Advancing Equity in Care: Honouring Black Clinicians and Caregivers

Honouring Legacy While Naming the Present

Black History Month is a time to celebrate Black leadership in Canada. For Black clinicians and caregivers, this month is both a celebration and a moment of honesty. It’s a chance to acknowledge the realities that shape their work, their wellbeing, and their ability to care safely.

This month, we explore “Caring While Black” with two Black clinicians and caregivers. They generously share their experiences of providing care within systems that were not built with them in mind.

Yinka Oladele, a Canadian counsellor, caregiver, entrepreneur, and community leader advancing culturally responsive palliative care, cancer support, and mental health equity.
Donna Lawrence, RN, Nurse Educator, and long‑time advocate for anti‑Black racism work in nursing.

Their recent blog posts make one thing clear: “Caring While Black” isn’t a single story. It’s a systemic reality and it calls for collective responsibility.

The Emotional and Systemic Realities of Caring While Black

Through their lived experiences, Yinka Oladele and Donna Lawrence show the emotional and systemic barriers Black caregivers and clinicians face each day. They highlight the ongoing burden of advocating in culturally unsafe systems and the resilience it takes to keep caring with compassion and integrity.

These experiences are not isolated. The Canadian Medical Association has stated that anti‑Black racism has not left the health system¹. It continues to shape access, treatment, and workplace culture for Black patients and providers. Many Black clinicians describe the same daily tension of providing care and navigating harm.

On a day-to-day basis, much of this harm shows up through microaggressions that are subtle but damaging behaviours. Healthline² identifies them as:

questioning a clinician’s competence
commenting on appearance or hair
assuming a caregiver is “aggressive” for advocating
dismissing pain or concerns raised by Black patients

Individually, these moments may seem small. Collectively, they create chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, and barriers to equitable care.

These realities echo what the RNAO Black Nurses Task Force Report identifies as persistent patterns: disproportionate scrutiny, unsafe reporting structures, and limited opportunities for advancement³. The Task Force’s 19 recommendations call for system‑level change, including transparent reporting mechanisms, leadership accountability, equitable hiring and promotion practices, and organizational standards that explicitly address anti‑Black racism.

The RNAO’s methodological considerations reinforce this message⁴. Addressing anti‑Black racism requires intentional data collection, anti‑racism competencies in education, and processes that do not place the burden of proof on Black nurses. As Donna puts it, the question is not “Can you prove racism?” but “How do we demonstrate that racism is not present?”

Moving from reaction to intention, and from performance to accountability, is how we begin to build systems where Black clinicians and caregivers no longer shoulder additional, unjust burdens.

What Culturally Safe Palliative Care Must Look Like

A fresh perspective on “Caring While Black” asks us to imagine something different. It challenges us to build systems where Black clinicians and caregivers can thrive and not just survive.

This includes:

Trauma‑informed, anti‑racist practice
Representation in leadership and care teams
Safe, confidential reporting mechanisms
Training that integrates cultural, spiritual, and linguistic needs
Partnerships with Black‑led community organizations
Policies that embed equity, not just programs that gesture toward it

Culturally safe palliative care is a standard. It is strengthened by access to a high‑quality palliative care training program that equips clinicians and caregivers to provide equitable, culturally responsive support.

A palliative care training program also helps to embed the principles of compassionate community care into everyday practice. This ensures that care teams understand the cultural, social, and historical contexts shaping Black patients’ and caregivers’ experiences.

As the sector evolves, having a palliative care training program imbedded in true culturally safer care becomes essential. It prepares present and future clinicians to deliver care that is clinically excellent and culturally safe, grounded in equity.

From Legacy to Action: Building a Future Where Belonging Is the Norm

Black excellence in palliative care is everywhere. It shows up in quiet rooms, at bedsides, in community groups, and in advocacy networks. It lives in the hands of caregivers who show up every day with skill and compassion. Black people often model the very principles of compassionate community care long before systems catch up.

Honouring this excellence means more than recognition. It means action.

For organizations

Implement anti‑Black racism frameworks
Invest in culturally responsive training
Create safe reporting systems
Ensure equitable hiring, promotion, and workload distribution

For supporters

Listen without defensiveness
Believe lived experience
Educate yourself using credible resources
Speak up when you witness harm

For the sector

Embed equity into policy
Fund Black‑led initiatives
Prioritize representation in leadership
Treat cultural safety as essential to quality care

Closing: We Honour, We Witness, We Act

“Caring While Black” should never require resilience as a survival strategy. It should not demand silence, sacrifice, or self‑protection.

This Black History Month, we honour the legacy of Black caregivers and clinicians. Their impact lives not only in history books, but in the quiet, courageous work happening across Canada every day.

We honour.
We witness.
We act.

And together, we build a future where care is safe, equitable, and rooted in belonging for all.

Resources for Learning, Support, and Action

Anti‑Black Racism & Health Equity

Black Nurses Leading Change (RNAO Interest Group)
Black Health Alliance
Health Canada: Social Determinants of Health
Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI)
Ontario Human Rights Commission – Anti‑Black Racism Framework

Palliative Care & Culturally Safe Practice

Life and Death Matters-PACE for PSWs; Integrating a Palliative Approach: Essentials for Personal Support Workers
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA)
Pallium Canada – LEAP Courses
Canadian Virtual Hospice – Indigenous & Cultural Safety Resources
BC Centre for Palliative Care – Equity & Inclusion Initiatives