March 24, 2022
Dr. Cash Ahenakew and his Faculty of Education co-applicants Dr. Sharon Stein and Dr. Vanessa Andreotti received funding for one of 27 new Research Excellence Clusters in the most recent Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters competition for their project Beyond Window-Dressing Reconciliation in Health: Settler-Clinician Responsibilities.
The Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters are designed to support emerging and established networks of researchers, spanning multiple disciplines at UBC. These networks form and nurture interdisciplinary teams that foster partnerships and collaborations, develop new research questions, address key societal and cultural problems and work together to solve challenges that transcend traditional boundaries.
Beyond Window-Dressing Reconciliation in Health: Settler-Clinician Responsibilities will be led by Dr. Ahenakew, and he will be joined by Dr. Stein, Dr. Andreotti and thirteen other cluster members from UBC, Simon Fraser University and the University of Calgary to explore the topic. The work of this research cluster will lead to the creation of educational resources that support settler-clinicians to confront colonialism in healthcare by moving beyond tokenistic and symbolic approaches to reconciliation, and toward deeper forms of accountability, in order to ultimately support the improved health and well-being of Indigenous peoples. The team was awarded a $100,000 grant for this interdisciplinary research collaboration.
Dr. Ahenakew has spent his career searching for ways to understand how local knowledges and practices can inform the resurgence of Indigenous wisdom, knowledge, education, well-being and healing practices. As Canada Research Chair in Indigenous People’s Well-Being, Dr. Ahenakew is focused on decolonizing health-related research, practices and education, and revitalizing Indigenous health practices.
Discover more about Dr. Ahenakew’s work.
