CCSRI Knowledge to Action: Fort Good Hope & Inuvik

Area of Research: 
Cancer
Health promotion
Health services & systems

OBJECTIVE

To transform knowledge into action by developing and evaluating a culturally appropriate education program in order to improve cancer screening services uptake among Northern Canada’s Indigenous peoples.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The Cancer ACCESS project by the Indigenous & Global Health Research Group gave insight on Indigenous peoples’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours towards cancer screening services in communities in the Northwest Territories. The results support that these communities face many barriers to the usage of cancer screening services. These barriers include limited knowledge of cancer screening services procedure, purpose, frequency, the age of initial screening, as well as a limited knowledge of the affected human anatomy parts. It was clear there was a need for a culturally appropriate program to build on the ACCESS project in order to support cancer screening services use among Indigenous peoples in Northern Canada. The project will focus on the communities of Inuvik and Fort Good Hope, both located in the Northwest Territories.

This project aims to transform knowledge into action by developing and evaluating a culturally appropriate education program in order to improve cancer screening services uptake among Northern Canada’s Indigenous peoples. With the help of a Community Advisory Board, the team will develop printed materials and videos, and use stories and thoughts from community members to increase the understanding of cancer screening services. This project aims to improve cancer screening services uptake among Indigenous peoples and will demonstrate the importance of culturally appropriate interventions to knowledge users in government and health professionals. This program is supported by the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

RELEVANT LINKS