Approaches to Community-Based Health Research in Partnership with Indigenous Communities in Northern Canada

Abstract:

In its mandate, the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health has called upon researchers to develop new approaches for applied research aimed at addressing Indigenous health disparities in Canada. Similarly, the Tri-Council Agencies recently issued a revised policy statement that includes guidelines intended to support the meaningful involvement of Indigenous peoples in research that impacts them. One manner by which biomedical anthropologists (as well as researchers working in other disciplines) have responded to these principles has been by adopting a partnered, community-driven approach to Indigenous health research. In this talk, I will discuss the community-driven program of health research that I have built in partnership with several Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories and Yukon. Each of these projects incorporates principles of community based participatory research, multilateral knowledge exchange, and ensuring opportunities for youth engagement and reciprocal capacity building. In discussing the implications of these studies, I will offer examples of how each of these components has directly benefited research outcomes. This will provide the basis for an overview of the merits of developing applied projects within the framework of a community-driven approach to Indigenous health research. In each case, the goal of producing collaboratively generated knowledge that is suitable for informing knowledge translation activities has provided the impetus for research aimed at addressing the elevated prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in Indigenous communities in Arctic Canada. I will conclude by providing examples of anticipated outcomes that are aimed at improving individual health and community wellbeing in a manner that is culturally appropriate and locally relevant.

Everyone is welcome!