Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Hospital care comprises the largest category in healthcare spending accounting for $66 billion a year in Canada, and numerous studies have demonstrated that hospitalization rates are disproportionately higher for Indigenous children compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, outside of population-based hospitalization rates and causes, few studies have examined the care and outcomes of Indigenous children within the inpatient setting, and no studies have focused on how to ensure meaningful participation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in leading this important evidence-generating pediatric inpatient research. With the development of the Canadian Pediatric Inpatient Research Network (PIRN), a national patient-oriented hospital based research network, there is now an opportunity to advance the care and outcomes for children admitted to hospital. The current planning grant aims to develop infrastructure in PIRN to ensure meaningful, culturally-safe, partnership and participation of Indigenous children, families, and communities within this network. The specific aims are to: 1)Conduct an environmental scan to describe the services specific to Indigenous children and families in general pediatric inpatient units across Canada 2)Engage Indigenous communities to: a) Determine interest in pediatric inpatient research; and b) In partnership, explore perspectives on how pediatric inpatient research may benefit Indigenous children and families 3)Incorporate in PIRN an Indigenous community partnership framework for participation of Indigenous communities to identify strategic priorities integrating principles outlined in the Tri-Council Policy Statement 2 (TCPS-2) and Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) recommendations on health research involving Indigenous Peoples, and First Nations OCAP® (ownership, control access and possession) data standards.