Product Details

Author Information

Corresponding Author
Keren Tang
University of Alberta
3-300 Edmonton Clinic Health Academy
11405 - 87 Ave.
Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9
Canada
p: 780-902-8852
ktang@ualberta.ca

Authors (listed in order of authorship):
Keren Tang
University of Alberta

Community Wellness Program
Yellowknives Dene First Nation

Cindy Jardine
University of Alberta

Product Description and Application Narrative Submitted by Corresponding Author

What general topics does your product address?

Public Health, Social & Behavioral Sciences

What specific topics does your product address?

Chronic disease, Community development, Community engagement, Community health , Community-based education, Health behavior, Health equity, Minority health, Partnership building , Physical activity/exercise, Prevention, Race & health, Social determinants of health, Community-based participatory research

Does your product focus on a specific population(s)?

Adolescents, Children, Indigenous/Aboriginal, Men, Seniors, Women

What methodological approaches were used in the development of your product, or are discussed in your product?

Community-academic partnership, Community-based participatory research , Focus group , Qualitative research, Videovoice, Interview

What resource type(s) best describe(s) your product?

Best practice , Case study, Health Promotion

Application Narrative

1. Please provide a 1600 character abstract describing your product, its intended use and the audiences for which it would be appropriate.*

Our product is a series of YouTube videos about physical activity developed by northern First Nations youth. This participatory action research initiative was a partnership between the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Community Wellness Program and the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. The goal of this four-phase project was to broadly explore physical activity from a community perspective, and facilitate opportunities for greater engagement with physical activity in the community. In phase 1, youths produced participatory videos documenting their experience with and perspective of physical activity. These visual products then sparked lively conversations in focus groups during phase 2 where community members and leaders reflected on physical activity practices, motivators, and barriers to participation. During family suppers in phase 3, where we shared the videos and research findings, members-at-large voted for physical activity solutions proposed by the youth and focus group participants. The community partner plans to follow through with the most popular ideas in the coming year. In the final phase, we followed up with youth, community members, and workers in an impact evaluation. The videos produced by the youth are intended for their peers, community members, and local leadership for health promotion, policymaking, and program planning purposes. Lessons learned and products generated from this research can be further shared with other Aboriginal communities as they initiate similar dialogues and develop meaningful ways to improve health and wellness.

2. What are the goals of the product?

Our research team (including academic and community partners) conducted a qualitative inquiry, guided by the participatory action research (PAR) framework, about how people from the Yellowknives Dene First Nations (YKDFN) communities perceive and experience physical activity as part of their local and cultural identity and wellness. To achieve this overarching goal, we developed four specific objectives – document, explore, reflect, and act – that centred on the production of youth-led participatory videos.

The first objective was to visually document the community’s perspective of and experience with physical activity through the eyes of the youth. This objective focused on youth leadership, allowing the participants to build their research skills (e.g., asking questions, conducting interviews), interpersonal relations (e.g., working in teams, positively interacting with peers), and multimedia skills (e.g., developing a story board, video making and editing).

The second objective was to investigate and understand the global definition of physical activity based on local knowledge and experience through the video production process. In co-developing the research focus, the community partner placed a strong emphasis on traditional culture. Integrating a cultural perspective thus re-defines “physical activity” within the context of Aboriginal health promotion, shifting from a biomedical to community paradigm.

The third objective was to raise critical consciousness about physical activity through the visual products and conversations generated from the research. Facilitated by reflections and dialogues, participants considered how physical activity is practiced in the community, and identified community resources and barriers that encourage and discourage members from participating.

Based on the videos and the related conversations, the fourth objective was to develop strategies to increase participation in physical activity. We involved more community members in this action stage of the research to help sustain new and existing initiatives.

