Ethics Grand Rounds

Indigenous Perspectives:
Affirming an Ethic of Care by Responding Wholistically in Healthcare
October 6, 2017

NEW LOCATION: Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria Street, Toronto, Room 240, 241

Responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s “Calls to Action,” the 2017 Centre for Clinical Ethics conference will explore ethical issues related to Indigenous healthcare needs through the lens of an Indigenous wholistic worldview. Our speakers work in a variety of Indigenous contexts. Addressing concrete issues directly relevant to front-line healthcare workers, they will explore the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual dimensions of health.

Program

8:00 a.m.	Registration and Refreshments
8:45 a.m.	Opening Smudging Ceremony and Welcome
9:15 a.m.	Health isn’t just about health: A wholistic perspective Kathleen Absolon, BA, MSW, PhD and Hilton King, BSW, MSW
10:15 a.m.	Question and Answer Period
10:30 a.m.	Refreshment Break
10:45 a.m.	From Intention to Impact: Understanding and Addressing Barriers to Achieving Indigenous Social Value in Health Services Dr. Janet Smylie, MD, FCFP, MPH
11:45 a.m.	Question and Answer Period
12:00 p.m.	Lunch Break
1:00 p.m.	Advocacy in Healthcare: Collaboration and Collision Teyohate Brant
2:00 p.m.	Question and Answer Period
2:15 p.m.	Refreshment Break
2:30 p.m.	Indigenous Wholistic Healthcare: Exploring the Spiritual Dimension Banakonda Kennedy-Kish Bell
3:30 p.m.	Question and Answer Period
3:45 p.m.	Closing words and song with drums

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Presenters

Kathleen Absolon, BA, MSW, PhD
Anishinaabe kwe from Flying Post First Nation, who teaches in the Indigenous Field of Study in the Faculty of Social Work, Wilfrid Laurier University. Kathy has a background in therapy, community and wholistic healing practices and Indigenous wholistic thought at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Health isn’t just about health: A wholistic perspective
In this presentation Kathy and Hilton will provide an overview to Indigenous wholistic perspectives. They will share aspects of their knowledge bundle with participants while providing personal stories. Both Kathy and Hilton are survivors of the Indian Residential School and Child Welfare era’s and they both have stories of restoring and sustaining health through their cultural practices and knowledge. They hope to highlight reasons why having wholistic approaches, perspectives and lens to healthcare can help improve the continuum of care. They also hope to foster an understanding that leads to an appreciation of the role of Indigenous knowledge and wholistic approaches in providing health care.

Teyohate Brant
Teyohate is Mohawk from the community of Tyendinaga. As past chair of the SickKids Hospital Children’s council, she has been involved in advancing the perspectives of patients and Indigenous peoples within the healthcare system. She is also an avid canoeist, having traveled 1200 km from Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan to Baker Lake, Nunavut this past summer. Teyohate is currently pursuing a degree in Art and Health Science at St. Francis Xavier University and hopes to become a medical doctor.
Advocacy in Healthcare: Collaboration and Collision
Positive health outcomes correlate with the development of collaborative relationships between health care professionals, patients and their families. It is broadly recognized, however, that Indigenous people can face inequity within the health care system, resulting in poorer health outcomes than the general population. In these instances, collaboration is elusive. Examining specific and tragic instances of conflict in patient/health team relationships, I argue that, where Indigenous patients are concerned, collisions are not only common, but that they are often misdiagnosed and misunderstood. I explore why this is and what can be done to alter this unfortunate trajectory.

Banakonda Kennedy-Kish Bell
Elder-in-Residence with the Faculty of Social Work, Aboriginal Field of Study at Wilfrid Laurier University, is an Indigenous cultural advisor and Traditional Practitioner.
Wholistic Healthcare: An Indigenous Perspective of the Spiritual Aspect of and in Wholisim
Wholistic approaches to health, include beliefs about what health is, how it is seen and reached for, how that is within relationship with self, and other, family and community is essentially central to the perspective of the Spiritual. Spirit informs Behaviour, knowing, understanding, experience and expression. Spirit is believed to be a determining force in the Whole of one’s life. As such, affirming the ethics of care brings the Spiritual to the fore front.

Hilton King, BSW, MSW
Anishinaabe from Wasauksing First Nation, who also teaches Indigenous perspectives in social work, mental health and addictions. Hilton has a background working in Native mental health, addictions, justice and child welfare.
Health isn’t just about health: A wholistic perspective
In this presentation Kathy and Hilton will provide an overview to Indigenous wholistic perspectives. They will share aspects of their knowledge bundle with participants while providing personal stories. Both Kathy and Hilton are survivors of the Indian Residential School and Child Welfare era’s and they both have stories of restoring and sustaining health through their cultural practices and knowledge. They hope to highlight reasons why having wholistic approaches, perspectives and lens to healthcare can help improve the continuum of care. They also hope to foster an understanding that leads to an appreciation of the role of Indigenous knowledge and wholistic approaches in providing health care.

