Pandemic Preparedness: Mapping Information with Indigenous Peoples

This solution will increase accessibility and availability to public health information by providing web-based, culturally-relevant, culturally-appropriate, culturally-safe, and geographically-linked public health information to support Indigenous Peoples prepare for future pandemics and health emergencies in light of their most recent experiences with the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Carrie Bourassa, BA (Hon), MA, PhD, Professor Community Health and Epidemiology (University of Saskatchewan), Scientific Director - Institute of Indigenous Peoples Health (Canadian Institutes of Health Research), Métis woman.

We seek to address gaps in the accessibility and availability of pandmic-specific health information and resources for Indigenous Peoples across Canada. The solution will primarily work towards the resolve challenge area as the research team seeks to learn from experiences of the current pandemic and resulting health and social implications to promote the collaborative development of a platform for Indigenous communities to support the dissemination of resources and information necessary when responding to similar situations. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Canada in early 2020, Indigenous communities faced increased rates of COVID-19 cases and worsened health outcomes. As of April 6, 2021, the rate of active reported cases in First Nations Peoples living on a reserve was currently 77% of the rate for the general Canadian population, and is cumulatively growing (Government of Canada, 2021). The scale of the issue is framed at the community level; however, the research team intends for this web application to be accessible to Indigenous communities Canada-wide. The research team understands the importance for a distinctions-based approach for Indigenous Peoples in Canada, but seeks to generate connection among Indigenous Peoples in a culturally safe way in the design, development and implementation of the web application. 

The target audience of the proposed solution is Indigenous Peoples living in Canada. In Canada, Indigenous Peoples are composed of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous Peoples. Although First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous Peoples are recognized as Indigenous in Canada, they bear unique histories, traditions and ways of living. Despite their diversity, all three groups experience worsened health outcomes when compared to the general Canadian population, and thus require the development of a pandemic-preparedness web application equipped with relevant health information and resources. The solution seeks to address the gap that Indigenous Peoples and communities currently face in their accessibility and availability of geographically-specific, suitable, and culturally safe information currently, concerning COVID-19. 

Due to Canada’s history of colonization and systemic racism, Indigenous Peoples may be reluctant to seek and trust health information. To mitigate this, the research team will partner with Indigenous communities and organizations to ensure that the web application is Indigenous-led throughout its design, development and implementation. Once the web application is available for public use, it will include a feedback feature, which will provide Indigenous users with the opportunity to highlight areas of improvement or make suggestions that would address individual or community needs. 

Although the proposed solution will be designed to respond specifically to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples living in Canada during future pandemic or health emergencies, it will also benefit the global public as it will act as an open-sourced model that can be adapted for Indigenous Peoples in other countries (i.e. New Zealand, Australia, etc.) or utilized as a model for information sharing for other populations. The web application, itself, will not have an associated cost and it will be accessible to the public. The Knowledges learned from Indigenous Peoples’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada will guide the creation of this pandemic preparedness web application.  Also, any publications on the work will be both led by Indigenous Peoples and open access for others to learn from the process and success.

The collaborative nature of the solution will leverage relationships between our partners and other Indigenous organizations, communities, and Indigenous Peoples, which will produce an expanding network linking Indigenous communities to each other and their local health information and resources. The geographical scope of the solution has the potential to extend beyond Canadian borders to interested Indigenous groups who to develop a similar web application in their own countries. Given our strong history of community partnerships, collaboration, relationship building and overall ethical research with Indigenous communities and organizations across Canada, Morning Star Lodge is well-equipped with a large base of partners that will provide an excellent foundation for the proposed Canada-wide solution. Therefore, theses long-standing relationships will provide the needed user trust for our target audience to utilize this digital intervention.The web application will increase awareness and preparedness for Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban) populations by expanding their access to immediate, up-to-date, and culturally safe information and resources during a future pandemic or health emergency, which has the potential to support their health and wellbeing both with the localized, trusted information for peace of mind and for the resources to support them through a pandemic or health emergency.

During the first year, website technicians will work with our researchers to create the Canada-wide web application.  The main design is an interactive Canada-wide map, created to provide location-specific information and resources. Also, researchers will be gathering localized information on available resources.