3. Who are the intended audiences or expected users of the product?

The original intended audience for these videos was YKDFN community members and leaders. The videos have also been disseminated more broadly via the internet to reach indigenous communities across North America and around the world. The videos can spark ideas for communities to initiate similar research partnerships and multimedia projects addressing not only health promotion, but also topics that are meaningful and relevant in the local context. Beyond communities, the videos and lessons learned from this project are useful for policymakers and non-governmental organizations to better understand Indigenous communities’ perspective of health and wellness. This information can further shape program and policy development, grant allocation, and community engagement.

4. Please provide any special instructions for successful use of the product, if necessary. If your product has been previously published, please provide the appropriate citation below.

The videos have been made widely available in both DVD and online formats. These two versions significantly increase the versatility of video viewing, allowing those without Internet connections to access the content. However, we recommend that audiences, particularly those outside the YKDFN, supplement video viewing with a written discussion, such as this CES4Health submission, to provide a better context of the research process and outcome. Other supporting materials include short captions about the project published with the videos online; large-scaled posters and pamphlets accompanying the DVDs shared with community members; and plain word summaries supplementing DVDs at conference and other academic settings. These materials can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.

5. Please describe how your product or the project that resulted in the product builds on a relevant field, discipline or prior work. You may cite the literature and provide a bibliography in the next question if appropriate.

This PAR project and the resulting videos build on three relevant fields. First, this research contributes to the current understanding in public health of the meaning of physical activity from an Aboriginal worldview. Second, the findings contribute to health promotion literature, particularly in chronic disease prevention. Third, the research experience highlights the values of participatory methodologies, which continue to be underused in much of health research.

A significant outcome of the youth-produced videos was the prominent role of traditional culture in the meaning of physical activity. This particular finding builds on the understanding of how Aboriginal peoples experience and perceive health and physical activity. This holistic health perspective from an Aboriginal worldview diverges from the dominant Western discourse (1–3), which focuses heavily on individual responsibility of disease and illness (4), a view that drives most of conventional health research (5).

Better understanding of the Aboriginal conceptualization of physical activity will be critical in long-term chronic disease prevention efforts. This is a key area of concern in public health because chronic diseases such as diabetes disproportionately affect Aboriginal populations in Canada (6). Aboriginal peoples are 2-5 times more likely to experience diabetes than the rest of the Canadians (7). Health promotion often targets physical inactivity, a risk factor, as an area of prevention (8–10). Yet, research has consistently demonstrated that Aboriginal populations are not achieving the recommended level of physical activity (11). Furthermore, physical inactivity, among other risk factors, is on the rise in the North, where significant Aboriginal populations reside (12). This trend indicates an even greater urgency in chronic disease prevention in circumpolar regions of Canada.

Our research also has methodological merit. In a field dominated by clinical trials (13), PAR is gaining recognition as an approach that involves communities in decision-making such that health research is relevant and meaningful (14,15). This PAR project engaged the community from the very beginning when we defined the research focus. We documented the intricacies of the process in detailed field notes, reflections, and conversations, in hopes that they will benefit other health researchers.

6. Please provide a bibliography for work cited above or in other parts of this application. Provide full references, in the order sited in the text (i.e. according to number order). .

