‘So much of health is dictated by the ruling classes,’ says Dr. Sereda
By Jesse Johnson
NORTH BAY – Dr. Andrea Sereda, a Physician at London Intercommunity Health Centre, posed the question, “What is Health?” and brought out a lot of interesting answers from those who attended the 9th annual Anishinabek Nation Health Conference in North Bay, Ont., on Oct. 17.
So, what is Health?
“In our dominant system of Western medicine, health almost always means an absence of disease and impairment,” says Dr. Sereda. “Western medicine has started to open to the concept of holistic medicine, but it’s an uphill climb and we are still at the bottom of the mountain.”
She then spoke about the benefits of Western healthcare.
“Western healthcare has brought us some good things, such as antibiotics, anaesthesia, safe surgery, new drugs, new technology, and new therapies,” she notes. “We have a lot of new drugs and different ways to take pictures inside of our bodies – we even have robot-assisted surgeries.”
However, Dr. Sereda says Western healthcare is founded on some negative things such as sexism, racism, ableism, and colonialism.
She then spoke about disease-based models.
What is a disease-based model?
The human is at the centre of the Medicine Wheel. This model establishes that a number of risk factors and causative triggers interact to produce a “disease” characterized by specific pathology that manifests by a series of symptoms and signs, which then guide the diagnosis and treatment of the “disease”.
Dr. Sereda spoke about our current healthcare system and the ways it is failing our most vulnerable people.
“Our most vulnerable people are Indigenous peoples; women; 2SLGBTQ+; BIPOC; people living in homelessness; people who use drugs; differently-abled; and, the elderly,” she explains. “Rather than describing these groups of people as vulnerable, I would rather change the word to something more appropriate; these groups of people are resilient and remarkable.”
She spoke about what happens to people who we marginalize.
“People die when we marginalize them.”
She also spoke about the Safe Supply program she started in London, Ont.
“Safe Supply is trying to do healthcare differently by making the safe supply story one of inclusion, equity, and listening,” she shares. “I am very proud of how Safe Supply doctors have worked with drug users. Drug users have a say at the table and they have advised us on the design of Safe Supply and how we work with their community.”
Dr. Sereda closed her presentation by reading a quote, “What if, instead of talking about hard-to-reach patients, we flip that around and talk about hard-to-reach doctors? Or hard-to-reach services? Or services with dumb barriers or restrictions on access? Or a system with [poor] attitudes?”
For more information about the 9th annual Anishinabek Nation Health Conference, please visit: www.anishinabek.ca.