The researchers will spend the first 1.5 years interviewing Indigenous Peoples, organizations and health organizations about the experience of Indigenous Peoples during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform the content of the website.

Following the first phase of the work, we will share our findings and the web application to seek feedback, insight and guidance from Indigenous organizations, communities and health organizations.

In the final phase, the web application will be shared with all stakeholders and international partners.  Plans will be made for website contributors in the event of a future pandemic and/or health emergency.  While this will depend on the type of situation that arises, we will build a collaborative structure and governance model that will allow for quick mobilization of the right people and information at the right time.

If our international partners are interested in developing something similar, we will support them in this process and share our structure and governance model with them.

We plan to monitor and evaluate the impact of our work with follow up interviews during knowledge translation with stakeholders about the security that the availability of the website provides in the case of another pandemic and/or health emergency.  Throughout the work we will be measuring the importance and potential impact of the work by the amount of Indigenous communities and organizations who are collaborating and engaging with the process.  

In the case of a pandemic and/or health emergency, we will measure the impact of our web application by the amount of visits on the application, the amount of downloads of the printable materials and other statistics which will be displayed on the bottom of the page.  This impact will also be measured by the amount of media coverage and international interest that the preparedness web application attains.

The two most significant barriers that exist for the proposed solution are financial and technical.  What is not often acknowledged is the significant amount of time and money required to properly engage with Indigenous communities and ensure ethically and culturally appropriate work is done.

Despite the increasing need for a web application of this nature, the costs to design and develop an all encompassing Canada-wide pandemic preparedness web application will require considerable investment in engagement with many Indigenous communities across Canada.  The second barrier is technical as engagement and collaboration may be slowed or limited in its efficacy due to current COVID-19 restrictions in Canada.  Ultimately rendering the design and development of the proposed solution to take place virtually and through web-based platforms and applications until we can meet in person to do so. Many Indigenous Peoples and communities have inconsistent or unreliable access to internet infrastructure,  a difficulty we will try to overcome by partnering with organizations who are on the ground and can engage locally. We do hope with the vaccine availability that the restrictions will be lessened soon and we will be able to be in person, building new partnerships and collaborations for this solution.

The research team, Morning Star Lodge is an Indigenous community-based health research lab situated in Regina, Saskatchewan and operating out of the University of Saskatchewan.  

Throughout the current COVID-19 pandemic, it has been clear that a more cohesive approach to supporting the health and wellbeing needs of Indigenous Peoples across the nation is imperative to ensuring accessibility and availability of reliable, timely, and accurate information concerning COVID-19. In an effort towards pandemic preparedness for Indigenous Peoples, the collaborative and Indigenous-led nature of the web application will serve as a united information hub. Allowing the research team to not only distribute this information in a way that is culturally safe and accessible, but it also allows for us to learn from the concerns that were exacerbated by the current pandemic and ultimately incorporate individual and community needs into the platform.  The amount of collaboration, time and funding this innovation requires is hard to come by in any one funding opportunity and given that the Trinity Challenge and MIT in general are known for their innovation and use of effective technology, we saw this funding opportunity as a way to make one small dream for our partner communities to be more prepared for future pandemics to become a national and potentially international vision.

The research team will partner with First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and organizations throughout the design, development and implementation of the proposed web application. One particular partner we envision collaborating with will be the Inuit team who created SIKU.org, which is a land-based online platform for Inuit Peoples to connect and learn from one another. The research team will also be partnering with local communities (File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council, Cowessess First Nation, Star Blanket Cree Nation, Zagime Anishnabek First Nation,  municipalities, research institutions (Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health), local health organizations (Nothern Inter-Tribal Helath Authority, First Nations Health Authority, Nil Tu,O, NCCIH, Les Filles de Madeleine, Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians of Canada) within the mapped regions, local agencies who provide support for Indigenous Peoples such as friendship centres, homeless shelters (The Lighthouse), science centres, distress centres (All Nations Hope Network), Website developers (Animikii) and more. 

Each of these potential or current partners brings within their organizations an expertise that will ensure the success of this solution and the potential for in-kind staffing to contribute to the web application when/if there is a future pandemic or health emergency.