1. Adelson N. The embodiment of inequity: health disparities in aboriginal Canada. Can J public Heal Rev Can santé publique [Internet]. 2005;96 Suppl 2:S45–61. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16078555
2. Green BL. Culture is Treatment. J Psychosoc Nurs. 2010;48(7):27–34.
3. McLennan V, Khavarpour F. Culturally appropriate health promotion: its meaning and application in Aboriginal communities. Heal Promot J Aust. 2004;15(3):237–9.
4. Petersen A, Davis M, Fraser S, Lindsay J. Healthy living and citizenship: an overview. Crit Public Health [Internet]. 2010 Dec [cited 2013 Mar 19];20(4):391–400. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09581596.2010.518379
5. Young K, Katzmarzyk PT. Physical activity of Aboriginal people in Canada. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab [Internet]. 2007 Nov 14 [cited 2014 Feb 3];32(S2E):S148–60. Available from: http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/H07-110
6. Reading J. The Crisis of Chronic Disease among Aboriginal Peoples: A Challenge for Public Health, Population Health and Social Policy. Victoria, British Columbia: Centre for Aboriginal Health Research; 2009 p. 1–196.
7. Oster RT, Johnson JA, Hemmelgarn BR, King M, Balko SU, Svenson LW, et al. Recent epidemiologic trends of diabetes mellitus among status Aboriginal adults. Can Med Assoc J. 2011;183(12):803–9.
8. Katzmarzyk PT. Obesity and physical activity among Aboriginal Canadians. Obesity (Silver Spring) [Internet]. 2008 Jan [cited 2014 May 8];16(1):184–90. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18223633
9. Kumanyika SK, Yancey AK. Physical activity and health equity: evolving the science. Am J Health Promot [Internet]. 2009;23(6):S4–7. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19601484
10. Miles L. Physical activity and health. Nutr Bull [Internet]. 2007;32:314–63. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2007.00668.x
11. Foulds HJA, Warburton DER, Bredin SSD. A systematic review of physical activity levels in Native American populations in Canada and the United States in the last 50 years. Obes Rev [Internet]. 2013 Jul [cited 2014 Feb 13];14(7):593–603. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23577646
12. Deering KN, Lix LM, Bruce S, Young K. Chronic Diseases and Risk Factors in Canada’s Northern Populations: Longitudinal and Geographic Comparisons. Can J Public Heal. 2009;100(1):14–7.
13. Sanson-Fisher RW, Bonevski B, Green LW, D’Este C. Limitations of the randomized controlled trial in evaluating population-based health interventions. Am J Prev Med [Internet]. 2007 Aug [cited 2014 Jan 27];33(2):155–61. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17673104
14. Israel BA, Schulz AJ, Parker EA, Becker AB, Allen AJI, Guzman JR. Critical Issues in Developing and Following CBPR Principles. In: Minkler M, Wallerstein N, editors. Community-Based Participatory Research for Health: From Process to Outcomes. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2008. p. 47–66.
15. Wallerstein N, Duran B. The Theoretical, Historical, and Practice Roots of Community-Based Participatory Research. In: Minkler M, Wallerstein N, editors. Community-Based Participatory Research for Health?: From Process to Outcomes. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2008. p. 25–46.
16. Labonte R, Laverack G. Capacity building in health promotion, Part 1: For whom? And for what purpose? Crit Public Health [Internet]. 2001 Jun [cited 2014 Feb 20];11(2):111–27. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09581590110039838
17. Freire P. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 30th Anniv. New York: Continuum; 1970.
18. Kane L. Community development: learning from popular education in Latin America. Community Dev J [Internet]. 2010 May 25 [cited 2014 Apr 16];45(3):276–86. Available from: http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/doi/10.1093/cdj/bsq021
19. Yellowknives Dene First Nation. About Us [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2015 Jan 21]. Available from: http://ykdene.com/general/about-us
20. Government of Northwest Territories. Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority Strategic Plan 2013-2018 [Internet]. Yellowknife; 2013 p. 1–70. Available from: http://www.yhssa.hss.gov.nt.ca/sites/default/files/yhssa_strategic_plan_2013-2018.pdf
21. Stanfield B. Art of Focused Conversation: 100 Ways to Access Group Wisdom in the Workplace. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers; 2000.
22. Hsieh H-F, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qual Health Res [Internet]. 2005 Nov [cited 2013 Nov 7];15(9):1277–88. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16204405
23. Mayan MJ. Essentials of Qualitative Inquity. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press; 2009.
24. Genuis SK, Jardine CG, Chekoa Program. Social media as an instrument for youth engagement with antismoking messages [Internet]. CES4Health. 2013 [cited 2013 Aug 22]. Available from: http://www.ces4health.info/find-products/view-product.aspx?code=5ZJFF7XB
25. Jardine CG, James A. Youth researching youth: benefits, limitations and ethical considerations within a participatory research process. Int J Circumpolar Health [Internet]. 2012 Jan;71(6):1–9. Available from: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3417519&tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
26. Jones M, Frazier S, Percy C, Stowell JL, Maltrud K, Wallerstein N. Using web-based tools to build capacity for CBPR. In: Minkler M, Wallerstein N, editors. Community-Based Participatory Research for Health?: From Process to Outcomes. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass; 2010. p. 209–20.
27. Lunch C, Lunch N. Insights into Participatory Video. First. Oxford: InsightShare; 2006.
28. Liebenberg L, Didkowsky N, Ungar M. Analysing image-based data using grounded theory?: the Negotiating Resilience Project. Vis Stud. 2012;27(1):59–74.
29. LaFlamme M, Singleton G, Muir K. Realizing the Benefits of Ownership through Participatory Video in a Multimedia Age. In: Milne E, Mitchell C, de Lange N, editors. Handbook of Participatory Video. Toronto: AltaMira Press; 2012. p. 283–300.
30. Tuhiwai Smith L. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. New York: Zed Books Ltd.; 1999.
31. Wilson S. Research is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing; 2008.
32. Absolon K, Willett C. Putting Ourselves Forward: Location in Aboriginal Research. In: Brown L, Strega S, editors. Research as resistance. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press; 2005. p. 97–126.
33. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. 2010.
34. Castleden H, Morgan VS, Lamb C. “I spent the first year drinking tea”: Exploring Canadian university researchers’ perspectives on community-based participatory research involving Indigenous peoples. Can Geogr / Le Géographe Can [Internet]. 2012 Jun 30 [cited 2013 Aug 30];56(2):160–79. Available from: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2012.00432.x
35. Hampton E. Memory comes before knowledge: Research may improve if researchers remember their motives. Can J Nativ Educ. 1995;21:46–54.
36. Ermine W, Sinclair R, Jeffery B. The Ethics of Research Involving Indigenous Peoples. Saskatoon, SK; 2004 p. 1–272.

