Grant: Operating Grant - Aboriginal Health Intervention - full application

Climate change has been identified as the biggest threat to public health this century, and Inuit are one of the most at-risk populations. Communities and northern health systems will have to adapt. The research team assembled here has been working with Inuit communities and policy makers for over a decade, examining what climate change means for health. This has recently included the identification and prioritization of potential adaptation interventions. Here we plan to take the next step and develop, implement, and evaluate pilot interventions in case study communities. Specifically, the project will examine how to document, preserve, and promote Inuit traditional knowledge (IK) for adapting to the health effects of climate change. Previous research has indicated the importance of IK for managing the health effects of climate change, yet there is widespread concern that this knowledge is being lost as elders pass away. The project will begin by identifying and characterizing how IK can help enhance health in-light of a rapidly changing climate. Working with 6 communities, the research will document IK on health prevention, preparedness, and promotion, with attention directed to maintaining physical, mental, and social well-being in-light of a rapidly changing climate. Secondly, we will explore ways to preserve, promote, and make accessible this knowledge for adaptation to climate change. Potential tools and platforms for doing this will be identified in collaboration with communities and may involve web-based knowledge banks, radio dramas, social media, and digital storytelling. Knowledge promotion interventions will be implemented and promoted and will be evaluated using a number of methods including before and after surveys, and focus groups and interviews to explore the success of messaging. The project will finish by examining the extent to which promotion of traditional approaches could form part of territorial and federal adaptation programming.