada: A National Youth Health Network to Engage Young Adults. Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hgc-osc/pdf/ph-goals-youth_e.pdf
lizmargolies. (2010, November 5). Reexamining LGBT Healthcare [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqH6GU6TrzI
Morrissette, V. (2006). Towards and Aboriginal perspective that addresses ideological domination in social policy analysis. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Manitoba.
Mule, N.J., Ross, L. E., Deeprose, B., Jackson, B. E., Daley, A., Travers, A., Moore, D. (2009). Promoting LGBT health and wellbeing through inclusive policy development. International Journal for Equity in Health, 8-18. doi: 10.1186/1475-9276-8-18
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