7. Please describe the project or body of work from which the submitted product developed. Describe the ways that community and academic/institutional expertise contributed to the project. Pay particular attention to demonstrating the quality or rigor of the work:

• For research-related work, describe (if relevant) study aims, design, sample, measurement instruments, and analysis and interpretation. Discuss how you verified the accuracy of your data.
• For education-related work, describe (if relevant) any needs assessment conducted, learning objectives, educational strategies incorporated, and evaluation of learning.
• For other types of work, discuss how the project was developed and reasons for the methodological choices made.

Study aims: The overarching aim of this collaborative project between the University of Alberta and the YKDFN was to explore and re-define physical activity in a northern Aboriginal context through the eyes of the youth. Applying the tools of participatory video, focus groups, and knowledge translation, we sought to build community capacities (16) in understanding and promoting physical activity. For the youth, we aimed to develop their leadership, multimedia, and interpersonal skills, cultivating their pride and self-confidence. At the community level, we sought to facilitate wider reflection about physical activity, and collectively develop engagement solutions that are meaningful and relevant in the local context.

Theoretical approach: A PAR framework, driven by Freire’s critical consciousness theory, guided this research. According to Freire (17), liberation comes from individuals critically examining their lives, lifting their consciousness, and acting on ways to improve their realities. This theory shifts the conventional power structure: the researcher becomes a participant who facilitates the uncovering of people’s inherent knowledge. The elements of participation and action drew us towards this methodology “of the people” (18) as we stimulated conversation, raised critical awareness, and initiated grassroots change.

Community partner: The research took place in the YKDFN communities of Ndilo and Dettah, located outside Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Approximately 1,489 members belong to YKDFN; 575 members live in Ndilo and Dettah (19) where 44% are youth and children under the age of 25 (20). The community partner in this research was the YKDFN Community Wellness Program, the organization that manages wellness-related activities and initiatives in both communities.

