Grant: Fellowship - Priority Announcement: IAPH Quantitative Research

First Nations, Métis and Inuit populations experience poorer mental and physical health compared to other Canadians. One reason for this is that there is very little health information available on these issues. There is also a lack of culturally appropriate tools and methods for identifying and measuring health and social characteritics from an Indigenous perspective. More mental health and addictions information that is based in local culture and is representative of these communities is needed. This research project will build on a proven community-based method called Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) to get Aboriginal families to participate in a cohort study. RDS is a unique tool because it relies on people to recruit their own peers into the study and generates unbiased population health information. In particular, data on mental health conditions and the use of illicit drugs will provide much needed knowledge on how frequent and serious these issues are, particularly in off-reserve Aboriginal communities. The information gathered through this research will help ongoing Aboriginal community services and program evaluations and will contribute to the overall deficiency in available public health information on Aboriginal people in Canada.