First Nations views towards biological health research: Before and after participation in a two-eyed seeing curriculum

Our team made up of First Nations knowledge holders and researchers in Canada that have come together over the past year two years to discuss advances in biological health research and how they may be relevant to First Nations health. In order to address some of the barriers to First Nations-led biological health research, our team is developing an educational curriculum to provide communities with an opportunity to learn about how biological health research can help address their health priorities. The proposed research will assess our expectations that participation in the curriculum will result in a number of positive outcomes related to support for First Nations-led biological research and in relation to certain aspects of well-being and capacity building. It is also the goal of this research to assess views towards biological health research in communities beyond those who participate in the curriculum to assess how this type of research is perceived among First Nations community members and leaders from across Canada. Lastly, we will evaluation how the western science and First Nations knowledges presented in the curriculum resonate with local understandings, and how the curriculum is perceived as a tool for enabling biological research projects that are led by First Nations communities. It is expected that this curriculum can serve as a tool that can be used in the initial stages of First Nations led research projects to build Ethical Space for culturally safe knowledge exchange between First Nations communities and researchers that is beneficial for everyone involved.