Grant: Operating Grant - Aboriginal Health Intervention - full application

The number of Aboriginal Canadians facing end of life is increasing each year due to the growing number of Aboriginal seniors and the high burden of chronic and terminal disease amongst this population. About one third of Aboriginal Canadians live in rural or remote First Nations communities. Residents of these communities face many barriers to accessing health services, including palliative care. In addition, existing services are often not culturally appropriate. Addressing this unmet need for accessible, culturally appropriate palliative care services for Aboriginal people in First Nations communities is a growing social obligation and an emerging Canadian policy priority. The overall goal of this intervention research is to improve end-of -life care in four First Nations communities through developing palliative care programs and creating a culturally appropriate theory of change to guide palliative care program and policy development nationally. The proposed research adopts community capacity development as its theoretical perspective and a participatory action research approach (PAR). There are four First Nations communities as partners and study sites: Naotkamegwanning First Nation, Fort William First Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and Peguis First Nation. The knowledge created by this research will include a tool kit of interventions for implementing palliative care in First Nations communities and a culturally appropriate theory of change to guide program and policy development nationally. Such theories of change are currently lacking, limiting the ability to evaluate the processes and outcomes of capacity development and create health services and policies consistent with a capacity development approach.