Turning to Indigenous Knowledge in creating Hep C Awareness – RRU

January 31, 2023

When the Canadian Institute for Health Research funded Royal Roads Doctor of Social Sciences student Kate Dunn with a Doctoral Research Award for First Nations Métis and/or Inuit Health in Canada, she knew that her approach would be different.

In the spring of 2021, Dunn set out to spend just over a year with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers in Alberta to build relationships and begin learning how to connect healthcare education with culture.

Originally from Mississauga First Nation in Ontario, Dunn lived all over North America growing up. She attended nursing school in the U.S. before working in remote communities in Alaska. From there she did public health work in Seattle area before returning to Canada in 2018, where she began to focus on Hepatitis C awareness. It was clear to Dunn that there was a need to adapt how we communicate about treatment, to dispel stigma and raise awareness that a cure is available.

Dunn’s research is built on a foundation of respect, reciprocity and relationships created with “heart connection.”

Read More: https://www.royalroads.ca/news/turning-indigenous-knowledge-creating-hep-c-awareness-0