Project Scope
The ACHH Initiative aims to integrate traditional and Western knowledge to better understand how Indigenous children experience, express, interpret, assess, and treat pain. Early research findings indicate that a complex mix of factors has created a cultural divide between Indigenous children in pain and non-Indigenous healthcare providers. Our goal is to bridge that gap.
Western-based healthcare professionals often use pain measurements like facial expressions and numeric scales, which may not accurately diagnose or treat Indigenous children’s pain. Issues such as discrimination, intergenerational trauma (including residential school experiences), and a lack of understanding of cultural traditions by healthcare providers contribute to this problem.