Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

European colonization of North America disrupted and suppressed the historically rich and diverse base of Indigenous knowledge and language. This included the systems for their exchange, and uptake to maintain and improve health within Indigenous communities (Smylie, 2011). Successful knowledge translation (KT) interventions within the context of Indigenous communities are most successful when they take the form of interpersonal exchange (Leadbeater, Banister, & Marshall, 2011). Currently, sustaining knowledge use following a KT intervention can be a challenge, yet this phase of the KT process remains understudied (Graham et al., 2006). The objective of my research is to identify barriers and facilitators to KT intervention sustainability within the socio-ecological system of an Indigenous community. Specifically, I intend to focus on my home community, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory as a case study because this community will be receiving an Indigenous-led week-ling mobilization training workshop focused on diabetes prevention (i.e., the KT intervention). I intend to conduct qualitative interviews informed by Indigenous KT with workshop participants, addressing each layer of the social ecological system as informed by an Indigenous KT lens. My research is ancillary to the a larger Community Mobilization Training research led by my graduate supervisor, Dr. Lucie Lévesque, which builds upon established partnerships with several Indigenous communities across Canada. Parallel to the approach of the larger project, my research will be participatory, with all phases of research completed in partnership with the community. The end product of dissemination will be a culturally relevant resource to support the sustainment of the KT intervention created by, with, and for the community.