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The health disparities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada continue to grow despite an expanding body of research that attempts to address these inequalities, including increased attention from the field of health geography. Here, we draw upon a case study of our own community-based approach to health research with Anishinabe communities in northern Ontario as a means of advocating the growth of such participatory approaches. Using our own case as an example, we demonstrate how a collaborative approach to respectful and reciprocal research can be achieved, including some of the challenges we faced in adopting this approach.

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 RESEARCH AND PRACTICE  Objectives. We examined the importance of social support in promoting thriving health among indigenous Canadians, a disadvantaged population.Methods. We categorized the self-reported health status of 31 625 adult indigenous Canadians as thriving (excellent, very good) or nonthriving (good, fair, poor). We measured social support with indices of positive interaction, emotional support, tangible support, and affection and intimacy. We used multivariable logistic regression analyses to estimate odds of reporting thriving health, using social support as the key independent variable, and we controlled for educational attainment and labor force status.Results. Compared with women reporting low levels of social support, those reporting high levels of positive interaction (odds ratio [OR] = 1.4; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.2, 1.6), emotional support (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.8, 2.4), and tangible support (OR = 1.4; 95% CI = 1.2, 1.5) were significantly more likely to report thriving health. Among men, only emotional support was significantly related to thriving health (OR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.5, 1.9). Thriving health status was also significantly mediated by age, aboriginal status (First Nations, Métis, or Inuit), educational attainment, and labor force status.Conclusions. Social support is a strong determinant of thriving health, particularly among women. Research that emphasizes thriving represents a positive and necessary turn in the indigenous health discourse. (Am J Public Health. 2007;97: 182797: -183397: . doi:10.210597: /AJPH.2006 Social Support and Thriving Health: A New Approach to Understanding the Health of Indigenous Canadians | Chantelle A. M. Richmond, PhD, Nancy A. Ross, PhD, and Grace M. Egeland, PhD have so concentrated their efforts on the determinants of disparities that few have sought to model thriving health. In particular, there has been a lack of research into how one's societal resources, such as social support, can shape health status.