COVID-19: Indigenous Health Research

• Featured research
• Indigenous health research centres
  • Research, Policy and Information
  • Culturally safe resources
• Funding opportunities

Featured research

• Indigenous COVID-19 Rapid Research Projects
  The results of the Indigenous COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity were announced on March 31, 2021. Thirteen (13) projects were funded on a wide range of topics and using diverse methods, forming a strong base to study and understand the experiences of First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and Urban Indigenous communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The research, which is bold, innovative, and Indigenous community-led, will address the consequences of COVID-19 and inform future preparedness. Read their profiles in the CIHR Funding Decisions Database.
• The Cedar Project: Supporting Indigenous young people who use drugs during a pandemic
  Dr. Patricia Spittal, Kukpi7 (Chief) Wayne Christian, and the rest of the team of Indigenous Elders, leaders, health and social service experts, and scholars with the Cedar Project Partnership are undertaking a cohort study to explore the ways in which historical and lifetime traumas affect health. With new funding, the team is building on previous work to test a bundle of virtual support for those at risk of COVID-19 and will also assess the impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous people who use drugs.
• Now you’re speaking my language! COVID-19 risk communications for First Nations people by First Nations people
  Drs. McLachlan, Ballard, and Neckoway have developed a multi-centred research project, Kitatipithitamak mithwayawin, which brings together First Nation and allied scholars, community leaders and Elders, with health agencies and Indigenous political organizations to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in a strategic and culturally appropriate way.
• Kishaadigeh: Indigenous Self Determination through research for our future generations
  Through Kishaadigeh – the Manitoba Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR), Drs. Cidro, Copenace, and Roulette are working closely with partner organizations such as the First Nations Health and Social Secretariat of Manitoba (FNHSSM), the Manitoba Association of Friendship Centres (MAC), the Manitoba Inuit Association (MIA), the Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre of Winnipeg (AHWC), and Aboriginal Youth Opportunities (AYO) to help increase research capacity and ensure that Indigenous partners are leading the research process in areas such as COVID-19.
• The importance of space, place, and protecting Elders: Indigenous communities’ responses to COVID-19
  As an expert on disaster risk reduction for Indigenous communities, Dr. Simon Lambert, the Scientific Director of the CIHR-funded National Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR) Coordinating Centre located at the University of Saskatchewan, has a unique perspective on societal responses to COVID-19. Community strength, resilience, and support remain central to Indigenous responses to these overlapping and ongoing disasters, and these values have formed the core of Indigenous communities' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• COVID-19 and Indigenous Health: Innovations within Community and Primary Health Care [ PDF (1.12 MB) - external link ]
  Dr. Crowshoe says the Indigenous Primary Health Care and Policy Research Network in Alberta was designed in the spirit of generating and sharing innovative knowledge and moving that knowledge into action with community more directly. For example, in the current context of COVID-19, the network is positioned to support primary health care and community stakeholders in accessing critical knowledge for defining best approaches.

Indigenous Health Research Centres

Research, Policy and Information

• The Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR) Centres may have a focus on the COVID-19 response in their respective research projects.
• National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) – Updates on COVID-19
  NCCIH provides COVID-19 updates related to official public health guidelines and any information specific to First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and communities.
• The First Nations Health Authority COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) web page includes several resources about COVID-19 for individuals, community leaders, and health professionals in First Nations communities.

Culturally Safe Resources

• Morning Star Lodge – Morning Star Lodge COVID-19 fact sheets & the Protecting Our Home Fires Strategy
  The “Protecting Our Home Fires’ strategy includes short culturally safe informational YouTube videos and various COVID-19 Fact Sheets for Indigenous communities that are available in English, French, Cree, Nakota, Dene, Michif, Saulteaux and Portuguese.
• Hotıì ts’eeda – COVID-19 resources for NWT
  Hotıì ts’eeda has taken the initiative to develop COVID-19 resource materials that present federal and territorial government advice on pandemic safety measures through an Indigenous lens and with cultural safety in mind.
• The CIHR Operating Grant: Knowledge Synthesis: COVID-19 in Mental Health and Substance Use included a focus on knowledge mobilization plans and materials.
  • Valuing Indigenous Emotional Wellness
    Through their Aaniish Naa Gegii Children's Health and Well-being Measure Resource Hub, Dr. Nancy Young and her research team have compiled wellness resources such as activity sheets and COVID-19 resources. Log in to the Member Portal to access all of their resources. COVID-19 and Mental Health Initiative project profile.
  • Niikaniganaw (All My Relations) II – the COVID-19 Rapid Response
    Dr. Hélène Laperrière and her research team created different knowledge mobilization materials [ PDF (1.53 MB) - external link ] focused on culturally safe mental health care, including a Guide to Culturally Safe Care – Indigenous Health. COVID-19 and Mental Health Initiative project profile.
• Kahkakiw the Raven
  Samson Hunter of Nsichiwayasihk Cree Nation created Kahkakiw, which means raven in Cree, a puppet that flies around Northern Manitoba, learning with community members about the Coronavirus. Kahkakiw speaks in Cree, English and Dene, as he speaks about the coronavirus pandemic providing information from an Indigenous perspective.

Funding opportunities

• View CIHR Indigenous COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity decisions.
• View CIHR COVID-19: Indigenous Health Research decisions.
• View all CIHR COVID-19 current and archived funding opportunities and results and apply for funding.

Date modified:

2021-04-23