Methods: This PAR project took place in four phases. In phase 1, we engaged 19 Dene youth age 8-18 from Ndilo and Dettah in developing participatory videos portraying their physical activity experience in the community and on the land at a cultural camp. The youth also discussed with the primary researcher (KT) the significance of their videos, lived experiences, and ideas for promoting physical activity in the community. The videos then sparked wider reflections in phase 2 where we shared footages with 11 community members and leaders in focus groups. Participants discussed physical activity in their lives, challenges in organizing community initiatives, and ways to encourage more people to be active. In phase 3, we shared the videos and ideas proposed by the youth and focus group participants during two family suppers where an estimated 130 members-at-large attended the events. They then voted for their favorite physical activity ideas to implement. In the last phase, we followed up with community members and assessed the impact of the research in semi-structured interviews.

Analysis & Interpretation: We analyzed the content of the videos in focused conversations with youth, community members, and leaders, guided by the ORID structure (21): 1) Objective (What do you see?); 2) Reflective (What do you think?); 3) Interpretive (What does this mean?); and 4) Decisional (What do we do?). In addition to having ongoing dialogues, detailed field notes and research journals helped to confirm information and maintain research rigor. In fact, KT’s prolonged and intensive engagement in the field was itself an important means of ensuring the trustworthiness of the data. The conversations and videos were transcribed and analyzed, along with the field notes, using a conventional content analysis approach (22). KT systematically coded the data for themes and sub-themes, compared and contrasted texts, and tracked analysis with memos and annotations. Co-analysis with the community partner, member checking with participants, and peer review analysis with a fellow researcher (23) further strengthened the accuracy of the interpretation.

8. Please describe the process of developing the product, including the ways that community and academic/institutional expertise were integrated in the development of this product.

The underlying premise of this PAR project relied on the close collaboration between the community partner and academic researchers from the very beginning. We took this integrated approach from formulating a research vision, recruiting participants, and developing the videos, to disseminating the final products.

Two streams of influence motivated this research. First, the co-researcher (CJ) and her research team have a long-standing working relationship with the YKDFN Community Wellness Program and the local school. Previously, they collaborated on various projects using visual methods such as participatory video (24) and Photovoice (25) as tools for youth to develop relevant smoking prevention messages. Because of the positive outcomes of these projects, the Community Wellness Program was interested in further collaboration for their summer youth programming. The basis of this relationship, trust, and exposure to research formed the partnership context for this current project about physical activity. Second, KT previously participated, as a middle school science teacher on the Navajo Nation, in a community physical activity initiative called ‘Just Move It.’ This initiative grew out of local concern for diabetes in 1993. It has since transformed from community runs and walks into a North American wide campaign that connects Indigenous communities from across the continent in an online forum to share best practices in physical activity and health promotion (26). This program inspired KT’s interest in physical activity as a graduate trainee.

As a result of these two factors, KT entered into a pre-existing research relationship. Prior to formally initiating the current research, KT assisted with other health promotion and visual media projects with the YKDFN. During her time up North, she established connections, volunteered to give back, and participated regularly in local activities such as beading and recreation. Consequently, she connected quickly with community members, school, local organizations, elders, and youth.

It was in these early interactions that KT began communicating with the research liaison who is a long-time employee of the Community Wellness Program. KT introduced the broad interest area of physical activity, to which the research liaison responded enthusiastically, confirming that physical activity is inherently a part of the traditional Dene way of life. Collectively, they developed a research vision, grounding physical activity as a global concept from a northern cultural standpoint. Ongoing communication during research trips leading up to the project finalized the research goals and objectives, and the project plan, which centered on a youth summer cultural camp on traditional land. Co-planning the cultural camp and the video project allowed KT and the research liaison to introduce the research to parents through a welcome package that included informed consent/assent forms.

