The Building the Future: A Vision for Indigenous Youth Leadership in Yukon’s Healthcare and Wellness Workforce project, formerly known as the “Health Human Resources Crisis Project” has progressed to the relationship building phase, where Scientific Director Michelle Leach is engaging with First Nation’s partners across the territory to discuss partnerships. We are excited to be in conversation with Liard First Nation about the possibility of participating in the project, and have already finalized an agreement with Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation.
Our advisory group prioritizes responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action. Members selected six calls to address through our research, including: Call to Action 22: “We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to increase the number of Indigenous professionals working in the health-care field.” The project addresses this call to action by identifying barriers and facilitators that influence Indigenous youth’s decisions to seek out healthcare and wellness careers. Each member of our research team reflects the values of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through their work, and dedication to supporting their respective communities.
Meet the Team:
In Dawson City, our research will be led by Jamie Thomas, a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen and medical student at Dalhousie University, who will complete this research on her Traditional Territory as part of Dalhousie’s Research in Medicine (RIM) program. Jamie is the first TH Citizen to attend medical school, and YSPOR Alumni. She will connect with her peers in Dawson to facilitate research conversations throughout the summer, before continuing her studies in the fall.
Junior Researcher Hope Magun-Porter will be supporting the project in Watson Lake. Hope is currently creating a traditional plant medicine book consolidating medicines and traditional teachings from the Kaska and Tahltan First Nation community. Hope will support the project by attending focus groups, connecting with fellow Indigenous youth, and ensuring that conversations are facilitated in a culturally responsive way.
Junior Researcher Sylas Itsi of the Vuntut & Tetlit Gwich’in First Nations supports the project as a member of the advisory group. Sylas’ passion for bridging the gap between Indigenous and western approaches to medicine, and background as a pharmacy technician make him well positioned to take on this work.
We are proud that each member of our research team models a path forward into the healthcare field for Indigenous youth, and hope that conversations had during our research process will inspire youth to succeed in whatever career field they choose.
Our interview guide, designed by Jamie Thomas, and endorsed by the advisory group, is deliberately strengths based, posing questions that can elicit nuanced responses from youth such as “When you think about what it means to care for people in your community, what comes to mind?,” and others aimed at broadly capturing what knowledge sharing is already happening such as: “Were healthcare careers ever talked about in your school, family, or community? What was said?”. We hope to elicit meaningful recommendations for partners at Yukon Government, YukonU and First Nation governments using the data collected during these conversations.