"Non-compliant" isn't a word most of us use in common speech, but it shows up a lot in medical charts. It's jargon, a kind of shorthand that doctors, counsellors and other medical professionals use to describe their patients. It can mean anything from "the patient isn't taking their medication properly" to "they don't show up for appointments."
It may also be a sign of a communication breakdown between clinician and patient that could lead to poor care and serious mental health outcomes, according to Mallory Minerson.
Minerson is a PhD candidate in psychiatry at U of A who works as the regional clinical supervisor for mental health and addictions for the Beaufort Delta region of the Northwest Territories, which includes the northern coastal area of NWT and the territory's High Arctic islands.
Minerson will carry out a retrospective chart review, data mining electronic chart notes back to 2015, the year the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada made its final report. She will explore how the language used when interacting with mental health professionals impacts patients' experience and outcomes.
"My research seeks to unpack the way that we document and speak to our clients so that people feel more engaged and respected in their care," Minerson explains. "That involves decolonizing the language we use and getting to the heart of the encounter."
"We hope that her work helps contribute to a learning health system for the Northwest Territories," says John B. Zoe, governing council chair of Hotıì ts'eeda, a research support unit of Tłı̨chǫ, a self-governed region of NWT.
Hotıì ts'eeda and Mental Health Research Canada awarded Minerson a new Įnı̀ Gomǫò Whehdıı̀ Studentship to support her work. Įnı̀ Gomǫǫ̀ Whehdı̀ı means "embracing spirit" in the Tłı̨chǫ language.
"It's actually preventative care"
Born in Calgary, Minerson started her working life as a musical theatre performer, then discovered that she could use the arts to help people with mental health challenges. Trained as both a drama therapist and a licensed practical nurse, Minerson has experience in forensic psychiatry and addictions treatment. She's worked in Canada's North since 2018 and now supervises 12 therapists who care for the 6,000 people who live in eight High Arctic communities in NWT.
"I really believe that as non-Indigenous practitioners in Canada, we have a responsibility to do reconciliation work through the care we provide," she says.
As she sifts through the charts, Minerson will be on the lookout for shorthand phrases that can be judgmental or even racist.
