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Racial Bias in Canadian Healthcare

Student’s Name

NorQuest College

ENGL 2550: Section Number

Instructor’s Name

Example Assignment 2a: Annotated Bibliography

Date, Year
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Racial Bias in Canadian Healthcare

Draft Thesis: Indigenous people seeking healthcare in Canada experience racial bias, which

prevents them from accessing the care they need. Educating healthcare professionals on

recognizing bias in their attitudes towards patients and in their practice would make a significant

difference.

Beavis, A. S., Hojjati, A., Kassam, A., Choudhury, D., Fraser, M., Masching, R., & Nixon, S. A.

(2015). What all students in healthcare training programs should learn to increase health

equity: Perspectives on postcolonialism and the health of Aboriginal Peoples in

Canada. BMC Medical Education, 15(1), 1-11.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-015-0442-y

In this scholarly article, Beavis et al. (2015) discuss how the ongoing effects of

colonialism create inequities for Indigenous people seeking healthcare, and the need for anti-

colonial curriculum to be integrated into Canadian healthcare training. The authors argue that it is

necessary to teach the history and contemporary effects of the colonization of Indigenous people

in Canada when discussing their health and healthcare needs. This article illustrates the

discriminatory experiences of Indigenous communities resulting from colonization and the

continuous healthcare inequities created by colonialism. It also introduces strategies to use to

implement anti-racist curriculum into healthcare education, as well as who will teach it and when

it should be taught. I will use this article to argue that educating healthcare professionals on the

history and ongoing effects of colonialism, residential schools, and the Indian Act, will help them

understand how these events have affected Indigenous peoples’ past and present-day health status

and created a culture of mistrust and fear toward the Canadian healthcare system.

Phillips-Beck, W., Eni, R., Lavoie, J. G., Avery Kinew, K., Kyoon Achan, G., & Katz, A. (2020).
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Confronting racism within the Canadian healthcare system: Systemic exclusion of First

Nations from quality and consistent care. International journal of environmental research

and public health, 17(22), 8343. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228343

In this peer-reviewed study, Phillips-Beck et al., (2020) conduct and analyse interviews

with Indigenous people, focusing on questions regarding what the best methods are to create

equitable, assessable, and appropriate healthcare. Results of this study revealed nine themes, but

in my essay I will be focusing on the lack of familiarity and meaningful interactions between

Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians, the poor-quality service related to racism,

and the racist stereotypes related to alcohol and substance use. I will use this article to argue that

educating healthcare providers on Indigenous history, values, and customs will create a more

inclusive and respectful healthcare environment. This article emphasizes the need for healthcare

workers to reflect on their own privileges, assumptions, and biases in order to prevent poor-

quality healthcare services and the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes.

Wylie, L., & McConkey, S. (2019). Insiders’ insight: Discrimination against Indigenous peoples

through the eyes of health care professionals. Journal of racial and ethnic health

disparities, 6(1), 37-45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-018-0495-9

In this peer-reviewed journal article, Wylie and McConkey (2019) discuss discriminatory

behaviours towards Indigenous people seeking healthcare and how to improve patient equity in

the Canadian healthcare system. The authors use stories reported by Indigenous people who have

received poor treatment by healthcare professionals due to racial bias, and how it led to

misdiagnoses, poor health outcomes, and other detrimental consequences. A research study

recorded statements from health care professionals who treated Indigenous people and from

Indigenous people receiving care, and the collective theme was discrimination. Three subthemes

from the study included an unwelcoming environment, stereotyping and stigma, and practice
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informed by racism. This source shows the need for healthcare professionals to adapt to the needs

and preferences for Indigenous people in order to gain trust and mutual respect creating a

welcoming environment. It also demonstrates the need for healthcare workers to have a better

understanding of how systematic challenges such as poverty, abuse, genocide, and the social

determinates of health have led to poor health outcomes and illnesses. I will use this research to

illustrate the current racial biases experienced by Indigenous people in Canadian healthcare

contexts and the need to eliminate racial bias against Indigenous people through anti-colonial

healthcare education.