Real-Life Community-Based Indigenous Research

Over the past 9 years, our group has carried out research with the community of Maskwacis.   Our collaborative projects have included a variety of topics about aging among women, including the ways they manage their progress through menopause, and the strategies they use in their own lives to
“age healthy and well”.
      The research, and the researchers themselves, have been supported by the Sohkitehew Elders Advisory Committee.  Our work and has been carried out in close collaboration with this committee of seven women Elders.  The researchers are associated with the University of Alberta and University of Calgary.
      Our research has included women from all 4 Maskwacis Bands, and reflects their own experiences and wisdom.  We used several qualitative research techniques including sharing circles and one-to-one interviews to collect women’s views and experiences about aging. 
Our work has identified many wise suggestions made by the participants to help women to live well as they age - many of the suggestions are practical and can be adopted into everyday life.
      The research findings have been presented in many different venues in Maskwacis. 
We developed pamphlets for the community, using the information we learned in the community - about menopause (providing information for women and men) and a book about the ways community women use themselves to age well, so that this information is widely available first, before presenting to other
audiences.  We believe that this information can be useful for women generally (including younger women),
because the topics of menopause and aging are seldom talked about.
      We have also published several papers in academic journals, providing information for a wider audience, and hope that our research methods will also be useful for others.

Presenters:

Luwana Listener, Community-Based Research Coordinator, Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta
Luwana Listener was an Elementary School teacher of 12 years with the Coachella Valley Unified School District in Thermal, California. Luwana retired and moved back to Maskwacîs in 2015. In 2016, Luwana began her journey into research as a project aide then began work as a Community-Based Research Assistant with the Sohkitehew (Strong Heart) Research Group in 2017. The projects she has been involved in include: working with mature women’s wellness, intergenerational cohesion, pregnancy, maternal health and gender and
wellness.
Most recently, she is the Research Coordinator for the Maskwacîs Maternal, Child and Family Wellbeing Research Group seeking knowledge in improving maternal health and rebuilding healthy family structures in Maskwacîs.

Sue Ross, Emeritus Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta
My long and varied career started off in the UK as a pharmacist, then led into research full-time in 1989 (in a variety of different medical fields and academic positions), ending up in 2012 at the University of Edmonton in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology where I carried out women's health research, largely in pelvic floor disorders and menopause, with a range of colleagues including Dr Beate Sydora.
Through a contact of Beate's, the original research group were introduced in 2014 to Bonny Graham, community health and program manager at Maskwacîs Health Services (MHS).  This conversation led directly to our first Maskwacîs research which studied women's experiences of menopause.
Over time, the group expanded its range to undertake several research studies about strategies used by women to age well.  This strength-based work in Maskwacîs emphasizes the important roles of women in the community. 
The work is enhanced by the support of our experienced multi-disciplinary research team which includes Dr Cora Voyageur, a well-known Indigenous researcher at the University of Calgary. 
The enthusiastic involvement of the Sohkitehew Elders Advisory Committee provides vital knowledge and experience to the research.  Beate Sydora continues to work with us in this research, still finding the research interesting.  Luwana Listener, research assistant, has been a wonderful friend and colleague during our exciting journey of discovery - also providing calm when things get fraught.

Cost: Free

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/zVQekcgRmpb3YhkBA

This is part of the Maskwacis Cultural College Microlearning Series and is open to the public.
Contact Manisha Khetarpal by email  mkhetarpal@mccedu.ca or call toll free: 1 866 585 3925