Key Messages

• We are pursuing integrated indigenous knowledge translation (iKT).
• Participants ‘learn by doing’.
• Participants learn by observing and watching the way that the Niikaniganaw team creates and emulates a stigma free and culturally safe environment for Indigenous people facing challenges on their mental health, substance uses, harm reduction practices, homelessness, life with HIV/AIDS or other situations exacerbated by COVID-19.
• Indigenous people with lived experience are integral to this process in all team activities. This provides an unparalleled opportunity to break down barriers and misconceptions between service providers, knowledge carriers, researchers, and students.

Keywords

• Indigenous health
• Mental health
• Homelessness
• Virtual culturally-safe care
• Cultural-safe and stigma-free mental health
• HIV/AIDS
• Indigenous research methodologies

Author(s)

Nominated Principal Applicant: Laperrière, Hélène (School of Nursing, University of Ottawa)

Our team is formally led by Dr. Hélène Laperrière (PA, UOttawa), a bilingual scholar who brings an expertise in HIV/AIDS community-based research, with a specific interest in the role of civil society and participatory evaluation. Traditional Knowledge Carrier Christina Bendevis (PKU), excels at creating a safe, non-judgemental and welcoming space for all who wish to participate in ceremony. She also brings her vision of stigma-free mental health services for Indigenous people. This leadership team is supported by, five Indigenous Knowledge Carriers and Traditional Helpers (Sharp Dopler, Ross Saunders, Francine Desjardins, Neal Shannacappo, Michele Penney), who share a commitment to harm reduction, to gender inclusivity, and to providing ceremony for those who need it most, i.e., those with the least access to ceremony such as 2SLGBTQ, those who use substances, and those who have been disconnected from their culture for a variety of reasons. Mike Laframboise brings his Indigenous living experience of HIV and intersecting stigmas including culturally unsafe health and social services. Seven community partners (AIDS Committee of Ottawa, Drug Users Action League, Ottawa Inner City Health, Le Bras, ADOO, and Public Health Agency of Canada COVID-19 Quarantine Department) Ottawa Public Health representing frontline service organizations who serve the Indigenous community, will ensure that we are grounded in local community concern and are well-positioned to ‘take up’ the knowledge we share with each other to create immediate and lasting social change. Researchers (Dr. Leah Layman-Pleet, Dre. Marie-Hélène Chomienne) from two academic departments (Psychiatry, Medicine), nursing professionals (Karina Pelletier) and trainees (Rana Annous, Ines Zombre) ensure that our research can continue to build capacity for culturally-safe care in Ottawa-Gatineau.

For more information, please contact: Laperrière, H. School of Nursing, University of Ottawa Helene.laperriere@uottawa.ca

Related Syntheses

• Rapid Review of the Impacts of “Big Events” On People Who Use Drugs and Delivery of Harm Reduction and Drug Treatment Services: Implications for Strengthening Systems in Response to COVID-19
• Interventions to Mitigate COVID-19 Related Mental Health Risks for Those with Pre-existing Chronic Health Conditions and Facing Social and Economic Barriers: A Scoping and Rapid Realist Review
• What is the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on the mental health of children aged 5–12, and what are the specific issues faced by children with a disability or chronic illness? A scoping review of problems experienced and promising avenues for intervention

Download

(External links)

Full PDF

Lay Summary PDF

Population

Indigenous Peoples and Communities

Language

To ensure the rapid dissemination of this critical information, information is published in the language in which it was submitted. Please contact us for French or English translations.