About the partner
San'yas
In 2008 a growing awareness of the mistreatment of Indigenous people in health care resulted in provincial mandates calling for cultural competency training for the Regional Health Authorities in BC. Indigenous educator Dr. Cheryl Ward (Kwakwaka’wakw) designed the facilitation model and pedagogy and engaged Indigenous educators and health leaders to create the BC Core ICS Health course curriculum. This groundbreaking initiative has grown into the San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Program. The first online version focused on cultural competency training for health professionals in British Columbia. It was a unique model of online facilitated learning, based on the principle of decolonizing, anti-racist, transformative and adult education theories.
About the app
The San'yas ICS training is a unique, facilitated online training program designed to increase knowledge, enhance self-awareness, and strengthen the skills of those who work both directly and indirectly with Indigenous people. The mandate for the ICS Program comes from the British Columbia Transformative Change Accord First Nations Health Plan.
The goal of ICS training is to further develop individual competencies and promote positive partnerships. Skilled facilitators guide and support each participant through dynamic and interactive learning modules. Participants learn about terminology; diversity; aspects of colonial history such as Indian residential schools and Indian Hospitals, timelines of historical events; and contexts for understanding social disparities and inequities. Through interactive activities, participants examine culture, stereotyping, and the consequences and legacies of colonization. Participants are introduced to tools for developing more effective communication and relationship building skills.
Since 2010, one in five health professionals in B.C. (over 20,000 people) have been trained using the training platform that we developed for PHSA Aboriginal Health.
From the San'yas team:
"We selected Animikii because we needed custom software that would help us to provide training in a challenging area. Jeff Ward is a committed professional, a man of his word, creative, reliable, and always going the extra mile. He gently assisted us when we didn’t know what we were talking about, he thoughtfully developed software that enabled us to build and expand when we needed to, and he made a tough subject area inviting, creative, practical, and easy to navigate."
- Leslie Varley, Director Aboriginal Health, Provincial Health Services Authority in BC