Janet Smylie, MD, FCFP, MPH
Dr. Janet Smylie, Co-Principle Investigator, is a family physician and public health researcher. She currently works as a research scientist at St. Michael’s hospital, Centre for Research on Inner City Health (CRICH), where she holds a CIHR Applied Public Health Research Chair in Indigenous Health Knowledge and Information and directs the Well Living House Applied Research Centre for Indigenous Infant, Child and Family Health. Her primary academic appointment is as an Associate Professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. She maintains a part-time clinical practice at Seventh Generation Midwives Toronto. Her research interests are focused in the area of addressing the health inequities that challenge Indigenous infants, children and their families through applied health services research. Dr. Smylie is mother to six children and grandmother to two grandchildren. As a Métis woman, she acknowledges her family, traditional teachers, and ceremonial lodge.
From Intention to Impact: Understanding and Addressing Barriers to Achieving Indigenous Social Value in Health Services
In this presentation, Dr. Smylie will identify several key dilemmas that interfere with the provision of socially valuable health services in Indigenous communities. These include attitudinal and systemic racism; the external imposition of non-Indigenous health models and practices; and individual and collective reluctance to engage in the transformative change required by the TRC. Examples of how these dilemmas can be overcome will be discussed. Participants will be challenged to identify follow-up actions at the individual and systems level.

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Registration Information

Registration Fee:
(Includes Lunch and Refreshment Breaks)
Regular: early bird rate $150, regular rate $300
CCE Affiliates: early bird rate $75, regular rate $150
Senior/Student: early bird rate $75, regular rate $150

(Centre for Clinical Ethics Affiliates include: Providence Healthcare, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Pembroke Regional Hospital, Rouge Valley Health System, Runnymede Healthcare Centre, St. Joseph’s Health System Hamilton, Toronto Grace Health Centre, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care and West Park Healthcare Centre)

To take advantage of the Early Bird rate please register by Thursday, September 28, 2017. After this date the fees will increase as noted above. Registration ends Wednesday, October 4, 2017.

For more information please contact:
Lynda Sullivan, Centre for Clinical Ethics
Telephone: (416) 530-6750
Fax: (416) 530-6621
E-mail: lsullivan@stjoestoronto.ca

Affirming an Ethic of Care:
Bridging the Gaps at the End of Life
September 30, 2016

[ilink url=”https://ccethics.com/2016-cce-conference-brochure/” style=”download”]Fall Conference 2016 Brochure[/ilink]

Program

8:00 a.m.	Registration and Refreshments
8:45 a.m.	Morning Prayer with Catholic Health Association of Ontario
9:00 a.m.	Welcoming Remarks
9:10 a.m.	Opening Address Rachelle Barina The Healing Mission of Health Care Ministry and Moral Imagination
10:10 a.m.	Question and Answer Period
10:30 a.m.	Refreshment Break
10:45 a.m.	Presentation Andreas Laupacis Hope, compassion, love and reality towards the end of life
11:45 a.m.	Question and Answer Period
12:00 p.m.	Lunch with Musical Interlude
1:00 p.m.	Panel Presentation Nazila Isgandarova Islamic Perspective on Death and End of Life Care Ron Weiss A Concrete Approach to End of Life Care in the Jewish Tradition Kevin Rodrigues Relational Hope – A Christian Theological Response to Hope and Healing at the End of Life John Rice Spirit Journey – Pure Life to Send Off
2:00 p.m.	Question and Answer Period
2:15 p.m.	Refreshment Break
2:30 p.m.	Closing Address Brian Goldman Getting Personal About End of Life Care
3:30 p.m.	Question and Answer Period
3:50 p.m.	Closing Comments

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Presenters

Rachelle Barina, MTS, PhD
System Director – Ethics & Formation, SSM Health, St. Louis, MO
The Healing Mission of Health Care Ministry and the Moral Imagination
Healing is a central and foundational concept within the health care ministries of Christians. The way in which people think about the meaning of healing informs their moral imagination and thus their ideas and decision­-making. In this talk, Dr. Barina will first explore common conceptions of healing amongst people who work within health care ministry. Then she will illustrate why it is necessary for those who are doing ethics in health care ministry to move beyond these common ideas and toward a conception of healing that simultaneously accords with the Christian theological traditions and is ecumenically sensitive. Finally, she will explore several practical issues and demonstrate how a more refined conception of healing might offer insight within the processes of reflection, discernment, and decision-making.

