What's covered

About Our Standards

HSO standards are the foundation on which leading-edge accreditation programs and great public policy are built. Standards create a strong health care structure that the public, providers, and policy makers can rely on, assuring high quality health services where it matters most.

HSO’s standards are formatted using the following structure:

  • Section Title: A section of the standard that relates to a specific topic.
  • Clause: A  thematic statement that introduces a set of criteria.
  • Criteria: Requirements based on evidence that describe what is needed by people to achieve a particular activity. Each criterion outlines intent, action, and accountability.
  • Guidelines: Provide additional information and evidence to support the implementation of each criterion.

About This Standard

This is the first edition of HSO 75000:2022(E) British Columbia Cultural Safety and Humility standard. The target audiences are governing bodies, organizational leaders, teams, and the workforce from health authorities and health and social services organizations in the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada. The standard helps governing body members and organizational leaders identify, measure, and achieve culturally safe systems and services that better respond to the health and wellness priorities of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples and communities, regardless of where they are located. A number of foundational documents, including the following supporting documentation and legislative commitments, were used to inform the content of the standard.

Supporting documentation are significant reports pertaining to Indigenous-specific racism and/or discrimination as well as truth and reconciliation.

    1. In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care (Full and Summary Reports) (Turpel-Lafond, 2020a)
    2. Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2019)
    3. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015a)
    4. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Canada et al.,1996)

Legislative commitments are based on Canadian and/or international legal commitments to which Canada has subscribed.

    1. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations, 2007)
    2. Canadian Human Rights Act (1985)
    3. Constitution Act, Part II, Rights of the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada, Section 35 (1982)

The standard will be available to health and social services organizations as a resource document.

BC health organizations can contact HSO to have access to a copy at no cost. If enrolled in accreditation with Accreditation Canada, the standard is available on the client organization portal.

The standard will undergo periodic maintenance. HSO will review and re-publish the standard on a five-year schedule.

Who this standard is for

Scope

Purpose

This standard specifies the requirements for governing bodies, organizational leaders, teams, and the workforce from health authorities and health and social services organizations to address Indigenous-specific racism in service delivery and provide culturally safe services to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples and communities in BC.

The standard applies to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples’ health and wellness journeys across the health system, including health promotion and disease prevention, access to health and social services, admission, assessment, treatment, discharge, and end-of-life care. The standard provides guidance as to the organizational structures and procedures that are required in governance, leadership, and service provision to support anti-racism and cultural safety and humility and ensure the delivery of health and social services that are aligned with Indigenous traditions and values.

Applicability

This standard is intended to be used by governing bodies, organizational leaders, teams, and the workforce from health authorities and health and social services organizations in the province of British Columbia (BC) to support the design, development, and implementation of health and social services and care delivery that respects cultural safety and humility principles.

BC health organizations can contact HSO to have access to a copy at no cost. If enrolled in accreditation with Accreditation Canada, the standard is available on the client organization portal.

Questions about this standard? Want more information?

Contact Us