Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

In the next 30 years, dementia diagnoses (e.g., Alzheimer's disease) among Indigenous peoples in Canada are projected to rise faster than non-Indigenous people. Research suggests that this trend is driven by lifestyle factors that can be changed (e.g., physical inactivity, diet, hypertension, smoking), meaning that many dementia cases could be prevented by addressing these risk factors. Risk factors may disproportionately affect Indigenous communities due to barriers to culturally safe healthcare. Canada's dementia strategy and the World Health Organization emphasize the need for culturally safe prevention interventions developed with Indigenous communities that weave Indigenous knowledge, practices, and beliefs with empirical-based prevention research. Although national efforts to develop such interventions are underway, the diversity among communities requires regionally-specific approaches. While culturally safe regional interventions designed with Aboriginal communities in Australia have been developed, these approaches remain unexamined in Canada. In my research projects, I will work with an Indigenous-led regional health organization in Northwestern Ontario to develop a culturally safe regionally-specific dementia prevention intervention. I will weave the perspectives of Indigenous older adults and local and national interdisciplinary health professionals, community assets, and empirical research to develop Canada's first culturally safe regionally-specific dementia prevention intervention for Indigenous peoples. This research will contribute to regional efforts toward reducing dementia risk among Indigenous peoples and may help inform prevention efforts for diverse populations beyond Northwestern Ontario. This research aligns with the culturally safe prevention priorities set forth by Canada's dementia strategy and responds to the World Health Organization's call for culturally safe dementia prevention interventions.