Anishininiiw Nanandowi’kikendamowin

There are 3 main ways a project starts:

1. A community requests more information about a health topic, or asks a question that could be answered through research

2. Northern physicians, SLFNHA care providers, or other health care providers to community notice trends or patterns in health that they want to explore to improve health service delivery

3. External organizations (e.g. universities, health care centres, etc.) approach SLFNHA with research topics that may be of interest to the region.

SLFNHA works on a variety of research topics that span beyond the research priority areas. This increases our ability to support the research areas of interest to all communities served by SLFNHA, and those which may be relevant at particular times. Proposed projects are reviewed internally to discuss:

• Does this question/topic/project align with a research priority area?
• Is this question/topic/project of interest to the SLFNHA Board/Health Service Advisory Committee/Research Advisory Committee/ Leadership?
• Does this project align with or support a Chiefs Resolution?

Have a research idea for SLFNHA?

Connect with us: research@slfnha.com

All projects in which SLFNHA partners are co-created with partners including community. This means that community is invited to be involved in asking the research question, choosing appropriate methods (i.e. how data is collected), reviewing materials for community members (e.g. posters, interview questions, consent methods, etc.), analyzing data, and writing of any materials that come from data collection (e.g. reports, booklets, journal articles, briefing notes, etc.).

When a project is proposed by an external organization (e.g. university, health centre, private organization), SLFNHA requires community consent to participate. Documentation of consent can be any form the participating community decides. Some examples include (but are not limited to): a research agreement, terms of reference, letter, Band Council Resolution.

Research Data Guidelines: SLFNHA ensures that all projects with our partnership adhere to, at the very minimum, the OCAP® principles written by FNIGC. Broadly, these principles state that “First Nations have control over data collection processes, and that they own and control how this information can be used”. Therefore when:

• SLFNHA is a main partner in a research project, data ownership and sharing is part of research agreements, wherein all data collected from the Sioux Lookout area regarding the communities served by SLFNHA and its members will belong to SLFNHA
• SLFNHA supports one or more communities in a research project, SLFNHA will support communities to draft a letter or agreement regarding data ownership, usage, and sharing that describes that all research data belong to and will be stored by the community or be stewarded by SLFNHA if requested.

PLEASE NOTE: researchers should adhere to community request as to what sort of documentation is preferred and appropriate, as preferences will differ between community partners.

All projects are reviewed by the Research Review and Ethics Committee at Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre to ensure they are ethical and of value or benefit to communities, community members, and/or health care providers. Full committee membership includes physicians, nurses, SLFNHA staff, community members (of Sioux Lookout, tribal councils), privacy officer, pharmacy, legal and ethics representation, and an Elder.

Ethical review by the committee is intended to ensure that: research carried out minimizes the risk to participants, and that safeguards are identified for vulnerable populations; methods are sound; confidentiality is protected; participating communities/organizations have been engaged, consulted, and consent to collaboration; OCAP® principles and/or any other proposed Indigenous data governance principles are observed and upheld.

Below is the RREC application and meeting dates for 2025:

• April 29, 2025
• September 10, 2025
• Application Form

To consider when budgeting for research in community:

• Hiring a local community researcher
• Vehicle rental while in community
• Refreshments for participants or gatherings
• Participant incentives
• Gifts for community leadership
• Travel: flight or mileage
• Community accommodations
• Deliverables generated by research
• Translation of materials

To consider when offering surveys:

SLFNHA supports Indigenous data governance and therefore suggests avoiding cloud-based survey platforms, especially those whose storage is outside of Canada. While we explore different survey tool options that meet these needs, SLFNHA continues to use Microsoft Forms, whereby survey data collected remains secured on the SLFNHA server.

Please be advised that crowdsourcing data using surveys is often ineffective in the SLFNHA region. Researchers should be prepared to visit communities with paper surveys and complete on a 1:1 basis. A translator is often required.

To consider when offering interviews or focus groups:

Because of language and culture, all interview and focus groups materials must be co-created with SLFNHA staff at the very least, if not with community directly. Co-creation of materials will help ensure that questions asked will resonate with both researchers and participants. When co-creation is not possible, piloting materials is essential. This means testing the interview or focus group questions with the population before full operation.

Project findings must be shared with community in their preferred format. Various deliverables can be generated from one project, but community must be involved in and aware of what is generated. Community should be involved in authorship of resulting reports, articles, or other publications. Sharing an abstract of a journal article or report is insufficient. Findings are to be share with leadership AND participants in a meaningful way.