First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Wellness

Interventions and resources are often allocated to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities in times of crisis, but these have often had limited success  due to the lack of cultural competence, limited understanding of the local context, and failure to address the wholistic mental health care needs of the community.

Often approaches to wellness focus on medical ways of knowing to the exclusion of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis knowledge, values and practices for wellness. Support for primary care providers to address mental health and addiction needs in a culturally-relevant way has been identified as a promising approach for the delivery of mental and physical health services in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. CAMH chose to address these various needs through the Project Extension of Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) model.

Weekly video-conferences provide an opportunity for healthcare provider “spokes” to present de-identified cases to an expert hub, and receive treatment suggestions.