Indigenous Resources

 Click on any item in blue to open it.

Current Everykid Plan

Resources

  • The following resources will assist agencies in ensuring programs/services are culturally appropriate:
  • Prevent Childhood Obesity in your Aboriginal Community:  This book is for service providers who work with Aboriginal parents or young Aboriginal children. It was developed as part of the Let’s Be Healthy Together project funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. This project developed tools to help communities prevent obesity in Aboriginal children. This book helps service providers address healthy weights in young Aboriginal children.
  • Creating Healthier Communities.  This is one in a series of 3 books for parents of young Aboriginal children. It was developed as part of the Let’s Be Healthy Together project funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. This project developed tools to help communities prevent obesity in Aboriginal children. This book helps parents give their child the best start in life when it comes to having good mental and spiritual health. It helps parents explore their culture with their young one(s).
  • Other Resources related to supporting Aboriginal families can be found at:

  • The Healthy Aboriginal Network Non-profit promotion of health, literacy & wellness -Augmented Reality Knowledge Transfer (ARKT)

Augmented reality (AR) is meant to enhance your perception of the way things actually exist. So when you install the Layar App on your Android or iPhone and point it at one of the posters we created, it triggers a video, and information, that wouldn’t usually be available to you in written format. This sort of engagement is perfect for youth. Not only because it delivers content in a format they are comfortable with, but it allows organizations to revitalize ‘stale’ or text-heavy knowledge transfer (KT) materials into something visual learners can access readily. We call this ‘new’ way to learn ARKT.

The neurological condition posters we created for the Native Women’s Association of Canada are meant to be viewed poster-size on a wall. But the video can also be triggered from a PDF. Please check out the posters on our webpage at http://www.thehealthyaboriginal.net/ or on NWAC’s at www.nwac.ca/research/neurological-conditions. The whole poster must be visible on your computer screen in order to be ‘recognized’ by your Android or iPhone.

If your organization is interested in increasing its reach with youth, you need to measure its effectiveness (we can track the number of views) and you have a budget for a poster / video campaign, please email sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net to discuss your project ideas. ARKT posters are great for universities trying to attract youth to their programs, or museums for re-invigorating static exhibits. It’s also time we started ‘marketing’ health and social information to youth the way private companies have for decades.

  • Residential school comic book – AR video

On the back of Lost Innocence, we created an augmented reality cover. The video is of Gord Williams, a survivor of the residential school system. He tells his story in a candid and insightful video. You can check it out at http://www.thehealthyaboriginal.net/

  • Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) Evaluation

We have a partnership with the Opening Minds (OM) anti-stigma initiative of the MHCC. OM would like to evaluate our “Just a Story” comic book to see if it’s successful in dispelling the stigma of mental health with pre-teens. OM’s goal is to provide information to organizations (schools, First Nations, youth and parent groups) across the country as to what programs and materials are effective and beneficial to youth. “Just a Story” is about a brother and sister that have trouble relating to friends at school because of what’s going on at home.
Opening Minds is looking for programs that have Aboriginal kids, located on or off-reserve and are interested in participating in the evaluation. The study will work best with groups that have a strong rapport with their youth, as the organization will be expected to oversee pre and post-tests without the aid of a researcher. The pre and post-tests are short and written, but they could be oral in certain circumstances. For organizations that work with youth living with mental health issues, you might want to arrange for a mental health worker to visit the community.
If you are part of an organization interested in helping to evaluate our comic book, this work could be done in August or September 2013. For more information, please contact Romie Christie, Manager of Opening Minds at rchristie@mentalhealthcommission.ca or 403-385-4034. Or contact sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net.

Literature Review

  • This search contains a toolkit for service providers who are working with aboriginal families.