Grant: Knowledge Translation Supplement - PA: First Nations Inuit or Métis

The proposed project builds a KT platform based on three CIHR funded studies revealing that Aboriginal children and teens who have asthma and allergies experience major support gaps and isolation. They wanted support from peers and health professionals in online groups. The KT team will adapt an online support and education program tested in our previous studies to the needs and wishes identified by Aboriginal children and teens in the CIHR funded projects. The team includes Aboriginal leaders, service providers, policy influencers, and researchers. The 14 members of the National Advisory Committee include Aboriginal chiefs, elders, parents of Aboriginal children with asthma and allergies, Aboriginal teens affected by allergies and asthma, Aboriginal community health workers, provincial Director of Aboriginal Health Population and Public Health, Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, and representatives of First Nations Inuit Health Branch and National Aboriginal Health Organization. The Advisory Committee has been created to guide the three phases of this KT project. Online peer and professional facilitated support - education programs, will be offered to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children and teens on national partner websites such as Asthma Society of Canada and/or the National Aboriginal Health Organization. Children's/ teens' satisfaction with the program and the effect of the program on their loneliness, support needs, coping, quality of life, and use of health services will be evaluated. At a National Symposium, Aboriginal community leaders, program planners, and policy makers will discuss how online support education programs can be implemented to improve health and health services for Aboriginal children and families affected by asthma and allergies.