Andreas Laupacis, MD, MSc, FRCPC
General Internist and Executive Director, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto
Hope, compassion, love and reality towards the end of life
Faces of Health Care (http://healthydebate.ca/faces­health-care) is a photojournalism website that features the reflections of Ontarians about their health and health care. Some of them talk about their views about end of life care. Dr. Laupacis will present quotes from a number of these interviews that illustrate the complexity and humanity of end-of-life care.

Dr. Nazila Isgandarova, D. Min., RSW, Reg. Psychotherapist
Spiritual Care Provider, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto
Islamic Perspective on Death and End of Life Care
The ethical principles and values of Islamic spiritual care such as dignity of life, justice, and non­malfeasance guide any discussion of end of life care from an Islamic perspective. Islamic tradition advocates for increased emphasis on the compassion and the dignity of the patient, and considers the importance of minimizing the suffering of the individual. These principles affect the client’s and caregiver’s understanding of promoting and restoring health, alleviating suffering, respecting the client’s autonomy, telling the truth, and doing no further harm.

This presentation will consider that Islamic spiritual care affirms that the ethics is not about being right or wrong, or choosing between black and white, because the worst decisions may be a part of the process of making better decisions.

Rabbi Ron Weiss
Director of Chaplaincy Services, Jewish Family and Child Service
A Concrete Approach, to End of Life Care in the Jewish Tradition
When approaching end-of-life issues, the Jewish tradi­tion calls on principles of Jewish law or Halacha as well as the written law found in the Bible and the oral tradition found in the Talmud. Rather than a system focused on individual rights, the Jewish tradition is grounded in duties. This talk will focus on how the principles and traditions in Judaism inform concrete decisions at the end of life.

Kevin Rodrigues, BAH, MTS
Clinical Ethicist, Centre for Clinical Ethics
Relational Hope – A Christian Theological Response to Hope and Healing at the End of Life
Diverse interpretation of religious texts by the wide range of Christian denominations may make it seem an impossible feat to speak to a “Christian” response to hope and healing. Despite denominational differences, individuals’ interpretation, the danger of anachronism, and perhaps general avoidance of concrete healthcare issues by many churches, this talk will look at the thematic common ground that Christians share when looking at hope and end of life care. Namely, hope ought to be viewed as relational: an interaction between patient and clinician, patient and family, patient and themselves, and finally, patient and God. In this context, Christian hope can be viewed as a dynamic concept, and a critical point to address in end of life decision-making interactions.

John Rice
Zahgausgai/Mukwa, 3rd Degree Midewiwin FNMJ Healer/Liaison, Early Psychosis Intervention Program Mental Health & Addiction Services of Simcoe County
Spirit Journey – Pure Life to Send Off
The Anishinaabe believe that humans are spirit beings in physical fonn. The spirit journey begins before life and continues after life. Life is an experiential journey culminating in the achievement of the “Pure Life.” This time of life is recognized as the time when an individual has, through living, evolved into the human that the Creator intended. This talk focuses on the explanation of the Pure Life and the preparations an individual makes to return to the spirit world.

Brian Goldman, MD, MCFP(EM), FACEP
ED Physician, Schwartz Reisman Emergency Centre, Mount Sinai Hospital and Host of White Coat, Black Art on CBC Radio One
Getting Personal About End of Life Care
There is an old saying in health care: a health professional truly understands what it’s like to be a patient only by becoming the patient or the loved one of a patient. Dr. Brian Goldman knows a lot about that. In the past three years alone, Goldman and his sister were substitute decision makers during the final illnesses of both of their parents. As a son-in-law, he played a critical role at two significant moments near the end of his father-in-law’s life. Goldman takes an up close and personal look at end-of-life care in a time when resources are getting tighter, and a growing number of health professionals worry about futile medical care. He illustrates why he believes it’s impossible to help families make the best decisions without knowing a lot about the story of their lives.

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Registration Information

Registration Fee:
(Includes Lunch and Refreshment Breaks)
Regular Rate: $150.00
Reduced Rate: $75.00
Seniors, Full-Time Students, CHAO Conference Registrants, & CCE Affiliates
(Centre for Clinical Ethics Affiliates include: Providence Healthcare, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Pembroke Regional Hospital, Rouge Valley Health System, Runnymede Healthcare Centre, St. Joseph’s Health System Hamilton, Toronto Grace Health Centre, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care and West Park Healthcare Centre)

Payment:
Please make cheque(s) payable to:
Centre for Clinical Ethics

For more information please contact:
Lynda Sullivan, Centre for Clinical Ethics
Telephone: (416) 530-6750
Fax: (416) 530-6621
E-mail: lsullivan@stjoestoronto.ca

For hotel reservations please call:
Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville
90 Bloor Street East (at Yonge)
(416) 961-8000