Grant: Project Grant

Health and wellness promotion within Indigenous men and women is an important line of discovery. New and culturally relevant and safe methods of improving the health and well-being of Indigenous communities need to be addressed that leave sustainable effects within the community. Leading Indigenous health agencies have outlined the need to build our understanding of traditional Indigenous practices to address the knowledge translation gap between Western and traditional practices. Our current proposal is designed specifically to address this need by increasing the understanding and acceptance of traditional wellness by Western healthcare professionals allowing for a truly collaborative approach to health and wellbeing within Indigenous communities. Our initiative is also intended to enhance the empowerment and self-determination of Indigenous peoples providing greater ownership over health and wellness within their community demonstrating the value of combining both traditional and Western health practices. Moreover, we seek to enhance the cultural competency and cultural safety of our approach to optimize the experience of our participants. We will also explore sex- and gender-based differences in the understanding and acceptance of traditional Indigenous health and wellness practices, the sociocultural and physiological determinants of health and wellness, the dissemination and uptake of knowledge, and the participation in a community-based health and wellness approach. This research will provide important new information regarding the understanding of Indigenous knowledge, traditions, and culture, and the creation of effective, Indigenous-led, community-based wellness initiatives.