Indigenous Doctor Battles Racism in Canadian Healthcare
Dr. Lynden Crowshoe plays guitar and sings in a band that has had many different names over the years. He is a father and a husband.
Crowshoe is also this year’s recipient of a national award—the 2020 Royal College’s Dr. Thomas Dignan Indigenous Health Award—recognizing his work in addressing systemic racism in the healthcare system as a clinician, educator and leader.
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Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Crowshoe is grateful for the recognition, but preferred to talk about his work in terms of his patients. He described how spending time with them to learn about their life experiences gives him clues into how to treat their various medical issues.
“It is the job of the doctor or the teacher or the administrator to truly understand and connect with a person, in a humble way, to understand what their life is truly like,” he said. Crowshoe said there are upstream causes of current health and healthcare outcomes that he believes are important to remember in the treatment room.
“We blame the patient for who they are and say that the person is dysfunctional and that’s why they’re in this state. But it’s more complicated than that. The clinic and the teaching is to recognize that there are reasons why people have trouble and it’s not because they are deficient as individuals. It’s because the load the person is living in is so overwhelming.”
He explained that placing the focus on understanding the upstream causes are becoming part of a national and international dialogue on colonization. “The risk is that we see the patient and the individual and their outcomes and we connect that outcome to them as being inadequate. That’s how racism and stereotyping and colonization create this very negative self-fulfilling, self-describing perspective of people, not just Indigenous people.”
“There are reasons why people have trouble and it’s not because they are deficient as individuals. It’s because the load the person is living in is so overwhelming.”
This is what Crowshoe’s work addresses and this is what the award is for.
The namesake of the Dr. Thomas Dignan Indigenous Health Award is known as a tireless advocate for eradicating disparities in health outcomes and inequities in health care facing Indigenous peoples.
“By finding innovative ways to address the systemic racism in our health care system, Dr. Crowshoe is doing impactful work for the lives of his patients and community,” said Dr. Susan Moffatt-Bruce, Royal College CEO.
“His work is not only inspirational but also serves as an invitation for specialists to offer culturally safe care to our most vulnerable in society.”
Dr. Lynden Crowshoe is a member of the Piikani Nation in Treaty 7, Alberta. He is an assistant professor within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary and he is a University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine graduate.
Crowshoe currently provides primary care clinical service to the urban Aboriginal population of Calgary at the Elbow River Healing Lodge and is credited with the creation of groundbreaking curriculums.
A colleague, Dr. Cheryl Barnabe, nominated Crowshoe for the award and describes what he teaches other doctors.
“[His program] is so deeply in western-based evidence but it brings in perspectives from multiple disciplines as well, so that there is a really rich, deep theoretical concept to the work,” explained Barnabe. “And it’s his ability to relate it in such a personal way. He brings in Indigenous knowledge into how to approach Indigenous health concerns.”
Barnabe is a clinician and a rheumatologist in Calgary. She has worked with Crowshoe for more than a decade and spoke about the award outcome.
“I am just so happy for him. To me it is a really strong external validation from our colleagues across the country of how hard he has worked to put together an amazing curriculum program, mentor other Indigenous physicians, and also reset how health care can be delivered,” she said.
Barnabe described her colleague and friend as a humble and outstanding human being.
“Lynden has made incredible contributions in many ways to advance Indigenous health in Canada and Alberta. He is really a leader in medical education, as well as anti-racism and in teaching specialists and family physicians about better approaches to Indigenous health interactions.”
Crowshoe’s medical education research focuses on improved delivery of culturally safe care and he has been involved with 58 peer-reviewed grants on a variety of projects, including the Alberta Indigenous Mentorship in Health Innovation Network, an Indigenous dementia and cognitive assessment tool, and a project on Indigenous youth suicide prevention through theatre.
Dr. Crowshoe serves fly-in communities where he’s known as the “doctor with the guitar” using arts to connect with patients and residents.
Crowshoe hopes his work has a real impact on all Canadians.
“I want society to be self-aware and then be able to really connect with each other. I think that Indigenous methodology offers a way for the general society to be more cohesive in a positive and non-competitive way. One that doesn’t say there is only limited privilege so therefore we will control that privilege and dole it out to who we think is eligible. I want to see a society that shares equitably and seeks to learn truth,” Crowshoe said.
This story was written for www.windspeaker.com