Master of Nursing grad shines light on gaps in Indigenous health care
Governor General’s Gold Medal winner Michelle Monkman dedicates career to tackling health inequities
Michelle Monkman (Master of Nursing ’23) has made it a lifelong goal to improve the health of people in Indigenous communities.
Monkman, a registered nurse from Kinosao Sipi Cree Nation, has spent her entire 19-year career serving Indigenous populations in urban and rural Manitoba.
Honouring her commitment to advancing Indigenous health equity and health system transformation, she has made incredible contributions to Indigenous health equity such as establishing a First Nations teen health clinic and co-developing community health service solutions for Indigenous communities across Canada.
In recognition of her achievements, Monkman has been named Athabasca University’s 2023 Governor General’s Gold Medal winner. The award is given to the AU graduate student with the highest grade-point average in their graduating class.
“I’m still in disbelief,” she said. “I don’t think that I thought something like that was possible for me. I feel proud as a First Nations woman to be representing my nation. This was part of my whole desire to want to go to school. I wanted to be a role model to other Indigenous people and show that it’s possible. Winning the gold medal is just the icing on the cake.”
Bringing light through health care
Monkman’s Spirit Name is Owasdenimakiw, which translates to “light giver” or “bringer of light.”
“My Knowledge Keeper told me that it was my purpose to bring light into dark places and insight into places of uncertainty.”
She certainly has.
Monkman and her family live in Brandon, Man., where she is the program lead for SE Health’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis program. In her role, she builds health education, models of care, policies, and procedures for health-care providers so they can better serve Indigenous communities. By incorporating Indigenous Ways of Knowing into education materials and into the delivery of care, she helps ensure resources and health-care systems are culturally relevant and safe.
“I feel like I have a really important job to elevate the voices of my community and I’ve been given the opportunity through AU to elevate my own voice. I just want health care to be better for people that I love.”
She says her motivation to help runs deep because of her Indigenous identity. She’s improving the lives of families just like hers.
“Working in Indigenous health is where I belong and it’s my passion. It doesn’t feel like work. I was answering my passion.”
Working in Indigenous health is where I belong and it’s my passion. It doesn’t feel like work. I was answering my passion.
Improving access to health care for Indigenous teens
Monkman has spent most of her career working in public and community health settings. A few years ago, while working in a First Nations community whose high school was located in a nearby urban area (Brandon), she realized there were 3 provincially funded high schools that had access to teen clinic services. The local First Nations school, Sioux Valley High School, did not.
Wanting to fix that inequity, she decided to act. Monkman collaborated with the community, the school, regional health authority, and a primary health clinic to begin the work of creating a teen clinic.
Before starting, Monkman and her team surveyed the school’s students to see what the needs were. It was identified that additional health services would need to be incorporated to ensure the needs of the students were met.
“Most Indigenous people will go to access primary health services when there’s a problem and don’t often have family doctors or that connection to health care. I wanted to normalize preventive care for them at a young age.”
Most Indigenous people will go to access primary health services when there's a problem and don’t often have family doctors or that connection to health care. I wanted to normalize preventive care for them at a young age.
Once the clinic launched, Monkman said the services were very successful because they used a community-driven approach.
She hopes to help create more teen clinics for Indigenous communities in other parts of the country. She’s currently exploring ideas such as collaborating with a nurse practitioner and even virtual services.
“I’m thinking about that opportunity and I’m looking at the possibilities right now.”
Finding solutions to Indigenous health care
Monkman explained that part of what drives her is the need for major improvements to Indigenous health care across Canada. That includes ensuring health services are community driven—with improved access to care—plus more funding, and more education for health-care providers and community members.
Monkman said there needs to be more collaboration across the health sector; provincial health authorities often do not collaborate well with Indigenous communities.
“If you look at rural Indigenous communities across Canada, it’s like their own little health system, so people don’t understand that there are community-based programs and roles that are specific to the needs of that community.”
Many rural First Nations communities often only have access to a health centre that operates during regular daytime business hours. “If residents are unable to go during that time, they have to travel to another community that is urban based for treatment,” she said.
This barrier to care is why so many Indigenous people face health inequities, and often experience delays accessing care. Her work involves trying to find solutions to close the care gap.
“Whether that is done through virtual solutions, which is something that we do a lot of within my area of work, and access to education, access to care definitely needs to improve,” she said.
Whether that is done through virtual solutions, which is something that we do a lot of within my area of work, and access to education, access to care definitely needs to improve.
Sharing her research
Her contributions to Indigenous health have had a further-reaching impact than a single community.
Under the supervision of Dr. Jacqueline Limoges in AU’s Faculty of Health Disciplines, Monkman recently published a peer-reviewed paper about finding ways for health-care organizations to improve the retention of Indigenous nurses.
She also just co-wrote a chapter for a Pearson community health nursing textbook that focuses on home health services in Canada. The textbook will be used by undergraduate nursing students across Canada.
“My role in that chapter was to provide the perspective of home health nursing within a First Nations community and some of the competencies and considerations for the home health nurse role within that setting,” she said.
Reconciliation through teaching and learning
Not only is Monkman improving the lives of Indigenous communities by better informing health-care providers, academics, and policy makers, she is also using her knowledge and life experiences to guide settlers and non-Indigenous folks on a path toward reconciliation.
Monkman said her master’s degree has given her a whole new language to use in influencing higher-level policy and building health service solutions for Indigenous communities nationally. Now, she can blend what she learned in mainstream academia with Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives.
Being an Indigenous advocate has been isolating at times, and her perspective was not always understood. But she’s always maintained that reconciliation is uncomfortable.
“That’s why it was important that I spoke my truth,” she said. “Reconciliation is everyone’s business.”
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Reconciliation is everyone’s business.
