1. Engaging Indigenous families in a community-based Indigenous early childhood programme in British Columbia, Canada: A cultural safety perspective.
- Author
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Gerlach, Alison J., Browne, Annette J., and Greenwood, Margo
- Subjects
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ABORIGINAL Canadians , *CHILD development , *CHILDREN'S health , *COMMUNITY health services , *CULTURE , *FAMILIES , *INFANT development , *INTERVIEWING , *RESEARCH methodology , *MEDICAL personnel , *PARENTS , *RESEARCH funding , *TRUST , *JUDGMENT sampling , *EARLY intervention (Education) , *WELL-being , *PATIENTS' families - Abstract
This article is part of a larger study that explored how an Indigenous early intervention programme in British Columbia ( BC), Canada, known as the 'Aboriginal Infant Development Program' ( AIDP), influenced family and children's health and well-being and was responsive to child health inequities. Postcolonial feminist and Indigenous feminist perspectives provided a critical analytical lens to this qualitative inquiry. The study was undertaken with AIDPs based in diverse community organisations located in off-reserve urban municipalities throughout the province of BC. From September 2013 to March 2014, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with: Indigenous primary caregivers ( n = 10), Indigenous Elders ( n = 4), AIDP workers ( n = 18) and administrative leaders ( n = 3). The purpose of this article is to examine and analyse the findings that focus on how AIDP workers supported family and children's health and well-being by transforming their routine policies and practices in ways that fostered caregivers' active engagement in their programmes. Findings centre on three main themes: (i) overcoming mistrust; (ii) 'being willing to move a step forward' and (iii) resisting what's taken-for-granted. These inter-related themes are examined and discussed in relation to the concept of cultural safety. The findings have international relevancy for social and healthcare community-based programmes that are questioning how to engage with parents who may be hard to reach as a result of multi-faceted social and structural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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