Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Chronic pain (CP) affects 1 in 5 Canadians and disproportionately impacts Indigenous Peoples, who also report higher rates of other chronic health conditions and substance use. These health disparities are anchored in Canada's colonial history and are fueled by intergenerational trauma including the legacy of residential schools, racism, food and water insecurity, displacement, and economic inequities. Indigenous peoples' pain is often under-reported, under-assessed, and under-treated, and they face challenges in accessing health care due to stigma, poor treatment resulting in harms, and lack of acknowledgment and integration of traditional knowledge and healing. The Canadian Pain Task Force and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada call for better training of health care professionals to provide culturally safe care. This project brings together a team of Indigenous and settler investigators with diverse expertise. As recommended by our Indigenous Advisory Committee, planned activities involve designing a culturally safe evaluation and research plan to evaluate a continuing professional development program called: Project ECHO Indigenous Chronic Pain and Substance Use (PE-ICP&SU). This program connects community-based health care providers via videoconference to an interprofessional team of Indigenous and settler experts to improve participants' capacity to provide culturally safe CP and substance use care through case discussion and didactic presentations. Meetings in September 2022 are planned to identify 1) core components of a culturally safe evaluation of PE-ICP&SU to guide future evaluation and research; and 2) key research questions that matter to Indigenous partners for future research on PE-ICP&SU. Meeting participants will include Indigenous Elders, members of the PE-ICP&SU Expert Advisory Committee and health care participants involved in PE-ICP&SU. Key outcomes include an improved evaluation plan for PE-ICP&SU and a research proposal.