Challenging racism in health care should be part of Desmond inquiry's legacy: witnesses

The province must invest in culturally specific health-care services for Black communities to eradicate the barriers of systemic racism, stigma and intergenerational trauma to African Nova Scotians seeking mental health and domestic violence support, the Lionel Desmond inquiry heard Monday.

The inquiry's mandate has focused on the intersection of mental health, domestic violence and firearms.

But a panel of four experts with connections to the Health Association of African Canadians told the Port Hawkesbury, N.S., courtroomabout the need to address the role that race and systemic racism played in the deathson Jan. 3, 2017.

That day, Lionel Desmond, an Afghanistan war veteran with complex post-traumatic stress disorder, fatally shot his wife, Shanna;his 10-year-old daughter, Aaliyah; his mother, Brenda; andhimselfinside hisin-laws' home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S.

The four family members were Black.

Detrimental effects of racism

In its quest to prevent future deaths, the inquiry has heard from more than a dozen mental health clinicians and experts, some of whom were involved in Desmond's treatment.

That none of those witnesses spoke of the detrimental effect of societal and systemic racism on Black mental health highlights the challenges facing patients like Desmond, social worker and sociologist Robert Wright testified Monday.

"That's not to suggest that the clinicians that you have spoken to are themselves racist, but that the systems in which they have worked, the schools in which they have studied, even the professional development that they have been exposed to has left them devoid of the kinds of things that we're sharing with you today and that is fundamentally what I think must be changed."

The inquirywill make recommendations for the province to consider, in particular around access to mental health and domestic violence services.

Those recommendations must include better integration of Black health professionals to support African Nova Scotian patients, particularly in rural communities where there are even fewer Black doctors, nurses and social workers, testified Sharon Davis-Murdoch, co-president of the Health Association of African Canadians.

She estimated about 80 per cent of the province's Black health-care providers work in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Recommendations for change

The panel has recommended the province contract the Association of Black Social Workers and the Peoples Counselling Clinic to offer virtual mental health care in rural communities, noting that it must also invest in high-quality internet for those areas.

Its other recommendations include:

• That the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs recruit Black mental health providers who offerculturally informed care.

• That Nova Scotia Health fund more scholarships for Black students studying to be registered nurses and nurse practitioners who could offer local and mobile clinics for the Black community.

• That the province invest in the network of Black mental health providers and use that as a resource to deliver care targeted to the needs of the African Nova Scotian community.

• To look at intimate partner violence from a Black community lens, including the possibilityof creating a transition house for Black survivors of family violence.

Wright said that he hopes the inquiry's legacy will be that of challenging systemic racism in Nova Scotia health care.

On Tuesday, the executive directorof African Nova Scotia Affairssaidhe feels the provincial Health Department is working to bring in more Black professionals to be more attentive to the needs of that population and reflective of it.

But Wayn Hamilton acknowledgedthe department has been slower than other provincial departments to make changes that reflect the needs of the diverse populations they serve.

He suggested the Health Department should fund existing community initiatives, like Project Brotherhood, which offers hair cuts to Black men in a safe space where they can also be asked health questions and get a blood-pressure check.

Hamilton also suggested there should be an independent review of the department's ability to serve African Nova Scotians, in the same way one was done in education.

Judge Warren Zimmer is expected to hear submissions shortly from the lawyers involved in the inquiry to help him in creating his report of recommendations for the province.

Tom Murphy's interview with Robert Wright on the Desmond Inquiry

3 years ago

Duration 5:13

The Desmond Inquiry heard from a panel of experts calling for culturally specific health-care services for Black communities. It says systemic racism is a barrier to many seeking mental health and domestic violence support. Social worker and sociologist Robert Wright testified at the Desmond Inquiry this week.