Project 449298

Current, reliable, and relevant information on the health of communities is imperative to improve health. Health-relevant factors extend beyond disease or disability to social determinants of health such as education, employment, or access to housing. Measuring these factors is an important step in tracking and targeting health improvements. Gwich'in Tribal Council (GTC), the land claim organization responsible for the Gwich'in people, would like to develop health indicators grounded in Gwich'in knowledge and experience, and capture contextually relevant data as evidence to inform GTC program, policy and advocacy decisions and actions. Working within GTC and in collaboration with Gwich'in Elders and community leaders, my project has three objectives: 1) conduct a collaborative assessment of information needs/gaps, and identify, conceptualize and prioritize health indicators grounded in Gwich'in ways of being and knowing, 2) review potential data sources and develop a data collection plan for priority health indicators, and 3) collect baseline data for highest priority health indicators. Through existing community and territorial relationships, and a collaborative, community-led approach, I will work with communities to identify information needs and establish priority indicators. I will then develop mechanisms to collect data that will contribute to comprehensive community data profiles supporting the Gwich'in Settlement Area. Lastly, I will collect, analyze, and summarize baseline data for select priority indicators related to (for example) health, housing, labour and business, and education. The data will be returned to the communities who own the data. My project will provide an important baseline through which GTC will be able to understand the health of its communities, and form targeted, data-driven health priorities. It will have high-level impact on the movement to self-government, while also impacting program and service provision at the community level.