The project formally began in summer 2013 when KT spent a month in the community participating in the cultural camp as a facilitator. Afterwards, she returned to the community for shorter periods to follow up with community members and leaders in the focus group discussions and the evaluation. Such prolonged and intensive involvement in the community was not only critical in establishing trust and reinforcing credibility, but also helped to strengthen research rigor and ensure true participation from the community in the development of the products.

In the beginning, KT worked with a paid, youth research assistant upon the recommendation of local leaders. They worked closely together in making decisions for the project and recruiting participants through the youth’s social network. This partnership also created opportunities for informal mentorship and building the youth’s capacity in diligent work habits, organization and leadership skills.

Video making with the youth was largely a self-directed process. The youth were provided with basic videography training, editing instructions, and a general theme of physical activity. They were able to independently create and exercise their knowledge of the video equipment. While there were some ideas from elders and community members regarding traditional physical activity on the land, it was primarily the youth who planned, brainstormed, filmed, and edited the final products. Above all, this youth-centred process encouraged young people to participate in ways that were meaningful for them, taking part in roles that they found particularly interesting. Some youth operated the equipment; some acted in the videos; and some patiently edited the footages at the end. The raw film materials were stored on the desktops in the community centres to encourage youth to continue making videos in the future. Local knowledge dissemination events were organized where the research partners collaboratively presented the project to the wider community and planned relevant activities to support the theme of active living and healthy lifestyle.

The focus on traditional culture in the videos and subsequent discussions accentuated the inherent expertise from the youth, elders, community members, and leaders. The researcher offered technical expertise in methodology, analysis, and knowledge translation. These two intertwining types of knowledge unfolded in a process that facilitated the participants to share rich experiences and perspectives.

9. Please discuss the significance and impact of your product. In your response, discuss ways your product has added to existing knowledge and benefited the community; ways others may have utilized your product; and any relevant evaluation data about impact, if available. If the impact of the product is not yet known, discuss its potential significance.

Follow-up with community members occurred three and six months after the family suppers where knowledge was shared with the wider community. To qualitatively evaluate the impact of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants who had some degree of interaction with the project. Probing questions guided participants to reflect on the research benefits for the community and determine any changes in the level of physical activity after the project. The conversations were transcribed and key themes were analyzed using a constant comparison method.

Youth leadership consistently surfaced as a theme. Participants voiced that the project provided opportunities to cultivate the youth’s interpersonal relationships, technical skills, and creativity, promoting those directly involved as role models for others. An elder recalled, “They weren’t too shy […] and I was kind of impressed that they were able to do something like that.” For one youth, the project “was fun because she was able to be creative. She was able to put her thoughts down into a story. The editing process helped her, because she doesn’t normally do that.” Above all, the project allowed the youth to use technology – a barrier to physical activity noted by many – and “make something positive” to improve the community.

The link between traditional culture and physical activity became an important teaching from the project. “The youth, they got a better understanding of our culture, of physical activity.” One young woman “felt that for the other youth, it’s important to get an idea of what cultural camp looks like, because not many kids are participating in cultural activities these days.” By capturing traditional ways of life on camera, the videos became an important means of transmitting knowledge and strengthening cultural identity.

Many also felt that the videos motivated greater participation in community life. “It’s encouraging [for] whoever sees it to say, ‘Oh, I want to get active.’” Participants also reflected on changes in physical activity in the community, “Yeah, they’re doing that volleyball tournaments, and indoor hockey and all that kind of stuff too. So it’s getting a little bit better, more people coming out.” Despite the changes observed, it is difficult to pin down the connection between these changes and the research itself. One participant pondered, “I think the participation is a lot more healthier now. […] But I’m not sure if […] it’s linked [to the research]. Well, I guess! All promotions are linked to the increase [in physical activity].” She implied that participation is likely influenced by a variety of factors including the research project and the videos.

