About
Indigenous children and families are often misunderstood and mistreated by health care professionals – an issue at the heart of the Aboriginal Children’s Hurt & Healing Initiative (ACHH Initiative).
Community Members
Events
ACHH Initiative team members regularly travel around the country to share the research findings and start the conversation about improving healthcare experiences for Indigenous children/youth.
Our Approach: Two-Eyed Seeing
Our research embraces the strengths of Indigenous and Western knowledge, using the Two-Eyed Seeing Approach. Two-Eyed Seeing embodies both the Indigenous and Western world views, acknowledging that no single perspective is better.
Research In Action: The Kids Hurt App
The Kids Hurt App will allow children to articulate their pain and hurt through stories and descriptions, while remaining stoic in their pain expression.
Art from the Heart
Throughout 2015 internationally-renowned Mi’kmaq artist Alan Syliboy facilitated community art sessions with four groups of children aged 8-17. 42 pieces of art work were collected as a result of these sessions.
Participating Indigenous Communities
ACHH Initiative research would not be possible without the insight and wisdom provided by the participating Indigenous communities.
Early Findings
One of our earliest findings was that, despite the high prevalence of pain conditions among Indigenous children, there were only an estimated two out of 800 Indigenous children who were referred to the IWK Health Complex Pain Team from across the Maritime Provinces.