Since being appointed BC’s first Aboriginal health physician advisor just over a year ago, Dr Evan Adams has been getting surprised. For example:
“I’m surprised by the number of competencies in our Aboriginal health workers”; or
“I’m surprised by our wisdom. Our people are doing quite well”; or
“I’m surprised… it’s astounding how many patients think they’re powerless to change their health. But it’s just a simple step-by-step program whether you’re losing five pounds or cutting adolescent suicide rates by 50 per cent. Both are done step by step.
“I’ve been constantly surprised at width and breadth of the number of topics.”
Dr Adams’ job description sounds quite daunting – “Specific responsibility for monitoring and reporting on the health of Aboriginal people in British Columbia and tracking progress against performance measures in the First Nations Health Plan” according to a government press release. Whew!
But he makes it sound quite simple as he describes how, before he started, a tripartite system for Aboriginal health didn’t exist.
“It had never been done before,” he said of Canada, BC and Aboriginal people communicating over health issues. “Now we have tripartite health. Before, everyone would work alone. Now they all have to partnership. It’s all part of the new relationship.”
Much of Dr Adams time is spent in meetings, reading reports and visiting communities. But he knew early on that there was more to the job than just talk.
“It’s not just talking about it… it’s not just about everyone getting along with each other. We have to build a structure to support the health of Aboriginal people.
“Usually a structure is invisible. Most people don’t think about how a health service works or what the government does to help them fight cancer or how babies are born.
Health’s big picture
Dr Adams is often frustrated when people try to pigeonhole him to just medical areas.
He gets disillusioned when the media gives headlines to a native man who leaves his daughter out in cold, but ignores the good and challenging issues in Aboriginal people.
“I try to change beliefs and face racism wherever I can,” he said. “What we’ve inherited doesn’t go away. It’s important to create a space of wellness for people.
“Our health is not just diseases or services. It’s quality of life, the ability to fulfill potential, the pursuit of happiness, a good future for children… it’s good work and pay and it’s where we live. All those things have a strong connection to health.”
Natural healing
“It’s natural to heal and it’s natural to get better,” said Dr Adams.
“I have to find out what’s preventing us. One of many obstacles is the system. Others are personal, beliefs, expectations, lack of knowledge, addictive behaviour, poverty… things that are understandable, but not natural.
“Before, we had to be in good health and strong in order to survive. We couldn’t afford to carry 100 extra pounds or sit on a couch.”
First report in the autumn
“My job is to ensure respectful relationships and evaluate outcomes, monitor Aboriginal peoples’ health for next ten years and recommend solutions when things are failing,” said Dr Adams.
Some of his recommendation will figure prominently in his “Report on the Health and Wellbeing of Aboriginal People of BC”. It will be the first comprehensive report on the subject since BC’s provincial health officer published the first study in 2001 that shocked many people with its statistics.
Dr Adams said his report will also be several hundred pages long and will have “strong recommendations for Aboriginal health intervention and policy”.
‘Learn the old ways’ Return to your roots!
That’s Dr Evan Adams best advice to anyone thinking of entering the health professions.
“I went into medicine only to find out that our ways of healing and caring are more important,” he said. “People appreciate it when you’re helpful and kind more than when you’re smart.”
He said the health field is an honourable profession in the best sense, especially when it’s combined with a strong cultural background.
“You nurture traditional senses of wellness, kindness and respect. If you can add a degree, that would be great, not always necessary. Learn to do it the old way, help each other out.”
But, he said, a degree can come in very handy too.
“Having authority, like my degree, helps me advocate for my clients.”
Going to the Games
Dr Adams will be one of the many volunteers at the North American Indigenous Games in Cowichan in August.
He’s been helping to develop the medical team that will be on hand to assist the thousands of athletes and spectators during the weeklong event. That includes setting up roving first aid teams and staffing the clinic with volunteer doctors, nurses, dentists and other health professionals.
An Evan Adams Snapshot
He grew up in Sliammon with parents Mary Jane and Lesley.
In the early 1990s, he was given the name Tlesla. “My old name… everywhere Aboriginal people are picking up their old ways. The new ways are not everything.”
He got his first film role in 1986 as Jacob in “Toby McTeague”. He then appeared in TV roles including “The Beachcombers” before getting better roles until he landed the role of Thomas Builds-the-Fire in “Smoke Signals” in 1998. Other highlights included DaVinci’s Inquest on CBC. His last film role was “Black Christmas” in 2006.
“I miss being an actor… miss it a lot. It was fun and made me happy. When I was a little kid dreaming about what I wanted to be, well I never dreamed about meetings,” he said referring to his current work.
Although filmmaking is close to his heart, his only focus now is on health issues. “I get so many requests. I just try to do large groups talking about health. I get hundreds of requests from Grade 3 classes wanting to meet the actor, but I have to say ‘no’. Of course, if someone in a meeting asks about my films, that’s okay.”
He attended St. Michaels University School on a full scholarship as well as Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. He completed three years of pre-med studies at the University of British Columbia and a medical doctorate from the University of Calgary in 2002. He was chief resident in the Aboriginal family practice program at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver and was the 2005 winner of the BC Family Medicine Resident Leadership Award from the College of Family Physicians of Canada as well as the national winner of the Murray Stalker Award from the CFPC Research and Education Foundation.
He is the past-president of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, and is currently the director of the division of Aboriginal peoples’ health at UBC’s department of family practice. He is an MPH-candidate with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health during his current work with the office of the provincial health officer.
