The Indigenous community in Halifax will have more access to culturally-safe mental health care thanks to a collaboration between the Mi鈥檏maw Native Friendship Society 鈥� Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre and the Department of Psychiatry at 新澳门六合彩开奖 and Nova Scotia Health Central Zone.
The partnership was formalized in early 2025 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The MOA outlines dedicated, sustainable psychiatric resources to be provided to the Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre. The centre is the first primary care clinic to serve the urban Indigenous population in Kjipuktuk (Halifax).
鈥淢ental health is a fundamental pillar of overall health,鈥� says Dr. Vincent Agyapong, head of Psychiatry for Dal and NS Health Central Zone. 鈥淵et, in many communities, including Indigenous communities, there are significant gaps in access to appropriate, culturally-sensitive mental health services. These gaps have, for far too long, left many individuals and families without the care and support they deserve. This partnership is an exciting step toward bridging that gap.鈥�
Shaping a structural approach
The Indigenous Mental Health Program will include the Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre鈥檚 principles of etuaptmumk (two-eyed seeing) and netukulimk (interconnectedness).听
鈥淭his Memorandum of Agreement represents an important milestone in the relationship between the urban Indigenous community in Halifax, and the Department of Psychiatry,鈥� says Dr. Brent Young, Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre鈥檚 clinical lead.听
鈥淲e know that colonialism fuels mental health inequities among Indigenous people, and structural approaches such as this one are part of a broader approach to dismantling structural anti-Indigenous racism in Canada. Through this agreement, the urban Indigenous community will have access to dedicated psychiatric resources via Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre, and we will have the ability to shape a psychiatric care service that is culturally safe and relevant for Indigenous people.鈥�
Psychiatric care delivered at the centre is part of the Department of Psychiatry鈥檚 Transcultural Mental Health Program, established to provide accessible, culturally-competent, culturally-safe, and collaborative mental health care for African Nova Scotians, Newcomers, and Indigenous people in Nova Scotia.
鈥淔ormal arrangements like the MOA are so important because they signal our willingness to enter into true partnership that honors the sovereignty of Indigenous people and have us working alongside them to improve mental health,鈥� says Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, associate dean, serving and engaging society in Dal鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine.听
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Listening and learning
Initial discussion about a MOA began in 2023 following the one-year anniversary of the Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre.听
鈥淪ince the opening of the Weji鈥檞inen