Elders Gathering: A Path to Healing

In April 2023, the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research (ICHR) held a gathering of 22 Elders and Knowledge Holders from across the Northwest Territories (NT) to (1) identify health and wellness priorities in NT communities, (2) consider strengths and challenges to health and community wellbeing, and (3) develop recommendations and research priorities to support healthy communities. An additional overall goal of the gathering was to inform the direction and strategic activities of the ICHR’s Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NT-NEIHR) grant, which is a grant that seeks strengthen Indigenous health research capacity in the north. This presentation outlines the history of the ICHR and the NT-NEIHR, provides background on the Elders’ gathering, highlights some key themes and lessons learned from the gathering, and discusses next steps. The presentation will end with an open discussion about capacity bridging and Elder support in research.

KIMBERLY’s BIO

Kimberly Fairman joined the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research (ICHR) as Executive Director after a career in the federal public service. Kimberly trained as a Nurse at Aurora College, earned her Masters in Public Health at the University of Alberta, and is now pursuing a PhD in Social Dimensions of Health at the University of Victoria. She enjoys working with researchers, indigenous knowledge holders, clinicians and policy makers in health systems research that impacts on the northern patient experience. Playing an important role by weaving partnerships into the research fabric, engaging with communities and building northern capacity for health research. With continuing support from Canadian funding agencies and University partners, Kimberly is showcasing the valuable contribution of northern communities, practitioners and indigenous knowledge holders to the modern research agenda. She is the president of the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health. She resides in Yellowknife with her husband, four children and four grandchildren.

SOPHIE’s BIO

Dr. Sophie Roher is a SPOR-funded post-doctoral fellow at the Well Living House, and a Senior Research Advisor at the Institute for Circumpolar Health Research. Dr. Roher believes in the power of relationships and storytelling. Her work uses community-based approaches and narrative and arts-based methods to foster dialogue and co-learning between community and health system stakeholders with the goal of addressing inequities in care and driving patient-centred health policies and programs. She is passionate about advancing northern and Indigenous health outcomes and has worked over the past eight years on a wide-range of community-led research projects with Indigenous communities and governments in the Northwest Territories. She has an MSc in Health Policy and Bioethics and has experience working on policy initiatives in Ontario, Yellowknife, Whitehorse, and Uganda.

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