Could Jordan’s Principle help a child, youth or family that you know and love?

Join FNHA for the Mental Health and Wellness Summit - Feb. 7-8, 2018

You are invited!

The FNHA Mental Health and Wellness Summit will bring together First Nations communities and partners to facilitate knowledge exchange on promising and wise practices that incorporate culturally relevant and holistic ways of healing.

When: February 7-8, 2017
Where: Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, BC

Learn about solutions to the common challenges of building healthy First Nations communities.
Find out about administrative tools and other interventions such as local harm reduction policies and workplace mental health programs that you can implement to build a healthy community.
FNHA will highlight the latest developments in its program and policy work, as well as its approach to mental health and wellness, which is grounded in a First Nations perspective.
Event themes include mental health and wellness, trauma and the opioid crisis that has affected so many of our communities, and some interactive session topics will include: land-based healing, community responses to sexual abuse, FASD, youth mental health, and many more.

FNHA will support two representatives from each First Nation to attend the Summit.

To register please visit the registration link here.

FNHA and Island Nations Host Mental Health Commission of Canada for Mental Health and Wellness Cultural Exchange

Attendees are welcomed to Tla-o-qui-aht territory by beach keeper Barney Williams. Photo Credit: Melody Charlie.

NUU-CHAH-NULTH TERRITORY – The FNHA hosted a two-day mental health and wellness cultural exchange between Nuu-chah-nulth communities and the Mental Health Commission of Canada on October 26 and 27, 2017.

"Our goal with this exchange was to expose mental health leaders from across Canada to the importance and impacts that our culture has on our wellbeing," explains Brennan Macdonald (Cowichan Tribes), Regional Director for FNHA Vancouver Island Region. "Island Nations’ traditional approaches to mental health and wellness are internationally recognized. As the island team, we are pleased to share experiences that build better understanding and appreciation of our perspective on wellness.”

Read this online here.

World AIDS Day

A Message from Dr. Evan Adams, FNHA Chief Medical Officer

Have you taken an HIV test lately? On this, World AIDS Day, I’d like to share with you how, by making HIV tests a regular part of our self-care routines and by taking other precautions, we can help end AIDS.

Please do your part to keep yourself, your relationships, and our families and communities healthy! Get tested regularly, and, if HIV+, take anti-viral medication as prescribed for your own long-term health and for stopping the spread of HIV to others. Let’s end it!

Read this in full here.

I am not my trauma and you are not yours: Healing trauma through the Ancestral teachings of respect and unity

A wellness blog from Patricia Vickers, Director Mental Wellness, FNHA

Trauma changes our nervous systems, our brains and our minds. I was first introduced to the impact of trauma on the brain, body and mind while working as a therapist. Over and over again I witnessed individuals struggling with past traumas, working to find a way to heal. They mirrored my personal experience with a traumatic childhood. It wasn't until recently that I began to understand how trauma changes the brain and impacts our overall stabilization and wellness.

But the most important thing to know is that we can heal from trauma.

Read the full blog here.

Leave No One Behind - End Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Indigenous women and girls are sacred. They are life-givers and caregivers who hold very important roles in our families and communities. They are our grandmothers, our aunties, our mothers, our sisters and our daughters.

November 25, 2017, was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women with a theme of leave no one behind. This theme was chosen by the United Nations to highlight the ongoing and unacceptable burden of violence faced by certain groups of women, including Indigenous women.

Read more here.

Gathering Wisdom for a Shared Journey 2018 – SAVE THE DATE INVITATION

The First Nations Health Council is pleased to invite Chiefs and Leaders to Gathering Wisdom for a Shared Journey IX, taking place May 15-17, 2018 at the Westin Bayshore on Coast Salish Territory in Vancouver.

A key feature of the Gathering Wisdom forum this year will be a leadership discussion on a ten-year social determinants of health strategy. Throughout the past year, the FNHC has engaged First Nations leaders, health leads and social leads at Sub-Regional Caucuses, Nation Assemblies and Regional Caucuses to develop a direction for the social determinants of health work. Informed by ongoing discussions, Chiefs will be asked to make a decision on the direction of this work.

Read this in full here.

Could Jordan’s Principle Help a Child, Youth or Family You Know and Love?

Culturally safe health and wellness support is available for First Nations children in BC.

You may know a child or youth in your area that needs health and wellness assistance. Maybe you're concerned they won't get the help they need because they don't have a status number or maybe you're having difficulty getting a referral from a physician because of where you live. Maybe it's another unique problem.

Jordan's Principle is meant to prevent First Nations children from being denied essential services or experiencing delays in receiving them. Jordan's Principle applies to all First Nations children, supports navigation through all jurisdictional disputes and provides payment for needed services. If there are questions surrounding eligibility, we can help you build a case to access special Jordan's Principle funding.

In honour of National Child Day, November 20, we're spreading the word that culturally safe help is available for First Nations children in BC. You can call 1-855-550-5454 to access support services or find out more online here.

Healing Ceremony Marks Start of FNHA Partnership with Providence Health Care

L to R: Sonia Isaac-Mann, Dianne Doyle, Joe Gallagher, Christopher De Bono, Gabriel George, Pavel Reid

FNHA, Providence Health Care and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver came together in ceremony to mark the start of a new partnership on September 26, 2017. The FNHA leads with ceremony and we worked with our Elder, Leonard George, Qut-Same, (Səl̓ilwətaɁɬ Nation), for guidance on the process and protocols of the ceremony

Painful history between the Catholic Church and First Nations people meant that truth, sharing, acknowledgement, and ceremony were critical first steps.

"We’ve endured a lot with colonization. We’ve been through a lot. Some of the worst neglects and abuses that we’ve suffered have come though institutions. And so today this work is what our Elders would describe as ‘untying’ some of that harm…to heal, to make better. And so that's what your presence here today is," explained Gabriel George (Səl̓ilwətaɁɬ Nation), who led the ceremony. Gabriel represented his family, the Tak'aya Wolf Clan, into which all FNHA staff have been adopted.

Read this story in full here.

Northern BC First Nations Youth Voice their Vision of Quality Health Care at Wellness Gathering

Youth from over 30 communities in Northern BC voiced their health and wellness priorities through the creation of three innovative public service announcements. The videos are focused on traditional medicine, mental health and primary care.

One hundred and nine youth storytellers, artists, builders and actors expressed their need to be involved in collective health on their terms, in a process they understand. The "Ancient Cultures, Modern Wellness" gathering asked youth to discuss what improvements in health care they would like to see.

Find out more and watch these videos created by youth here!

COPD - Prevention Management and Treatment

November 19 was "World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day" – a day for raising awareness of COPD, one of the most widespread diseases around the globe. A non-communicable lung disease that affects breathing, COPD occurs most often in patients over 40 with a history of exposure to its main risk factors including cigarette smoke, air pollution, dust and chemicals. Prevention, therefore, is mainly all about avoiding or quitting these things.

In Canada, COPD is the leading cause of hospitalization and the fourth-highest cause of death worldwide, responsible for more than three million deaths every year. Further, more than two-thirds of people with the disease don't know they have it.