Strengthening Aboriginal Health through a Place-Based Learning Community

Abstract

The Sts’ailes Primary Health Care Project is a partnership in Sts’ailes, British Columbia, between Sts’ailes, Fraser Health Authority (FHA), and academic researchers at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia. The creation of knowledge by and for Aboriginal Peoples and a commitment to strength-based research are key aspects of the project. These key elements guide the partners as they work together to explore and identify ways to enhance health services for the Sts’ailes people and other FHA clients in the region. This paper describes how the principles of place-based learning communities (PbLCs) are being implemented within the collaboration in order to facilitate the co-production of culturally appropriate strengthbased knowledge that supports the health and wellness of the Sts’ailes community. PbLCs are a welcome innovative mechanism for generating a cross-cultural understanding of local health and wellness issues. This paper makes a contribution to the documentation of successful participatory community-academic research partnerships.