The research also supported local leadership. By involving members-at-large, the research helped to hold the Community Wellness Program accountable in following through with the collective decisions made during the two family suppers. Community members favored sports tournaments; traditional games; community hunts; longer cultural camps; Biggest Loser challenges; and walking marathons. A staff member pointed out, “I think that [the project] did make change. Like one of the [community decisions] was more sports teams […] For the past 5 years… we’ve been meaning to, but then we get sidetracked because we have bigger projects to work on and we kept ignoring the youth sports team. But now that we brought it out at family night, […] the parents were there, they keep phoning, and the kids […] kept reminding us about that. […] So we got a couple of parents that are coaching them.”

The outcomes of the research have been communicated extensively within the community and to researchers and policymakers, conveying the message that traditional culture and on the land practices can strongly influence physical activity and health. Therefore, this research experience will not only impact the YKDFN community but also Aboriginal peoples elsewhere in Canada and beyond.

10. Please describe why you chose the presentation format you did.

We chose participatory video as the presentation medium for its value in both the concrete products and the process. Participatory video is a “set of techniques to involve a group or community in shaping and creating their own film” (27). Such group-driven visual methods are becoming increasingly popular in qualitative and health research as a means to engage and access marginalized voices in a way that conventional data collection techniques cannot (28). Image-based media are creative, engaging, and accessible ways to share a perspective, concern, or experience (27). This method of using technology to create visual stories aligns with the oral tradition common in many Aboriginal cultures (24,29). Moreover, given the versatility in digital media, we were able to transform videos into DVDs and YouTube links. Having these tangible products increased the scope of knowledge dissemination, credibility, and sense of accomplishment and ownership for the community and the participants.

That sense of accomplishment especially among the youth was evident. The research liaison pointed out, “Exposure to media, or even film-making, the process of editing” were benefits for the youth who “took pride in their own work [because] they made it themselves.” The youths acquired new, or built upon existing, skills, knowledge, and capabilities in digital video craft and interview through the process of video making. Using images to spark conversations about active living further built the wider community’s capacity to reflect, brainstorm, and prioritize physical activity initiatives.

11. Please reflect on the strengths and limitations of your product. In what ways did community and academic/institutional collaborators provide feedback and how was such feedback used? Include relevant evaluation data about strengths and limitations if available.

The strengths of the research lie in our project approach, and our focus on relationship and capacity building. We took a participatory, inclusive, all-encompassing, and strength-based approach in the research. A participatory and inclusive approach is critical in Aboriginal communities where research has been historically perceived as a negative event (30). The approach gave the community greater control and ownership over the process. The research liaison and KT engaged in ongoing feedback in all stages of the research. The self-directed nature of the research further encouraged richer and more meaningful discussions. Conversations went beyond physical activity to examine the role of culture and tradition, generating powerful and profound local knowledge. We concentrated on the strengths of the community to understand how people are active and to encourage more participation in physical activity. Drawing upon community assets and strengths encouraged action and capacity building from individual to community levels (16). Relationship building was perhaps the most important factor that contributed to the success of the project. After all, without relationships and trust, there would be no data and the research would lack credibility (31,32). Reflexivity about researcher interactions with others further contributed to the depth of the relationship and rigor (23).

However, this research was not without its challenges. These included timing, research capacity, and participant engagement. Because of the timing of the project, the videos only showed a portion of the day-to-day happenings around the community, and missed many opportunities to comprehensively portray the local reality. As several participants pointed out, there are other activities that people do in the wintertime that the youth were not able to film. Summertime also presented unique challenges for recruitment. With school finished for the year, many families were away on vacation or in the bush. Still other youths were enrolled in different summer programs. The near 24-hour daylight patterns in the North at this time also meant youth had irregular lifestyles, often going to sleep in the early morning and waking up in late afternoons.

