Grant: Indigenous COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity - Evaluation/Assessment

COVID-19 has swept around the globe and has already resulted in over 1.5 million deaths. In the past, Indigenous people were devastated by pandemics including smallpox, Spanish flu and H1N1 and cases of COVID-19 are now rising quickly in many communities. This proposal builds on the activities of our existing project that focuses on COVID-19 and Indigenous people. Named kitatipithitamak mithwayawin, Cree for control or sovereignty over wellbeing, its goal is to document the past, present and future impacts of pandemics. And to support Indigenous communities as they respond to COVID-19. This proposal similarly aims to extend its scope and impact in three ways. i)Past work: Evaluate impacts of our existing activities focusing on Indigenous risk communication. These reflect videos, webinars, workshops, and infographics that are shared on our project website < http://covid19indigenous.ca/> and Facebook page < https://www.facebook.com/covid19indigenous/> ii)Present work: Expand a new digital health initiative that will use web and mobile apps to provide health directors with real-time health data for local decision-making. We will expand these efforts to include any First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities in Canada wanting to participate. We will also evaluate the benefits and any shortcomings of these apps in local decision-making regarding COVID-19 and wellbeing as a whole. iii)Future work: Hold an international (virtual) conference in May 2021 that brings Indigenous communities and scholars from around the world to share their experiences with COVID-19 and to learn from one another. This will ideally result in an Indigenous-led network of support that helps communities respond to pandemics in the future. The impacts of the conference and network will also be evaluated. In closing, this proposal expands our existing Indigenous-led project on COVID-19 and does so in ways that serve the interests of any and all Indigenous communities regardless of location.