Fair compensation and the affective costs for indigenous doulas in Canada: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, Indigenous doulas, or birth workers, who provide continuous, culturally appropriate perinatal support to Indigenous families, build on a long history of Indigenous birth work to provide accessible care to their underserviced communities, but there is little research on how these doulas organize and administer their services. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2020 with five participants who each represented an Indigenous doula collective in Canada. One interview was conducted in person while the remaining four were conducted over Zoom due to COVID-19. Participants were selected through Internet searches and purposive sampling. Interview transcripts were approved by participants and subsequently coded by the entire research team to identify key themes. RESULTS: One of the five emergent themes in these responses is the issue of fair compensation, which includes two sub-themes: the need for fair payment models and the high cost of affective labour in the context of cultural responsibility and racial discrimination. DISCUSSION: Specifically, participants discuss the challenges and limitations of providing high quality care to families with complex needs and who cannot afford to pay for their services while ensuring that they are fairly compensated for their labour. An additional tension arises from these doulas' sense of cultural responsibility to support their kinship networks during one of the most sacred and vulnerable times in their lives within a colonial context of racism and a Western capitalist economy that financializes and medicalizes birth. CONCLUSION: These Indigenous birth workers regularly expend more affective labour than mainstream non-racialized counterparts yet are often paid less than a living wage. Though there are community-based doula models across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden that serve underrepresented communities, further research needs to be conducted in the Canadian context to determine an equitable, sustainable pay model for community-based Indigenous doulas that is accessible for all Indigenous families.

The need for sustainable funding for Indigenous doula services in Canada.

OBJECTIVES: To interview representatives from Indigenous doulas across Canada in order to document how they manage the logistics of providing community-based doula care and understand their challenges. These objectives inform the development of an Indigenous doula pilot programme as part of the project, 'She Walks With Me: Supporting Urban Indigenous Expectant Mothers Through Culturally Based Doulas'. METHODS: In 2020, semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada. Interview transcripts were approved by participants and subsequently coded by the entire research team to identify key themes. RESULTS: Our article explores one of the main themes that emerged from these interviews: sustainable funding for Indigenous doula services. Within this theme we identified two sub-themes: (1) limitations on and regulations for available funding and (2) negative impacts of limited funding on doula service. CONCLUSION: A major challenge to providing Indigenous community-based doula services is sustainable funding. Current models of funding for this work often do not provide livable wages and are bound by limited durations and regulations that are unsustainable and can be culturally inappropriate. Due to this lack of sustainable funding, Indigenous doula service in Canada faces challenges that include high staff turnover and burnout and lack of time and resources to provide culturally safe care, pursue professional development and additional training, and keep their services affordable for the families who need them. Future research is needed to ascertain potential programmes and funding streams for sustainable Indigenous doula support in Canada, including possible integration of doula care into the universal public health care system despite the jurisdictional challenges in providing health care for Indigenous peoples.

Heart work: Indigenous doulas responding to challenges of western systems and revitalizing Indigenous birthing care in Canada.

BACKGROUND: In Canada, there has been a significant increase in the training of Indigenous doulas, who provide continuous, culturally appropriate support to Indigenous birthing people during pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. The purpose of our project was to interview Indigenous doulas across Canada in order to document how they worked through the logistics of providing doula care and to discern their main challenges and innovations. POPULATION/SETTING: Our paper analyzes interviews conducted with members of five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada, from the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with members of the five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada in 2020 as part of the project, "She Walks With Me: Supporting Urban Indigenous Expectant Mothers Through Culturally Based Doulas." Interview transcripts were approved by participants and subsequently coded by the entire research team to identify key themes. RESULTS: Our paper examines two themes that emerged in interviews: the main challenges Indigenous doulas describe confronting when working within western systems, and how they navigate and overcome these obstacles. Specifically, interview participants described tensions with the biomedical approach to maternal healthcare and conflicts with the practice of Indigenous infant apprehension. In response to these challenges, Indigenous doulas are working to develop Indigenous-specific doula training curricula, engaging in collective problem-solving, and advocating for the reformation of a grant program in order to fund more Indigenous doulas. CONCLUSIONS: Both the biomedical model of maternal healthcare and the crisis of Indigenous infant apprehension renders Canadian hospitals unsafe and uncomfortable spaces for many Indigenous birthing people and their families. Indigenous doulas are continually navigating these challenges and creatively and concertedly working towards the revitalization of Indigenous birthing care. Indigenous doula care is critical to counter systemic, colonial barriers and issues that disproportionately impact Indigenous families, as well as recentering birth as the foundation of Indigenous sovereignty and community health.

Putting them on a strong spiritual path: Indigenous doulas responding to the needs of Indigenous mothers and communities.

OBJECTIVE: In the past few years, increasing numbers of Indigenous doula collectives have been forming across Canada. Indigenous doulas provide continuous, culturally appropriate support to Indigenous women during pregnancy, birth, and the post-partum period. This support is critical to counter systemic medical racism and socioeconomic barriers that Indigenous families disproportionately face. This paper analyzes interviews with members of five Indigenous doula collectives to demonstrate their shared challenges, strategies, and missions. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with members of five Indigenous doula collectives across Canada in 2020. Interviews were transcribed and returned to participants for their approval. Approved transcripts were then coded by all members of the research team to ascertain the dominant themes emerging across the interviews. RESULTS: Two prominent themes emerged in the interviews. The first theme is "Indigenous doulas responding to community needs." Participants indicated that responding to community needs involves harm reduction and trauma-informed care, supporting cultural aspects of birthing and family, and helping clients navigate socioeconomic barriers. The second theme is "Indigenous doulas building connections with mothers." Participants' comments on providing care to mothers emphasize the importance of advocacy in healthcare systems, boosting their clients' confidence and skills, and being the "right" doula for their clients. These two inter-related themes stem from Indigenous doulas' efforts to counter dynamics in healthcare and social services that can be harmful to Indigenous families, while also integrating cultural teachings and practices. CONCLUSION: This paper illustrates that Indigenous doula care responds to a wide range of issues that affect Indigenous women's experiences of pregnancy, birth, and the post-partum period. Through building strong, trusting, and non-judgemental connections with mothers and responding to community needs, Indigenous doulas play a critical role in countering medical racism in hospital settings and advancing the resurgence of Indigenous birthing sovereignty.

