Exploring opportunities for the integration of traditional healing medicine in the care and prevention of dementia for first nations people from the Wiikwemikoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Background Traditional healing methods that prioritize the worldviews and knowledge of First Nations people and communities are pivotal and can be integrated throughout the care process in the way that dementia is screened for and diagnosed. The Canadian Indigenous Cognitive Assessment Tool is a culturally safe dementia a screening tool that requires ongoing thoughtful integration of traditional healing medicine practices to be successfully integrated into current health policy and practice across Canada. In Canada, over the next decade, the number of First Nations people over the age of 60 with dementia will increase four‐fold. This is in comparison to a 2.3‐fold increase in the non‐First Nations population. First Nations Elders seek spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental balance in preventing dementia and empowering First Nations people to live healthy lives through traditional healing medicine practices. Access to culturally safe geriatric care and dementia diagnosis among First Nations older adults is a challenge and there is little research aimed at addressing this gap. Within this limited area of research, there is even less research dedicated to how First Nations older adults’ access to traditional medicines, healing, and practices in the prevention and maintenance of dementia care. Within this forum, this presentation will highlight my learning and my passion for this research area. Through a decolonizing research approach, I propose exploring the pathways that will help to fill the gap between traditional healers and health care providers within dementia care and prevention. The primary research question is rooted in First Nations community priorities and asks: “what are the pathways to fill the gap between care providers and traditional healers to integrate traditionally healing medicine practices into dementia care and prevention in Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island?” Through relationship‐building and close collaboration with the First Nations community members from the Wiikwemikoong Unceded Territory, this work will exemplify how to frame and uncover the missing link between First Nations use of traditional healing medicines and First Nations dementia care within a mainstream medical system by carrying out an exploratory qualitative Indigenous research design and method.