Research Profile - Answers from within
Dr. Neil Andersson
A world-renowned expert on empowering communities is helping Ottawa's Inuit to draw on their cultural resilience to combat HIV/AIDS. With research conducted by the Inuit for the Inuit, the study could become a prototype for the North.
"It's a departure from the conventional university-based approach, which holds that the ideal is that people not even know they are being researched, that they give information without knowing they're giving it," says the University of Ottawa's Dr. Andersson.
"We don't believe that's possible. So we try to make the most of the alternative, which is, 'They know what you're asking about, so why not do it in a way that gets them to think about it productively?'"
At a Glance
Who – Dr. Neil Andersson, Executive Director of CIETcanada and the CIET Group, Principal Scientist and co-convenor of the Impact Assessment Cluster at the Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa
Issue – First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are looking for research tools – such as survey methods – that work effectively in their communities to better address social and health challenges such as high rates of HIV/AIDS infection, as well as domestic violence, alcoholism and drug use.
Approach – CIETcanada works in partnership with Aboriginal peoples’ communities, helping them adapt research tools to suit their needs. The studies are designed, conducted and disseminated by organizations in the communities.
Impact – Studies are done in the language of the community, which leads to greater response levels and engagement. Knowledge translation is immediate because the Aboriginal communities design the studies to meet their needs.
Dr. Neil Andersson thinks about research a bit differently from the norm.
Dr. Andersson is Executive Director of CIETcanada, a non-profit, non-governmental agency that, as part of the global CIET organization, provides research assistance and training to communities. The research is done in partnership with the community whose members actually carry it out.
So, while other investigators take great pains to avoid having an impact on the community while they are studying it – the research equivalent to not disturbing the space-time continuum – Dr. Andersson, who is currently co-ordinating a survey with Ottawa's 2,000-person Inuit community, is delighted that the very act of conducting research generates immediate changes.
"That's a huge piece of it. As people see that 'OK, this is an Inuk asking me questions in my own language,' firstly the engagement level is completely different but, secondly, the Inuk researcher ends up being able to do something very different in their life. And that includes taking on different careers. So this changes the ball game altogether."
The CIETcanada approach he champions also accelerates the translation of research into usable knowledge by building it into the process from day one.
"It's quintessentially a knowledge translation exercise that starts early on," says Dr. Andersson.
Nowhere is this approach more apparent than CIETcanada's work with First Nations and Inuit communities engaged in "resilience research" investigations that focus on using Aboriginal peoples' strengths – such as cultural traditions, sense of pride and spirituality – to deal with pressing health or social concerns.
A major initiative is the Aboriginal Community Resilience to HIV/AIDS project – funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. As part of that program, Ottawa-based organizations are adapting CIETcanada research instruments – originally developed with First Nations communities in Alberta and the Northwest Territories – to suit urban Inuit life.
The Ottawa project is expected to become the model for similar work to be done in Inuit communities across the North.
"The first big output we're looking for is a piloted study that would work well, with relatively small local adjustments once it gets to the North where we run something called the Inuit Cohort, a network of about 20 Inuit researchers with two years of training. They could then implement this research instrument relatively inexpensively in their own communities."
Meanwhile, the work done in Ottawa will benefit Ottawa Inuit.
"Here the whole process is worked through the local organizations. They will have the data for their own policy purposes, their own fundraising purposes, and their own local mobilization purposes. So they would be fuelled by this locally relevant evidence that they collected."
For Deborah Tagornak, a senior researcher in health research for the Ottawa-based Tungasuvvingat Inuit counselling and resource centre, working with Dr. Andersson and CIETcanada addresses what has been "a sensitive issue" for some time.
"Research has been around for many, many years, but the Inuit haven't had ownership, control or possession of the type of questionnaires that were developed and it was never brought back to the community," says Ms. Tagornak, who is also a member of the Inuit Cohort.
She says that by partnering with CIETcanada, the Inuit can "take ownership of resilience factors, especially in areas of family abuse, or child sexual abuse or any health related issues like sexually transmitted infections – as well as looking at general health and chronic illnesses. That's been my interest for a long time: for us to develop our own questionnaires to advocate for better programs and services for the Inuit community."
"The approach here is to look for resilience factors – things that could be reinforced and invested in that would, in general, be positive. That gives the organizations the information they need to look at what they're doing and what they could be doing to reinforce the resilience."
-- Dr. Neil Andersson
What is CIET?
An international group of non-governmental agencies, charities, research institutes, trusts and foundations, CIET helps vulnerable communities across the world adapt and use research methods to strengthen their voice in planning and governance. Dr. Andersson founded CIET in 1985 with the opening of the Centro de Investigación de Enfermedades Tropicales in Guerrero State, Mexico. For more information visit the CIET website.