First Nations Conference in Vancouver, BC

T​he first First Nations mental health and wellness conference will be taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Mental health and substance abuse are major issues for the First Nations Community within Canada.

Elders, educators, well as community leaders and care providers amount to​hundreds of people

​will ​meet in Vancouver to discuss these issues in a formal conference setting. The difficulties can be focused on children as well provincial care.

The n​umber of suicides from opioid overdoses in First ​Nations communities are far​higher than the rest of the general BC ​population. Some note that things we see with things like suicides and deaths are symptoms of things such as century of assimilation policies and racism.

Grand Chief Doug Kelly, chair of the First Nations Health Council, said, “I’m full of good feelings and I’m full of hope because there’s 600 leaders and caregivers that want to make a difference… We’re dealing with some very difficult things.”  ​

The conversations will focus on pragmatic concerns, i.e., ​the tangible solutions to deal with mental health issues including those ​that could lead to a suicide or coping with opioids that are ​actually laced with fentanyl leading to an overdose death.

Mark Matthew, the manager of Engagement and coordination health authority,

​considers this a praiseworthy conference. H​e said,​ “It’s important that we talk about these difficult things because if we don’t start talking about them, how can the healing really start?”

References

Bellrichards, C. (2018, February 8). First of its kind First Nations mental health and wellness conference takes place in Vancouver. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/first-nations-mental-health-wellness-conference-1.4525865.