Forum looks at Telehealth in Northern and Indigenous Communities
A one day forum brought together health professionals to promote the use of telehealth in northern and Indigenous communities.
Telehealth, a means of delivering medical information and health care through the use of telecommunication technologies, has been proven to provide high quality health care in an accessible and affordable manner. On October 5th, stakeholders gathered in Saskatoon for a one day forum to discuss and explore opportunities to promote the use of telehealth in northern and Indigenous communities.
“Given Saskatchewan’s proportionately high rural and remote population, and under-served Indigenous communities, there is incredible unfulfilled potential in applying the benefits of telehealth to our health care system,” said forum co-organizer Heather Exner-Pirot. “When we started planning this forum, our end goal was to work with the stakeholders in attendance to collaboratively develop a vision and plan to maximize the use and benefits of telecommunications technologies for Indigenous and northern health care services.”
Attendees at the forum discussed what’s currently happening in Saskatchewan with regards to telehealth, shared varying perspectives, looked at opportunities for use in rural, remote and Indigenous communities and talked about possible legislative and jurisdictional issues. The day ended with group discussions around barriers to telehealth uptake and implementation and strategies for more accessible and effective telehealth services in northern and Indigenous communities.
Forum co-organizer Lorna Butler was extremely pleased with how the day turned out. “We go to many meetings and talk about legislation, infrastructure and quality of care as the barriers to telehealth. This forum brought together representatives from key agencies who make decisions and fund health service delivery in northern Saskatchewan - often in isolation of each other. By working together at the forum, it became clear that these are not the barriers, rather, it is a willingness for all of us to invest in changing our own practices and beliefs about telehealth. Technology is changing how we do business globally and we will need to catch up. By organizing this forum, the College of Nursing provided the province with a platform to begin that change.”