Indigenous Dementia Research Guidance

The following suggestions are a general guide and do not include locally-relevant resources that are critical to partnering with communities in meaningful and respectful ways. We encourage you to seek out and use local resources as much as possible. To build your team’s capacity to conduct culturally safe Indigenous health research, it is recommended that you:

  • Understand the historical and ongoing impacts of colonization on 
Indigenous health.

  • The pathway and the resource document are a comprehensive compilation of resources on these topics.

  • It may also be worth visiting the Indigenous Health Data and Aging research page at McMaster University.

  • San’yas is an established leader in Anti-Racism & Indigenous Cultural Safety education. We invite you to take San’yas training as part of the crucial work of meaningful reconciliation across Canada.

  • Apply wise Indigenous health research practices, such as respecting Indigenous data sovereignty

Green tree logo with roots and leaves in a circle.

Take the time required to work in a good way

  • Trusting and meaningful relationships between researchers and community members takes time – it is best to plan accordingly.

  • Likewise, meaningful research partnerships with Indigenous communities begin at the project design stage (identifying a topic, defining a research question, choosing the methodology and methods) and encompassess the entirety of the project, up to and including knowledge translation and the dissemination of results – again, it is best to leave time for collaboration and coordination.

  • It is important to collaborate with and understand community priorities. Some Communities and/or their associated Nations have research ethics boards, thus their procedures and policies are vital to respect and follow. It is key to receive project-related Community or Nation-specific approvals and/or letters of support if this is their standard. This process should also build trust between the research team and the collaborating Community or Nation.

  • For more information about conducting research in partnership with Indigenous communities, we recommend this free course by Queen’s University.