HEALTHCARE DEVELOPMENT
CULTURAL HEALING
Improving healthcare for Indigenous peoples through consultation, collaboration By Macy Koochek, Golnaz Rakhshan & Barbara Budenz
D
esign can help improve the way people experience hospitals. Two recently completed healthcare facilities illustrate how to meet the needs of populations primarily identifying as Indigenous. STANTON TERRITORIAL HOSPITAL
Stanton Territorial Hospital is the main healthcare facility for residents of the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) and western Nunavut. It was in need of expansion and renewal to serve projected resident population growth of up to 60,000 in Yellowknife and surrounding areas through 2050. Built in 1988 with traditional brickand-mortar methods, the facility’s design 14 CANADIAN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES
limited its physical and social transparency, integration with the environment and incorporation of Indigenous people’s cultural traditions, as well as health and healing practices. The hospital’s wayfinding was also confusing and overwhelming, adding to the stress and anxiety of patients and visitors. To fulfill the needs of the area’s culturally and linguistically diverse population, the project’s architecture and interior design team conducted a two-day consultative workshop that involved representatives from more than 14 First Nation bands from across the N.W.T. and Nunavut. The workshop explored past case studies and included interactive activities to explore their cultural values and visions behind well-being and
patient-centered care. Band representatives were asked to bring objects that embodied their cultural values, including crafts, beading and calendar wheels. The architecture of the new purpose-built facility (which is double the size of the previous hospital) was in part driven by the natural topography and contours of the site. It purposely blends indoor and outdoor space to reflect many Indigenous communities’ close connection with nature and its key role in the healing process. The strategic selection of colours, patterns, materials, artwork and lighting provide for the seamless movement between the hospital interior and surrounding landscape.
