Aboriginal Health Initiative Committee
The Aboriginal Health Initiative (AHI) Committee participates in and supports activities relating to health and health care of Aboriginal women, their families and communities.
Our objectives:
To advance culturally safe health care and healing for Aboriginal* women, their families and communities, so that their well-being meets or exceeds that of the general population.
To raise awareness of SOGC members and health care professionals to foster a socio-cultural understanding of Aboriginal peoples and to provide the tools needed to deliver culturally-safe care.
To develop and facilitate access to culturally relevant resources on key Aboriginal women’s health issues.
To engage Aboriginal organizations and communities to collaborate in matters of common interest in the field of Aboriginal women’s health and health care.
To participate in and facilitate culturally-safe research in the area of Aboriginal peoples’ health respecting recognized ethical frameworks.**
To ensure that all activities undertaken by SOGC, which impact Aboriginal women, their families and communities, include the participation of Aboriginal peoples.
To bring Aboriginal health to the forefront of the medical community by engaging and lobbying mainstream medical organizations, the government and industry to work with SOGC in improving Aboriginal women’s health and that of their families and communities.
*The term Aboriginal is used inclusively to refer to First Nations (all persons identifying as First Nations or Indian, status or non-status, living on or off-reserve), Inuit and Métis.
**Recognized ethical frameworks include the First Nations Principles of ownership, control, access and possession (OCAP); the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s 2010 Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans; and community-specific guidelines
Join Us!
Nominations for the AHIC are accepted annually prior to the 1st of December. To become a committee member, you must be a member of the SOGC. For more information about joining the Aboriginal Health Initiative Committee please, email nrobinson@sogc.com.
