Grant: Team Grant: STEPS-Strengthening Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness

Rural and remote First Nations communities face recurring public-health and emergency-management challenges-from extreme heat and wildfire smoke to floods and outbreaks-where distance, connectivity gaps, limited clinical capacity, and overlapping roles make coordination difficult. Existing plans often miss the last mile (welfare checks, transportation, EMS to Public Health handoffs) and overlook priority populations such as Elders, people with chronic disease, unhoused people, and outdoor workers. This project will generate practical, community-driven knowledge to strengthen preparedness across the public-health pillars of health protection, disease and injury prevention, and emergency preparedness. We will adapt ISU's equity- and community-centred PACC Mapping method to Public Health & Community Care (PHACC) Mapping; to support First Nations communities in planning for-and acting on-their public-health and emergency-management priorities. PHACC involves a series of facilitated workshops that convene community members, Indigenous leadership, clinicians, public health, emergency health services, community organizations, and municipalities to map pathways and handoffs, identify barriers and assets, and co-design solutions. The process will also build local capacity, taking a train-the-trainer approach and working with local community members to adopt PHACC mapping to facilitate focused, person-centered and equity oriented planning for implementation of community and systems change. PHACC provides a repeatable way to coordinate before, during, and after emergencies, strengthening service models, governance and engagement, cross-agency coordination, and data and decision supports-grounded in Indigenous leadership and data-governance principles. By embedding community choice, Indigenous leadership, and practical tools, this project will help build resilient public-health and emergency-management systems in rural and remote settings.