Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Health inequities between Indigenous people and other Canadians have become the focus of actions and research agendas in Canada, yet growing disparities persist. Governments and research organizations, such as the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, have increasingly acknowledged the importance, necessity and ethical mandate of involving Indigenous peoples in research and policy making processes as a means of addressing health inequities and promoting outcomes desired by communities. Collaborative, participatory policy making between Indigenous people and policy makers requires two-way communication, however mutual exchange can be challenging as policy discourses and Indigenous ways of speaking and knowing may have underlying philosophical differences, including different understandings of knowledge. This research uses knowledge translation models to examine how knowledge held within Indigenous communities can be translated into policy discourse, in order to promote the inclusion of Indigenous voices in public health policy and decision making. Working in partnership with Indigenous leaders and public health decision makers, qualitative interviews will be used to achieve two objectives: a) to explore the role of knowledge translation between Indigenous people and policy makers, and b) to inform the development of a framework to guide ethical collaborative policy making processes between Indigenous people and public health decision makers. Drawing from community-based, critical inquiry and qualitative methodologies, these objectives will be met by conducting a literature review on knowledge translation tools to support public participation in policy making, an historical analysis of Indigenous involvement in policy making, and interviews with key stakeholders in Indigenous public health in Canada. The CIHR Guidelines for Health Research Involving Aboriginal People will be followed and Indigenous research partners will be involved at all stages of this project.