title: What all students in healthcare training programs should learn to increase health equity: perspectives on postcolonialism and the health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ongoing role of colonialism in producing health inequities is well-known. Postcolonialism is a theoretical approach that enables healthcare providers to better understand and address health inequities in society. While the importance of postcolonialism and health (PCH) in the education of clinicians has been recognized, the literature lacks guidance on how to incorporate PCH into healthcare training programs. This study explores the perspectives of key informants regarding content related to PCH that should be included in Canadian healthcare training programs, and how this content should be delivered.
  
  
  METHODS
  This qualitative study involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews with nineteen individuals with insight into PCH in Canada. Data were analyzed collaboratively to identify, code and translate key emergent themes according to the six phases of the DEPICT method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three themes emerged related to incorporating PCH into Canadian healthcare training programs: (1) content related to PCH that should be taught; (2) how this content should be delivered, including teaching strategies, who should teach this content and when content should be taught, and; (3) why this content should be taught. For the Canadian context, participants advised that PCH content should include a foundational history of colonization of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, how structures rooted in colonialism continue to produce health inequities, and how Canadian clinicians' own experiences of privilege and oppression affect their practice. Participants also advised that this content should be integrated longitudinally through a variety of interactive teaching strategies and developed in collaboration with Aboriginal partners to address health inequities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings reinforce that clinicians and educators must understand health and healthcare as situated in social, political and historical contexts rooted in colonialism. Postcolonialism enables learners to understand and respond to how colonialism creates and sustains health inequities. This empirical study provides educators with guidance regarding PCH content and delivery strategies for healthcare training programs. More broadly, this study joins the chorus of voices calling for critical reflection on the limits and harms of an exclusively Western worldview, and the need for action to name and correct past wrongs in the spirit of reconciliation and justice for all.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. allanabeavis@gmail.com.|Global Health Division, Canadian Physiotherapy Association, 955 Green Valley Crescent, Suite 270, Ottawa, ON, Canada. allanabeavis@gmail.com.|International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. allanabeavis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Allana S W
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Beavis
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. ala.hojjati@mail.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Ala
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hojjati
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. kassam057@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Aly
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kassam
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. daniel.choudhury@mail.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. mmhfraser@hotmail.ca.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.affiliation: Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, 113-154 Willowdale Drive, Dartmouth, NS, Canada. reneem@caan.ca.
authors.forename: Renee
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masching
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. stephanie.nixon@utoronto.ca.|International Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada. stephanie.nixon@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Nixon
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D018595:Colonialism / Q000266:history; D054521:Cultural Competency / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D000069576:Health Equity / Q000592:standards*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology / Q000592:standards; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D004930:Inuit / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D036301:Qualitative Research; D063505:Racism; D064890:Social Determinants of Health / Q000208:ethnology*