In Canada, the health research funding landscape limits the self-determination of Indigenous peoples in multiple ways, including institutional eligibility, priority setting, and institutional structures that deprioritize Indigenous knowledges. However, Indigenous-led research networks represent a promising approach to transforming the funding landscape to better support the self-determination of Indigenous peoples in health research. The British Columbia Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (BC NEIHR) is one of nine Indigenous-led networks across Canada that supports research leadership among Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) communities, collectives, and organizations (ICCOs). In this paper, we share three best practices to support the self-determination of ICCOs in health research based on three years of operating the BC NEIHR: (1) creating capacity-bridging initiatives to overcome funding barriers; (2) building relational research relationships with ICCOs (“people on the ground”); and (3) establishing a network of partnerships and collaborations to support ICCO self-determination. Supporting the self-determination of ICCOs and enabling them to lead their own health research is a critical pathway toward transforming the way Indigenous health research is funded and conducted in Canada.

This research represents an in-depth exploration of the lived experience, demands and risks of facilitating Indigenous cultural safety and the impact it has on the health and wellness of Indigenous cultural safety facilitators. Using Indigenous and qualitative methodologies, this study gathered data from 11 Indigenous cultural safety facilitators in the Vancouver Island and Vancouver regions through in-depth interviews. Issues around training, preparation, boundaries and capacity within Indigenous cultural safety spaces were examined, as well as the resistance, harm, violence, emotional taxation, hardships and burnout often experienced by Indigenous cultural safety facilitators. With a focus on how facilitating Indigenous cultural safety affects physical, emotional, mental and spiritual wellness, as well as emphasizing the high risk of burnout, this research demonstrates that Indigenous cultural safety environments can be unsafe for Indigenous cultural safety facilitators and exposes a need to explore further how social and structural supports can better protect the health and wellness of Indigenous cultural safety facilitators.

This paper highlights the development of an Indigenous Cultural Safety Training (ICST) impact assessment survey tool working in collaboration with Indigenous leaders, Elders, faculty, staff, and students from across four post-secondary institutions on the traditional lands of the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ Peoples on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. What emerged from a series of Indigenous-led workshops was the development of an ICST impact assessment survey tool to measure the impact of the training as well as for ICST participants to reflect on their own cognitive and behavioural change within their practice over a 12-month period. In addition, a validation process with ICST experts, facilitators, staff, faculty, Elders, and participants was carried out to help refine the proposed co-constructed assessment variables, statements, and questions underpinning the survey tool. The finalized ICST impact assessment survey tool will not only improve the quality of ICST in post-secondary settings, but will also enable staff, faculty, and leaders to reflect on how the ICST improves their personal and professional practice working with Indigenous students in these settings.

Community choir participation for persons with dementia (PwD) confers benefits to health and well-being, including the benefit of socializing which can reduce feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Using the concept of social capital, this study examines the degree to which two intergenerational Voices in Motion choirs facilitate the development of social relationships between PwD, caregivers, and high school students. Data collection involved interviews with 17 dyads of PwD and caregivers, completion of a social relationship questionnaire, and focus groups with a total of 29 high school students. The results show a gradual increase in the level of interactions between all participants, with students in particular interacting more frequently with PwD. Over time, trust and reciprocity emerged within the choirs as more people shared information about themselves. Students’ understanding of dementia changed over time as they learned to appreciate PwD as unique human beings with rich life stories and experiences.

Background Promising research points to the potential of singing as a novel intervention to improve cognitive function and reduce levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depression in persons with dementia (PwD) (Elliott and Gardner, 2018; Unadkat et al., 2016). This study explores the impact of participation in Voices in Motion (ViM), an intergenerational community choir program designed to engage and support persons with dementia (PwD), their care partners, and students in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Combining narrative interviews, focus groups and observations, the study examined care partners and PwD’s experiences of ViM and their views of the benefits of choir involvement and considered the impact of ViM on social inclusion and social relationships. Method Over an 18‐month period, the study initiated and followed two ViM choirs—one active in research for three 3‐month sessions and the other for two sessions of the same time length. Data came from interviews with 23 dyads of PwD and care partners and focus groups with 29 high school students across the two ViM choirs. The interviews and focus groups were conducted at the end of each choir season over the course of the study. Result The thematic analysis revealed that PwD maintained an embodied ability to learn, experience, and perform songs in the choir despite considerable deficits in cognition, language, and memory. Results indicate that choral participation, as a type of embodied activity, effectively engages PwD and allows them to meaningfully express themselves as both singers and human beings. The ViM choirs facilitated the emergence of strong social relationships between PwD and care partners with the students who reported gaining a deeper and sympathetic understanding of PwD as individuals with rich life stories. Choral singing also served as an inspiring avenue for PwD to develop a strong sense of self and identity as choristers and performers. Conclusion ViM facilitates the re‐humanization of dementia through well‐attended concerts and performances at public events while also challenging social narratives of decline which remain prevalent in society and stigmatize individuals living with dementia.