Hannah Doyle (2023)

INDIGENOUS HEALTH RESEARCH TEAM AT VANCOUVER COASTAL HEALTH
Project Title: Accountability in Care – Storytelling Methodologies for Measuring Indigenous Patient Experiences

Hello, my name is Hannah Doyle and I am a settler
of European descent from the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee peoples and unceded Algonquin territory and am grateful to have lived, worked and learned on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil- Waututh First Nations. My practicum was unlike any other research class that I have taken. The practical knowledge and opportunity to partner with a community organization not only allowed me to apply the concepts that I learned throughout my degree but also participate in translational research rooted in community interests.

For my placement, I was fortunate enough to work alongside the Indigenous Health Research Team at Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The research team is situated in the larger Indigenous Health team at VCH that works to provide equitable access to health services and improve health and wellness for 14 First Nations communities in the VCH region. The research team is currently looking at how we evaluate Indigenous Patient experiences and the ways that we can improve these evaluation strategies to uphold Indigenous knowledge sharing practices in culturally safe frameworks.

This led us to the two research questions that we sought to answer in my practicum project:

How can we better understand Indigenous patient experiences in healthcare?
How can storytelling be used as an approach to understand and evaluate Indigenous patient experiences?

In this project, I conducted a systematic review of the current literature and evaluation strategies in patient experience alongside a series of interviews with Indigenous Elders that work with VCH. With limited research in the applications of Indigenous storytelling methodologies in the field of patient experience, I wanted to understand how the Elders use storytelling in their work with patients and how they saw this method being applied in patient experience evaluation. My project culminated in a final report that was then shared with the VCH team and the Elders.

This project would not have been possible without the support and guidance of Dr. Brittany Bingham and Dr. Andreas Pilarinos. I am extremely grateful for their mentorship and supervision as well as their ongoing support for my research aspirations. Through the highs and lows of my practicum I am grateful to have had the support of the teaching team, my supervisors, and fellow classmates. The practicum was the culmination of all of my learnings throughout the FNIS program and continues to influence how I conduct research today.