CLIENT

Women’s College Hospital

SERVICES

Website

Located in Women’s College Hospital, the Centre for Wise Practices is a place for education, advocacy, traditional healing, clinical care and Indigenous scholarship.

Their goal is to support and facilitate transformative change so that Indigenous Peoples experience high quality care that is culturally safe, trauma-informed, free of racism or discrimination, and where Indigenous worldviews are recognized and valued.

The Centre wanted to create a website that took an Indigenous-first approach to the design and content organization of the website. This can always be a challenge when working with content management systems such a WordPress because of usability issues, accessibility, and cultural ways of knowing and understanding.

How we helped

The new CWP website features a navigation built around their six interlinked Governance Circles: Spirit, Indigenous Wellness, Principles, Accountability, Programs, and Future Horizons. The CWP website supports Women’s College Hospital’s goal of honouring and implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s specific calls-to-action for healthcare and education.

DDP focused on reconciling Indigenous approaches with western frameworks to make tailored projects that help communication work move along the path of reconciliation.

A woman in a floral dress holds a tablet in her hands. On it is a Centre for Wise Practices webpage showing a complex Medicine Wheel diagram.
A desktop mockup of the Centre for Wise Practices website.

Making a difference

The communication and energy generated around the website resulted in a media spotlight on the services available at the Centre.

Read this Toronto Star article for an overview of some of the media coverage.

A young mother viewing the CWP website on her laptop. Her baby is asleep in a baby carrier tucked against her chest under her purple shirt.
A phone mockup of the Centre for Wise Practices website.
An iphone mockup of the Centre for Wise Practices website.

It represents structural change, where Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge — including that of a traditional healer — is being formally recognized within a non-Indigenous health-care system.

Dr. Lisa Richardson, strategic lead in Indigenous health at Women’s College Hospital (WCH)