family health coordinators in fort severn first nation advocate for better care and timely diagnosis
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there’s a renewed focus on encouraging young people to learn more about their first nations culture and traditional foods. “we’re still living off the land. we need to go back more to our traditional diet in order to be healthy,” says meena singh, not pictured, co-founder and chair of the learn and uplift foundation.
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fort severn first nation is the northernmost community in ontario, located on the shore of the severn river upstream from hudson bay. the remote fly-in community was founded as a fur trading post in the late 1600s, when hunting was one of the main sources of the food supply. now the community is a population of 500, relying heavily on the expensive groceries and goods of the northern store that are flown in or delivered by transport on the winter road in february and march when the river freezes over.
while there are wide open skies and surrounding forests that speak to the untouched beauty of the region, life here can be tough and sometimes heartbreaking.
gaps in healthcare lead to unnecessary complications or death
“there are huge gaps in healthcare like getting important tests for our community members like mris and ultrasounds or any of those things that need specialist care,” says connie thomas, health director for fort severn first nation. there is a nursing station with rotating nurses who come from larger centres and a doctor who comes for five days every month, but imaging tests and specialized services must be done elsewhere.
“so sometimes when they visit the doctor, the doctor might say, ‘oh, it’s nothing serious. it’s probably this and that’ without doing an actual test. when that happens, it could turn very serious and by the time they diagnose it, it’s too late. sadly, we’re seeing it happening in our own community,” she says, adding that many are haunted by the deaths of family members that may have been avoided. one woman’s father kept going to the doctor concerned about his health, but the doctor dismissed it as nothing serious without referring him for tests. “it was actually something very serious. it was cancer. by the time it was found it, it was too late and she still talks about that. and it seems to be common which is really sad.”
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diabetes rising in children and youth
thomas grew up in fort severn and is passionate about making positive changes. she worked in child welfare for 13 years before moving to her current role, and is well familiar with rising rates of diabetes, especially in children and youth, fatty liver disease and mental health disorders. according to diabetes canada, as many as 17. 2 per cent of first nations people living on reserve have diabetes. they also have a strong genetic risk for type 2 diabetes, are diagnosed with diabetes at a younger age, have more severe symptoms when diagnosed, face higher rates of complications, and experience poorer treatment outcomes.
as you might expect, when chronic health conditions are left undetected or not followed with consistent medical care, in diabetes for example, problems like heart disease and kidney failure develop. for kidney failure, people could need dialysis, thomas says. “we don’t have that service in our community. so they have to fly out to get treated and it’s so hard for families to do that, it’s very hard to go live in thunder bay just for that and be away from everyone.”
in emergencies, patients usually are flown to thunder bay or even further to winnipeg.
the situation is almost surreal to comprehend for people who can call an ambulance for help or drive to a local hospital. emergency cases in fort severn come with high anxiety and little control over saving lives. “a lot of times they’re delayed due to weather and thus out of our hands, out of anyone’s hands,” thomas says of emergency air transfers.
but how do you solve this? there are nationwide doctor shortages and limited funds to bring medical professionals to tiny remote communities. thomas says the current nursing station could accommodate four nurses, but there are usually just two.
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now pharmaceutical company novartis canada has awarded a $216,000 grant from its health equity initiative to help bridge the gap between families and the healthcare system, supporting systemic change. the funds will go toward establishing a team of volunteer health coordinators within the community to provide personal support to people, advocate for families’ needs and coordinate appointments. this will improve access to timely diagnoses, treatment and preventative care, leading to better health for the community.
new funds to help advocate for better care and diagnosis
“my hope is that this these funds will help us bridge the gap in healthcare where people will actually get tested and we will work together to make that happen through advocacy and even reach out to different organizations and programs,” thomas says, adding a major concern is that people don’t know how to advocate for themselves for their health, to request tests and complete checkups. “we will all work together on this because i don’t think anything will ever happen if we try to do it alone.”
the initiative, payukotayno meno ya win ka wa nii chi ket (coordinating holistic family health, well-being and wellness), will have volunteers who are vetted and trained by the learn and uplift foundation, then assigned to families to liaise with medical teams. some of the health coordinators speak or understand cree, so community elders will benefit.
“it’s a smaller community and there is a lot of strength in the community, the chiefs, the council members, have always been visionary and supportive,” says meena singh, co-founder and chair of the learn and uplift foundation. she has helped launch a number of projects with fort severn first nation, including a health website we ta ma kay set up during the pandemic for information and a call number if they encountered problems in winter road travel, and a digital high school for young mothers to get their diploma, find employment and inspire their kids to have an interest in education. “then what happens is other communities tend to see the success and then they follow. that’s the kind of leadership here,” she says of the pioneering work to adopt transformative programs.
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thomas hopes the new initiative will empower people to improve their health. she talks about the community’s return to “the old ways” of gathering berries, fishing and hunting caribou and canada geese, with the recognition that processed foods available at the grocery are contributing to poor health of kids and adults. “it’s not very healthy and it’s so hard to get vegetables and fruit. there’s frozen fruit in those large bags and they’re $30 to $40 a bag. and we do. we do get apples, but they’re not the best quality. they spoil fast.”
there’s a renewed focus on encouraging young people to learn more about their first nations culture and traditional foods. “we’re still living off the land. we need to go back more to our traditional diet in order to be healthy,” she says. the public school is closed for one week during “traditional days” for geese hunting, plucking the feathers and preparing the geese for smoking and freezing.
“we all help each other. when my nephews hunt, we help them with gas and bullets and then they help feed us. we’re family and that’s what families do.”
to apply to the 2025 health equity initiative by june 30, 2025 at 11:59 pm pst. visit: https://www.novartis.com/ca-en/esg/health-equity-initiative.
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