Grant: Project Grant

Communicating about health risks is very important in helping people to understand the risks and make informed decisions on health behaviours. However, health risk communications with Indigenous peoples often have limited success. This is primarily because these communications are usually 'one-way' messages from government or other health agencies that are not suitable or meaningful for Indigenous peoples. Recent research with Indigenous youth on tobacco use, food security and physical activity has shown us that messages developed and delivered by these youth seem to be more trusted and effective for communities in providing information, changing behaviours and promoting healthy lifestyle choices. The process of developing the messages had further advantages for the youth in getting them to think more about health risks, and in giving them confidence and skills. The goal of this research is to investigate the value of messages generated by youth through a participatory process for promoting community health and well-being. Another goal is to promote youth wellness, 'voice', confidence and capacity through their involvement in developing the messages. The research will be conducted with First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities in different areas of Canada. Communities and researchers will work together in a participatory manner to identify relevant health risk issues, determine how the youth will be engaged in message development, and decide how the value of the messages and the message development process will be measured. Through telling others about the results of the research, we hope to be able to extend and/or transfer these programs to other Indigenous communities.