Research capacity was another limitation. Data generation and analysis in the field were not iterative because they were separated by time and space. Most of the videos were filmed at the cultural camp, which was a 20-minute boat ride away with limited power outlets. Setting up a laptop station for editing and analysis would have disrupted camp life and jeopardized the purpose of connecting with the land. Uploading the footages on community computers for playback and edits further posed unexpected technical difficulties. Much idle time spent waiting for the upload potentially diminished youth’s engagement. Because of the distance between the community and the university, KT was not able to be involved with the community for longer periods, which would have facilitated greater presence, more ongoing dialogues, and opportunities to train participants in skills such as analysis.

Finally, continuous participant engagement was a challenge. At the cultural camp, having the cameras for the first few days was a new learning experience for many youth. Gradually, as they became accustomed to camp life, the cameras began to lose their novelty appeal. One youth’s comment “Being active is more fun than video-ing” highlighted the irony of the slow and sedentary nature of filming and editing in a project about physical activity. At the same time, this gradual waning in interest might also allude to young people finding interest in other activities such as playing, swimming, and interacting with each other. The limitations of the research demonstrated the unpredictable nature of PAR and the immense need for flexibility.

12. Please describe ways that the project resulting in the product involved collaboration that embodied principles of mutual respect, shared work and shared credit. If different, describe ways that the product itself involved collaboration that embodied principles of mutual respect, shared work and shared credit. Have all collaborators on the product been notified of and approved submission of the product to CES4Health.info? If not, why not? Please indicate whether the project resulting in the product was approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and/or community-based review mechanism, if applicable, and provide the name(s) of the IRB/mechanism.

This project was part of a larger research endeavor using social media as a health promotion tool. Because of previous visual media projects (24,25), the Community Wellness Program inquired about the possibility of future projects. This gesture indicated a strong interest, commitment, and support from the community partner. The research was collaboratively conducted from defining the research focus through to approach, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, knowledge translation and dissemination of both the product and of the research results. Ultimately, the research experience was deemed to be very positive for the participants, the community partner, and the researchers. As noted in previous sections of this article, the project demonstrated mutual respect and shared work among the stakeholders. In fact, based on this research, community members and staff proposed new project ideas and initiatives. The positive experience therefore builds upon the existing successful partnership between researchers and the community and is likely to endure in the future exploring other topics to develop community-specific solutions.

We received ethics approval from the University of Alberta Human Research Ethics Board (REB 1) for this research. We also obtained a research license from the Aurora Research Institute to conduct the project in the Northwest Territories. We adhered to the institutional ethical standards established by the Tri-Council Policy Statement with a chapter dedicated to research with Aboriginal peoples in Canada (33). Additionally, we applied relational ethics that requires profound self-reflexivity and authenticity (31,32) to “drink tea” with communities and establish place, intention, interest, and relationships before collecting data (34). Such degree of subjectivity and intimacy is contrary to mainstream research paradigms that exalt objectivity and require researchers to remain at a distance from their participants (31,35). However, following both guidelines enabled us to arrive at a common “ethical space” (36) where, despite diverse ways of knowing and worldviews, we agreed upon a research vision and objectives.

Furthermore, the underlying PAR principles emphasize shared roles and responsibilities in the research partnership to balance power dynamics between the researchers and the communities. Working with the community partner from the very beginning, we took a collaborative, strength-based, and holistic approach to explore community-level physical activity. The group-driven and group-oriented process of participatory video and community discussions thus ensured that the outcome and solutions came from local voices. Because of the approach taken with the research process, the final videos themselves also demonstrated mutually respectful relationships, community input, and meaningful participation. Youth, elders, community members, and leaders all played a crucial role, however big or small, in the research. The degree of flexibility created a safe environment where individuals were able to contribute in ways that were meaningful for them. They filmed, edited, acted, participated in group discussions and follow-up evaluation, and voted at the family supper.

The notion of shared responsibility and partnership applies to all aspects of the research, including data ownership, publications, and conference abstract proceedings. The researchers share authorship with the community partner, the YKDFN Community Wellness Program, who has given feedback and granted approval for this submission to CES4Health.