Book
Licensed
Unlicensed
Requires Authentication
The Medicine Chest
A Physician's Journey Towards Reconciliation
-
Jarol Boan
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2024
About this book
An examination of the barriers facing Indigenous people within the healthcare system from the perspective of an empathetic settler physician
After leaving her medical practice in Pennsylvania in 2011, Jarol Boan returned to her childhood home in Saskatchewan, Canada to practice medicine. There she found a healthcare system struggling with preventable chronic diseases and institutional racism. Shocked by the high rate of preventable diseases in her patients, Boan realized that a paternalistic deficit model does not support Indigenous communities. Through working to provide medical services in Indigenous communities and learning firsthand from her Indigenous patients, Boan embarked on a road to enlightenment and reconciliation.
In The Medicine Chest, Boan exposes the healthcare disparities in a country that prides itself on an equitable healthcare system and examines the devastating effects of diabetes, the myth of “the drunken Indian,” the inner workings of hospitals, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, epidemics on reserves, and residential school trauma. Exploring the intersectionality of common diseases and social determinants of health gained from her experience of caring for Indigenous patients, Boan weaves historical data, comments on health policy, and jurisdictional gaps into the narrative while investigating how Canada’s healthcare system is failing those most in need.
After leaving her medical practice in Pennsylvania in 2011, Jarol Boan returned to her childhood home in Saskatchewan, Canada to practice medicine. There she found a healthcare system struggling with preventable chronic diseases and institutional racism. Shocked by the high rate of preventable diseases in her patients, Boan realized that a paternalistic deficit model does not support Indigenous communities. Through working to provide medical services in Indigenous communities and learning firsthand from her Indigenous patients, Boan embarked on a road to enlightenment and reconciliation.
In The Medicine Chest, Boan exposes the healthcare disparities in a country that prides itself on an equitable healthcare system and examines the devastating effects of diabetes, the myth of “the drunken Indian,” the inner workings of hospitals, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, epidemics on reserves, and residential school trauma. Exploring the intersectionality of common diseases and social determinants of health gained from her experience of caring for Indigenous patients, Boan weaves historical data, comments on health policy, and jurisdictional gaps into the narrative while investigating how Canada’s healthcare system is failing those most in need.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Jarol Boan
Jarol Boan is a Canadian physician of settler background and is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, Regina Campus. Boan grew up in Regina and spent 20 years in academic institutions in the U.S. before returning to Saskatchewan and learning about Indigenous health. Her focus on community engagement and listening to ways of knowing allows her to integrate appropriate cultural responsiveness between the settler community and Indigenous partners.
Reviews
“As a country that prides itself in providing equitable care, Canada needs a 'whole health system redesign.' The Medicine Chest is Boan’s call for—and commitment to—exactly that.”—Literary Review of Canada
“A heart-breaking, heart-warming story of damage and caring. I couldn’t stop reading.” —Gary Geddes, Medicine Unbundled
“Canada’s national sense of self is rooted in the myth of a fair, open, and public health care system. But all too often the medical system is a nightmare journey for Indigenous patients and their families. The Medicine Chest is a frontline diary of the struggle to address the inequities and colonial legacy, and the urgency to find a new way to healing and reconciliation.” —Charlie Angus, Cobalt and Children of the Broken Treaty
“Dr. Boan confronts the traps and assumptions she unearths, both in herself and in the health care system, as she journeys, and sometimes stumbles, along the messy path toward self-awareness and reconciliation.” —Karen Palmer, Policy Advisor to Canadian Doctors for Medicare
“An important effort at reaching out and tackling the challenges presented by Indigenous health disparities and jurisdictional obstacles.” —Blair Stonechild, First Nations University of Canada
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Frontmatter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
CONTENTS
vii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ix -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Map
xi -
Download PDFPublicly Available
INTRODUCTION
xiii -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
WILLOW MEDICINE
1 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
HOLLYWOOD IN REGINA
7 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
A FIELD ON THE PRAIRIE
25 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
A MIDDLE GROUND
33 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
TWO-EYED SEEING
43 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
A CRIME TO REFUSE TREATMENT
55 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
AS LONG AS THAT SUN SHINES
67 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
STRANGERS IN THE TOUCHWOOD HILLS
75 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
AN EXPANDING CIRCLE
83 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
RED DRESS DAY
99 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
MICHAEL’S TEARS
111 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
AN HIV EPIDEMIC
121 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
A CLINIC IN THE PARKLANDS
129 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
DERRICK
139 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
THE TRADE IN ALCOHOL
149 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
MAYBE I WILL, MAYBE I WON’T
163 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
SWEETGRASS AND CEREMONY
175 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
THE DIALYSIS SHUTTLE
189 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
ANXIETY
203 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
FOOD ON THE RESERVE
221 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
THE SPIRIT JOURNEY
233 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
TEN TO FIFTEEN PERCENT
241 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
THE SERPENT
251 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
THE ROAD TO RECONCILIATION
271 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
SEVEN GRANDFATHER TEACHINGS FROM THE ANISHINAABE
281 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
POSTSCRIPT
283 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
TRC CALLS TO ACTION ADDRESSED IN THE MEDICINE CHEST
287 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
INDEX
289 -
Requires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
305
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 24, 2024
eBook ISBN:
9780889779747
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
320
eBook ISBN:
9780889779747
Keywords for this book
Saskatchewan; Regina; physician; health systems; settler; indigenous; First Nation; Metis; genocide; jurisdiction; Federal-Provincial relations; medical pluralism; Daystar First Nation; Muskewagan First Nation; Kawacatoose First Nation; George Gordon First Nation; Ahtahkakoop; Treat 4; Treaty 6; TRC; The Indian Act; Touchwood Hills; Saskatchewan Health Authority; OCAP; health disparities; health inequities; violence; discrimination; resilience; transformation; reconciliation; social determinants of health SDoH; decolonization; the Medicine Wheel; ways of knowing; trauma informed care; two-eyed seeing; drug addiction; domestic violence; feminization of poverty; MMIWG; intergenerational trauma; residential schools; Jordan’s principle; NIHB; tuberculosis; HIV; Hepatitis C; syphilis; diabetes; dialysis; amputation; harm reduction; Covid; vaccines; fentanyl; death and dying; endocarditis; homelessness; institutional racism; systemic racism; health funding; Canada Health Act; white privilege; Federalism; continuity of care
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
