Grant: Op. Gr.: Data Anal. Using Existing Data./Cohorts - HCIR Urban Indigenous Health

For the past 4 years, our team has been studying the impact of cycling and walking trails on the health of people living in urban areas. We discovered that when cities build trails, people use them. In Winnipeg, over 1.6M people were counted on four large cycling trails since their construction. The trails also are linked to better health outcomes, including lower rates of heart disease. Unfortunately, these trails were not constructed in an equitable way however. First Nations and Metis people living in Winnipeg we less likely to have access to the trails. We will leverage the databases used to make these discoveries to address several important questions related to the urban built environment that support physical activity (PA) and heart health for First Nations and Metis people living in Winnipeg. To respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Call to Action #19 our team of Indigenous organizations, Indigenous scholars, Elders, policy makers and scientists will made inequities in heart disease worse for First Nations and Metis people. Using a community-based participatory approach, we will address UNDRIP articles #23 and 24 by identifying parts of the urban environment in that support PA to see if they protect urban First Nations and Métis people for heart disease. Lastly, we will respond to TRC calls to Action #7 and #23 we will pilot a novel Healthy Cities summer research institute that will train First Nations and Métis undergraduate students in Indigenous and western research methods and use existing databases.