Grant: Project Grant

Indigenous Peoples worldwide sustain dynamic place-based Indigenous Health Knowledge Systems and Services (IHKSS). Billions of people use traditional medicine and seek holistic approaches to healthcare. Yet, there remains limited community-led evidence on how IHKSS are harmonized within local primary healthcare services (PHS) and on the impact of this integration on community wellness, provider well-being, and health system transformation. Our team's question asks: How do Healers, Helpers, and Health Providers (H3) operationalize and harmonize IHKS within their local community health hubs? What are the structural, systemic, and relational barriers and facilitators? And how can this research illuminate and amplify Nation-led IHKSS development? To answer, we have partnered with four affiliated partner communities in MB, SK, AB, and BC, actively incorporating IHKSS and holistic healing training into their PHS. Guided by Indigenous research methodologies and the Askiw-Maskihkiy Network (AMN) formed by this collective, supports the collaborative exploration of how these four communities promote, protect, and apply IHKSS within their territories. Data will be generated from the yearly journey and distinct mapping sessions, learning circles, storytelling, and observations and experiences of the land-based apprenticeship training of IHKSS. Quantitative data will be collected through surveys tracking cultural connectedness and provider well-being. Analysis will consider the health system as an integrated whole, attending to the relationships among its components while also recognizing the importance of relational accountability, cultural safety, and community priorities. Anticipated outcomes include validated journey maps of IHKSS PHC pathways, community health resources, data sovereignty protocols, Nation-led policy briefs that can preserve distinct health knowledge systems and overall improve collective and local wellness, and support culturally safe healthcare delivery.