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Navigating Between Rigour and Community-Based Research Partnerships: Building the Evaluation of the Uniting Our Nations Health Promotion Program for FNMI Youth

Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
24 June 2013

Abstract

Our team has worked closely with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) community partners and our local school board over the past 9 years to develop a range of strengths-based health promotion programs for FNMI youth. This article begins with a brief description of our school-based programming to provide context. Next, we identify challenges in conducting rigorous program evaluation and highlight the requirements of community-based research partnerships. Finally, we identify a number of factors that have helped us achieve a balance between the frameworks of rigour and community-based research partnerships. Throughout the paper we use examples from our projects to illustrate issues.

Résumé

Au cours des 9 dernières années, notre équipe a travaillé en étroite collaboration avec les partenaires communautaires autochtones et le conseil scolaire local afin d’élaborer une gamme de programmes de promotion de la santé fondés sur les forces à l’intention des jeunes autochtones. Dans le présent article, nous décrivons brièvement nos programmes en milieu scolaire afin de présenter le contexte. Nous précisons ensuite les défis auxquels nous avons été confrontés durant l’évaluation rigoureuse des programmes et soulignons les exigences liées aux partenariats de recherche communautaires. Enfin, nous révélons différents facteurs qui nous ont permis d’atteindre un équilibre entre les cadres de la rigueur et les partenariats de recherche communautaires. Tout au long de l’article, nous illustrons les enjeux au moyen d’exemples tirés de nos projets.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 32Number 2June 2013
Pages: 13 - 25

History

Version of record online: 24 June 2013

Key Words

  1. community-based research partnerships
  2. health promotion
  3. Aboriginal youth
  4. program evaluation

Mots-clés

  1. partenariats de recherche communautaires
  2. promotion de la santé
  3. jeunes autochtones
  4. évaluation de programme

Authors

Affiliations

Claire V. Crooks
CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, and The University of Western Ontario
Angela Snowshoe
CAMH Centre for Prevention Science, and The University of Western Ontario
Debbie Chiodo
CAMH Centre for Prevention Science
Candace Brunette-Debassige
Thames Valley District School Board

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