The relationship between rates of hospitalization for ambulatory care sensitive conditions and local access to primary healthcare in Manitoba First Nations communities : Results from the Innovation in Community-based Primary Healthcare Supporting Transformation in the Health of First Nations in Manitoba (iPHIT) study.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to assess the performance of models of primary healthcare (PHC) delivered in First Nation and adjacent communities in Manitoba, using hospitalization rates for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) as the primary outcome. METHODS: We used generalized estimating equation logistic regression on administrative claims data for 63 First Nations communities from Manitoba (1986-2016) comprising 140,111 people, housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. We controlled for age, sex, and socio-economic status to describe the relationship between hospitalization rates for ACSC and models of PHC in First Nation communities. RESULTS: Hospitalization rates for acute, chronic, vaccine-preventable, and mental health-related ACSCs have decreased over time in First Nation communities, yet remain significantly higher in First Nations and remote non-First Nations communities as compared with other Manitobans. When comparing different models of care, hospitalization rates were historically higher in communities served by health centres/offices, whether or not supplemented by itinerant medical services. These rates have significantly declined over the past two decades. CONCLUSION: Local access to a broader complement of PHC services is associated with lower rates of avoidable hospitalization in First Nation communities. The lack of these services in many First Nation communities demonstrates the failure of the current Canadian healthcare system to meet the need of First Nation peoples. Improving access to PHC in all 63 First Nation communities can be expected to result in a reduction in ACSC hospitalization rates and reduce healthcare cost.

RéSUMé: OBJECTIFS: L'objectif de cette étude était d'évaluer le rendement des modèles de soins de santé primaires (SSP) dispensés dans les Premières Nations et les communautés adjacentes du Manitoba, en utilisant les taux d'hospitalisation pour les conditions propices aux soins ambulatoires (CPSA) comme résultat principal. MéTHODES: Nous avons utilisé une régression logistique par équation d'estimation généralisée sur les données de réclamations administratives pour 63 communautés des Premières Nations du Manitoba (1986-2016) comprenant 140 111 personnes, hébergées au Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Nous avons contrôlé l'âge, le sexe et le statut socioéconomique afin de décrire la relation entre les taux d'hospitalisation pour les CPSA et les modèles de soins de santé primaires dans les communautés des Premières Nations. RéSULTATS: Les taux d'hospitalisation pour les CPSA aigus, chroniques, évitables par la vaccination et liés à la santé mentale ont diminué au fil du temps dans les communautés des Premières Nations, mais demeurent considérablement plus élevés dans les communautés des Premières Nations et éloignées non des Premières Nations par rapport aux autres Manitobains. Lorsque l'on compare différents modèles de soins, les taux d'hospitalisation étaient historiquement plus élevés dans les communautés desservies par les centres/bureaux de santé, qu'ils soient ou non complétés par des services médicaux itinérants. Ces taux ont considérablement diminué au cours des deux dernières décennies. CONCLUSION: L'accès local à un éventail plus large de services de SSP est associé à des taux plus faibles d'hospitalisation évitable dans les collectivités des Premières Nations. Le manque de ces services dans de nombreuses collectivités des Premières nations démontre l'incapacité du système de santé canadien actuel à répondre aux besoins des peuples des Premières nations. On peut s'attendre à ce que l'amélioration de l'accès aux soins de santé primaires dans les 63 collectivités des Premières nations se traduise par une réduction des taux d'hospitalisation et des coûts des soins de santé.

What Changes Would Manitoba First Nations Like to See in the Primary Healthcare They Receive? A Qualitative Investigation.

BACKGROUND: First Nations (FN) have unique perspectives and experiences of health and healthcare services, which are critical to the provision of effective community-based primary healthcare (CBPHC). OBJECTIVE: This paper shares FN perspectives on primary healthcare (PHC), taking geographical, cultural and historical realities into account, to elucidate opportunities to improve current healthcare services. METHODS: Semi-structured in-depth qualitative interviews were completed with 183 residents of 8 Manitoba FN communities. Grounded theory-guided data analysis was conducted. RESULTS: Improving PHC performance requires delivering timely and holistic healthcare that integrates traditional health knowledge, comprehensive CBPHC increasing services such as healthcare and medical transportation, healthy food as an important preventative measure and a culturally informed workforce backed by local leadership and promoting cultural respect. CONCLUSION: The relationship between self-determination and health is a critical factor in the implementation of CBPHC. FN must be respected to decide healthcare priorities that reflect the needs and visions of each community.

Opportunities and Barriers to Rural, Remote and First Nation Health Services Research in Canada: Comparing Access to Administrative Claims Data in Manitoba and British Columbia.

Access to geographically disaggregated data is essential for the pursuit of meaningful rural, remote and First Nation health services research. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges associated with undertaking administrative claims data research in the context of two different models of administrative data management: the Manitoba and British Columbia models. We argue that two conditions must be in place to support rural, remote and First Nation health services research: (1) pathways to data access that reconcile the need to protect privacy with the imperative to conduct analyses on disaggregated data; and (2) a trust-based relationship with data providers.