NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, North Slave Region

Tags: women's health, Indigenous health, Qualitative, trauma-informed

Objective(s): 1. Scope the existing literature to understand what is currently known about pelvic floor conditions in Indigenous populations worldwide. 2. Develop a trauma-informed research framework for circumpolar maternal and child health research projects. 3. Describe Indigenous women's experiences with pelvic health conditions and the health and social services system.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5510. 1. Scope the existing literature to understand what is currently known about pelvic floor conditions in Indigenous populations worldwide 2. Develop a trauma-informed research framework for circumpolar maternal and child health research projects 3. Describe Indigenous women's experiences with pelvic health conditions and the health and social services system Mixed methods will be used in this project, guided by community based participatory research principles and the Two-Eyed Seeing framework. A community advisory committee (Advisory Committee) will be formed to govern and participate in the project. This project will be conducted in three phases: a scoping review of the existing literature on pelvic health conditions in Indigenous populations worldwide, this will include a consultation component with Advisory Committee members to identify gaps and contextualize the findings within their communities. Phase Two involves development of a trauma-informed framework for circumpolar maternal and child health research. Indigenous knowledge holders, researchers, and clinicians from circumpolar regions will be asked to identify trauma-informed principles that fit within a circumpolar context. Based on these principles, a framework will be developed. The final Phase is a qualitative study to learn about the experiences of Indigenous women with pelvic floor conditions and describe their interactions with the healthcare system. This Phase will be conducted in two communities in Inuit Nunangat, one in the NWT, one in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. Early engagement - I have reached out to the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, Aurora Research Institute, and other urogynecological researchers to share information about the project. The Institute for Circumpolar Health Research has began engagement with communities to gauge the interest in the project. The IRC has requested ongoing updates about the project, which I plan to provide whenever any substantial changes or progress occur. Other organizations that may be interested in the project include the Status of Women Council of the NWT and Pauktuutit, who I will contact in the coming months. In-person community engagement - I will be offering a presentation in Inuvik about pelvic health and treatment options to interested community members. Ongoing knowledge dissemination - As stated above, if any organizations or stakeholders express interest in ongoing updates, I will provide them in a format that works best for them (e.g., briefing note, infographic, summary document, etc.). Preliminary findings will be shared back to the community and with participants. Additional knowledge dissemination may include community presentations, presentations to health care providers and/or health systems leadership, reports, public-facing communications (e.g., posters, website/blog, etc.). The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: January 02 - December 31, 2025