The Network Environments for Indigenous Health Research (NEIHR)
IPHCPR: Building a Research Network for Improving Primary Health Care with Indigenous people in Alberta
Vision
Our vision is to promote a renewed and transformed primary health care (PHC) system to achieve Indigenous health equity by advancing research that links knowledge to policy and practice, fomenting evidence-informed structural and policy innovations based in equity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing.
The Role and Definition of Primary Health Care
The role of Primary Health Care (PHC) outlined by the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata includes promoting health, preventing disease and addressing the main health issues with local populations by maximizing the utilization of local resources. From that declaration, the World Health Organization defines PHC as a whole-of-society approach to health and well-being centred on the needs and preferences of individuals, families, and communities. This approach highlights the broader determinants of health and focuses on the comprehensive and interrelated aspects of physical wellness, including the fundamental importance affirmed two and a half decades later in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) of accessing culture, traditions, and reaffirming cultural identity as the foundation for people’s autonomy and equity. The latter declaration speaks to the Indigenous right to health in terms of social justice, advocating for equitable access to social resources and the elimination of systemic barriers.
These echo the five core principles of PHC widely recognized today, namely accessibility, public participation, health promotion, appropriate technology, and intersectoral collaboration. With the 2015 release of 94 Calls to Action, the TRC called on all segments of Canadian society to address the ongoing legacy of colonization. The Calls propose areas for transformation across service sectors (e.g., child welfare, education, justice, and health), compelling institutions to explore what achieving needed transformation may require in terms of structural innovations, resource allocation, inclusion, and capacity-building of Indigenous people and non-Indigenous partners at all levels. From health system policy to service provision, the path to achieving such transformation requires a nimble PHC system well-suited to achieving improved health together with Indigenous people, who compose a culturally diverse, geographically dispersed, and consistently under-served population.
About the Network
The IPHCPR Network will nurture research that responds to the needs of community, is grounded within Indigenous ethics and addresses the impacts of ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples. In nurturing this research, the Network seeks to clearly define the emerging knowledge area of Indigenous PHC which is unique as it is deeply connected to community, as well as social, political, clinical and population health.
Our Partnerships
The IPHCPR Network will support Indigenous communities, researchers, health system leaders, and health service providers to come together to build and share knowledge and to create dialogue aimed at improving health outcomes with Indigenous peoples.