Recap: Indigenous-Focused Symposium (July 9 – 11)
RNAO held its inaugural Best Practice Spotlight Organization® (BPSO®) Indigenous-Focused Symposium in Thunder Bay on July 9 – 11, 2024. The event was developed with BPSOs and celebrated the theme: Weaving Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing with the implementation of RNAO’s best practice guidelines (BPG).
With more than 70 attendees, the symposium opened with greetings from Chief Michele Solomon, Fort William First Nation; Alethea Kewayosh, director of the Indigenous health equity and coordination team and Indigenous Cancer Care Unit at Ontario Health; and Deputy Minister of Health Deborah Richardson. Elder Theresa Fiddler shared a variety of traditional teachings, and opened and closed each day with reflections and prayers.
Using posters, presentations and networking opportunities, the BPSOs shared how they created cultural safe spaces using RNAO’s BPGs to meet priorities of local Indigenous communities. The symposium created an in-person opportunity for northern health providers to network, share and learn from each other. Read RNAO’s thread of posts on X (formerly Twitter) and watch the video recap for more coverage of the event.
After the symposium, two RNAO staff travelled to Sioux Lookout to visit Meno Ya Win Health Centre and William A George Extended Care Unit to tour the hospital and long-term care home and celebrate their successes as BPSOs.
