Creating safer healthcare through care giver education: A focus on wellness, resiliency, and cultural safety within health care assistant education at Yukon University

• Other Authors: Soo, Samantha (Author), Marceua, Rae (Thesis advisor), Fraser, Tina (Committee member), University of Northern British Columbia (Degree granting institution)
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of Northern British Columbia 2023
• Subjects: First Nations; Yukon
• Online Access: https://arcabc.ca/islandora/object/unbc%3A59437; https://doi.org/10.24124/2023/59437

This project aimed to enhance the foundational knowledge and skills related to wellness, resiliency, and cultural safety education for students in the Health Care Assistant (HCA) program at Yukon University. By revising the HCA 111 course, the project aimed to prepare students for success as front-line caregivers. Project objectives included conducting a literature review, engaging with Scandinavian colleges and universities, conversations with employed Yukon HCAs, consulting with local Indigenous knowledge holders on course revisions, and revising and delivering the course. This project addresses pressing needs in the Yukon healthcare system such as caregiver burnout and Indigenous-specific racism and discrimination. The revisions incorporated self-awareness learning, Elder-led learning, land-based learning, community experiential learning, and cultural safety education. The socio-ecological model and the First Nations perspective on health and wellness model guided the course revisions through a Two- Eyed Seeing approach in conjunction with cultural principles of meaningful relationships (9 Rs) and flexible content delivery to promote student wellness, resilience, and cultural safety. This project contributes to creating safer health care environments for both caregivers and Yukon Indigenous health care recipients.