| Summary: | Objective: This preliminary study attempts to inform an understanding of appropriate primary health care for Aboriginal persons by exploring the lived experience of patients accessing care within a culturally safe clinical space.Design: Qualitative, narrative thematic phenomenological analysis.Setting: A longstanding clinic within a suburban native friendship centre, operating in collaboration between the friendship centre, the regional health authority, and an urban primary health clinic dedicated to underserved and vulnerable patient populations.Participants: Adult, English speaking patients of self-identified Aboriginal ancestry were recruited from the general patient population of the clinic. Recruitment was by convenience sampling. Informed consent was received according to health authority ethics standards.Method: Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with participants. Data was anonymized and subject to narrative thematic analysis.Main Findings: Three main themes were identified within the personal narratives shared. These were (1) dissatisfaction with mainstream primary care services, (2) the importance of culture and personal relationships in health and wellness, and (3) the need for expansion of this service model in general, both on First Nations reserves and in urban communities.Conclusion: Themes identified are discussed in the context of post-colonial Aboriginal history and the contemporary political landscape of federal and provincial Aboriginal health policy reform. This study hypothesizes that a culturally safe clinical space may be necessary for the delivery of appropriate primary health care services to Aboriginal Canadians. A proposal for further research is suggested.
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