In 2008, Dr. Margot Latimer and Dr. Allen Finley of the IWK Health Centre Complex Pain Team noticed something startling; only an estimated 2 out of 800 children referred to the Centre in its 17-year history were Aboriginal.
Since then, a team of First Nation community leaders, clinicians, Elders and researchers from the IWK Health Centre and Dalhousie University was formed and they began the UnPPAC (Understanding Pediatric Pain in Aboriginal Communities) project with First Nation community members. Participants shared their stories through art and conversation sessions. Researchers found consistent stories of First Nation children’s stoicism as well as a link between pain and hurt expression, assessment, and treatment.
