From her experience, Wendy highlights the need to adapt research knowledge to Indigenous realities.
Transcript
Interviewer: And what do you think has changed for you now that you’ve gotten involved in these types of partnerships?
Yeah that’s a really great question because a lot has changed for me. A lot has changed for me both from how I see the clinical world and the health services that we provided as western colonisers to the Indigenous people but also how I see research informing their health services and we – western research has moved ahead so rapidly, so rigorously, so strongly and it’s made so many leaps in knowledge. But what I see for the Indigenous communities is because there’s just such a foundational lack of trust in any western knowledge that before they are going to sign onto the – you know this intervention is going to improve my health and my community’s health because it’s – yeah so that’s another piece that’s changed; but before – to finish that, before they sign onto that they need to trust. They need to first trust that work and they don’t. The bottom line is that they don’t, so it has to be adapted.
The research knowledge has to be really translated and adapted to their circumstances and their situation and their community. So there’s a lot of work to make western research accessible from a culturally safe perspective, and so what it’s done to me as a research has made me realize that sort of the generalized ability may be possible for populations that are more homogenous or that believe in that process, in that research process; but most of the Indigenous communities they don’t and they haven’t, so there’s this huge gap between western science improving the health of indigenous people because anything, you know be it right or wrong, anything that comes from a colonial perspective is looked at first with lack of trust and exploitation.
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- Measuring Impact of Partnership – WendyIn her work with Indigenous partners, Wendy believes it’s important to ask the community about the change they would like to see
- Improving Patient Care and Experiences – WendyWendy realized that there is a lack of trust in Western research by Indigenous communities
- Challenging Experiences – WendyWendy realized that she doesn’t always need to take the lead and can be guided by community partners when working together
- Looking forward – WendyFrom her experience, Wendy highlights the need to adapt research knowledge to Indigenous realities.
- Advice to others – WendyNot presuming they know what’s best for communities, is an important starting point for researchers says Wendy
- Skills for partnership – WendyWendy believes that patients have expertise about needs that researchers may be lacking
- Relationship building – Wendy (2)In Indigenous communities, Wendy feels that having a continuous and local presence is necessary
- Relationship building – WendyWhen engaging community partners, Wendy says to expect that timelines may not go as planned
- Defining partnerships – Wendy (2)Partners or community partners are the terms that Wendy uses to describe the people she works with in the community
- Defining partnerships – WendyWendy constantly reaches out to the Indigenous community she is working with for input