Indigenous Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (I-HeLTI)
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are responsible for more than 60% of deaths globally, and 80% of NCD deaths occur in countries that have experienced rapid changes in population demographics (2–4 generations) and environments, including urbanization, lifestyle changes, and changes in dietFootnote 1. To address these issues, CIHR developed the Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI), which follows a Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)Footnote 2 approach. CIHR previously launched an International component of HeLTI in partnership with South Africa, China and India, countries that have experienced these rapid changes.
NCDs, such as diabetes/obesity and conditions related to mental wellness, are also a priority issue for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. As a result, three I-HeLTI funding opportunities were developed and launched to support Indigenous focused DOHaD cohorts in collaboration with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.
The concept of I-HeLTI is grounded in the approach to research that takes into consideration the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) by exploring how environmental factors—including Indigenous social determinants of health, i.e., poverty, racism, intergenerational trauma, housing, geography, etc.—interact with an Indigenous child’s genes during conception, fetal life and infancy/early childhood, and the effects that has on health later in life.
The I-HeLTI Initiative is implemented with strategic leadership from the CIHR Institute of Indigenous Peoples' Health (IIPH) and the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH), in collaboration with the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH), CIHR Institute of Gender and Health (IGH), CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), and CIHR Institute of Aging (IA).
Related Initiatives
Components
The Indigenous Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (I-HeLTI) consists of three (3) components. The first one is the Development Grants, the second one is the Team Grants, and the third is the Team Grant Cohort Research Study.
Development Grants
The Development Grants supported communities to come together with self-identified relevant organizations to establish needed expertise to support Indigenous-driven health research. These grants provide support for workshop preparation activities, community personnel support, and travel support to attend the Strengthening workshop.
The planning activities consisted of local and regional scanning to determine readiness, priority areas of interest and capacity within the community to conduct a research cohort. The Development Grants provided support for workshop preparation activities, community personnel support and travel support to attend the I-HeLTI Strengthening workshop held in Ottawa on June 11th and 12th, 2018.
Please contact I-HeLTI to receive a copy of the I-HeLTI Strengthening Workshop Report.
Team Grants
The Team Grants supports three (3) teams in building infrastructure and capacity along the continuum of care and prevention from pre-conception to pregnancy, infancy and early childhood with a life trajectory perspective. This research must be relevant to the following research areas: a Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) life trajectory approach, a focus on the prevention of Non-Communicable diseases (NCD) and an intervention cohort design. The funded research teams will therefore collaborate to develop the partnerships, and leverage the necessary expertise and resources to establish this Indigenous-driven I-HeLTI DOHaD Intervention Cohort.
Team Grant – Cohort Research Study
The Team Grant Cohort supports the establishment of one (1) I-HeLTI Intervention Cohort Research Study, as well as an I-HeLTI Collaborating Centre to support the activities of the cohort research study. The I-HeLTI Collaborating Centre will steward the emerging I-HeLTI cohort, governance processes and data management. The I-HeLTI Collaborating Centre will also coordinate diverse components of the research and support the development and implementation of data management plans, while respecting Indigenous self-determination and Indigenous self-governance.
Announcement of the recipient of the I-HeLTI Cohort
The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC), in partnership with First Nations Health Authority, university-based researchers from Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and the University of Alberta, as well as Indigenous leaders and communities, received $16M in Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grants to continue the long-term study, Hishuk-ish tsawalk, towards improving health and wellness for Indigenous children.Footnote *
"The NTC are leaders in the area of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) and Indigenous populations. Hishuk-ish tsawalk is exemplary, and has great potential to contribute to the wellness of Indigenous Nations now and for generations to come. Miigwetch."
"The CIHR-Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health (IHDCYH) is pleased to support this Indigenous community-university partnership that will use traditional Indigenous Knowledge alongside Western ways of knowing to promote healthy child development. This team’s strengths-based and multi-generational perspective is aligned with our goals of advancing science, promoting knowledge and ways of knowing, and addressing the needs of children, youth and families across the lifecycle."
Resources
Funding
Closed competitions
| Funding opportunity | Competition | Funding decision |
|---|---|---|
| Development Grants | 201802ICL | Results |
| Team Grants | 201908IHL | Results |
| Team Grant - Cohort | 202206ICR | Results |
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