Our Team
The whole is much more than the sum of it’s part. Meet our team!
Dr. Elizabeth Hartney
Principal Investigator
Dr. Hartney conceived and developed the project to apply the findings of her previous research with Elders in the BC health system.
Dr. Shannon McDonald
Indigenous Physician
Dr. McDonald developed the educational content, bringing her professional and lived experience to the training.
Leslie Bryant
Indigenous Research Lead, Interior Health
Bryant played a key role in community engagement and relationship building in the Interior, and planning implementation in Interior Health hospitals.
Shawna Duncan
Corporate Director of Cultural Safety Education, Interior Health
Duncan led a team within Interior Health developing the foundational training, advising on the structure and process of the training, and integrating the Elders in Emergency specialized training into the broader cultural safety curriculum, as well as providing access to Interior Health hospital staff.
Carnation Nonhlanhla Zhuwaki
Knowledge Facilitator
Carnation Nonhlanhla is originally from Zimbabwe and moved to Canada in 2000 for post- secondary education. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing Degree and an MBA.
Our Story
Dr Elizabeth Hartney and Dr Shannon McDonald first worked together at the British Columbia Ministry of Health in 2012, where Dr Hartney served as the Resident Psychologist and Dr McDonald served as the Executive Director of the Aboriginal Health Directorate. They connected over a mutual commitment to improving health outcomes for Indigenous people in British Columbia, and maintained their collaborations as Dr McDonald went on to leading the First Nations Health Authority, serving as their Chief Medical Officer, and Dr Hartney went on to lead the Centre for Health Leadership & Research at Royal Roads University.
Dr Hartney collaborated with Leslie Bryant and Shawna Duncan as part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded Indigenous Research Leadership Planning Project (link to the report in the resources section), and found common interests in their commitment to supporting and giving voice to Elders in transforming the health system. Bryant engaged with a group of Elders in the Interior health region, who learned about Hartney’s work with Elders in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded Developing Elders Support for Trauma Informed Emergency Departments (DESTINED) project, and requested Hartney and Bryant develop an implementation plan and seek funding for Interior Health hospitals to receive education grounded in this research to better support Elders in Interior Health’s 16 hospitals. This resulted in the current project.
After a pause in the project due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bryant moved to a new position in Interior Health, and Duncan moved to leading cultural safety education at Interior Health. This provided more extensive supports for developing online training, which will be available to all hospital staff, as well as all staff within Interior Health. Hartney and McDonald worked in collaboration with Duncan to develop and implement the training on how to better care for Indigenous Elders in hospital emergency departments.