Indigenous Perspectives in Program Evaluation: A scoping literature review exploring wise practices for program evaluation with Indigenous communities in northern Manitoba

This study explored how organizations that offer programming and services in northern Indigenous communities could inform, adapt, and improve their evaluation approaches to involve an Indigenous perspective. Without this research, program evaluation may continue to be conducted within a Western perspective, a view that does not consider an Indigenous paradigm or cultural considerations. To examine Indigenous perspectives in program evaluation, the researcher conducted a scoping literature review using 15 secondary sources from Australia, Canada, and the United States of America published from 2010-2020. Through a decolonized methodology, the researcher sorted the data into themes according to the core values of an Indigenous Evaluation Framework. The findings contributed to the literature by addressing the gaps of decolonizing program evaluation, integrating cultural approaches, and instilling an Indigenous paradigm. Relevant to organizations that work with Indigenous communities, the research generated wise practices to engage program evaluation in a culturally appropriate manner. Building from this study, ongoing research is needed to support Indigenous perspectives in program evaluation.

BEYOND THE CHALLENGES: NEW INSIGHTS AND INNOVATIONS IN FIELD EDUCATION

The International Conference on Social Work and Fieldwork Education in Hong Kong was organized to discuss the need for change and innovation in social work education with a particular focus on field education. There is a need for social work field educators to identify innovative, promising, and wise practices in field education. In many contexts, field education is challenged to procure sufficient placements each year. This growing demand for placements has created numerous challenges in field education programs. In response to the challenges facing social work field education, and the need to develop sustainable models of field education, the Transforming the Field Education Landscape (TFEL) project was formed. The TFEL project is a partnership designed to integrate research and practice through the development of partnered research training initiatives aimed at enhancing student research practice knowledge and applied skill development. In Canada, many field education challenges were amplified due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which required social work programs to adapt in order to navigate unprecedented circumstances. This article discusses the challenges facing field education programs and provides an overview of the TFEL project, with a focus on how the partnership is addressing these concerns. It defines what is meant by innovative, promising, and wise practices in field education, and how these innovations can assist in preparing the next generation of social workers to become highly qualified personnel.

Utilizing Webs to Share Ancestral and Intergenerational Teachings: The Process of Co-Building an Online Digital Repository in Partnership with Indigenous Communities

Indigenous knowledge and wisdom continue to guide food and land practices, which may be key to lowering high rates of diabetes and obesity among Indigenous communities. The purpose of this paper is to describe how Indigenous, ancestral, and wise practices around food and land can best be reclaimed, revitalized, and reinvented through the use of an online digital platform. Key informant interviews and focus groups were conducted in order to identify digital data needs for food and land practices. Participants included Indigenous key informants, ranging from elders to farmers. Key questions included: (1) How could an online platform be deemed suitable for Indigenous communities to catalogue food wisdom? (2) What types of information would be useful to classify? (3) What other related needs exist? Researchers analyzed field notes, identified themes, and used a consensual qualitative research approach. Three themes were found, including a need for the appropriate use of Indigenous knowledges and sharing such online, a need for community control of Indigenous knowledges, and a need and desire to share wise practices with others online. An online Food Wisdom Repository that contributes to the health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples through cultural continuity appears appropriate if it follows the outlined needs.

Wise Practices for Cultural Safety in Electronic Health Research and Clinical Trials With Indigenous People: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Background There is a paucity of controlled clinical trial data based on research with Indigenous peoples. A lack of data specific to Indigenous peoples means that new therapeutic methods, such as those involving electronic health (eHealth), will be extrapolated to these groups based on research with other populations. Rigorous, ethical research can be undertaken in collaboration with Indigenous communities but requires careful attention to culturally safe research practices. Literature on how to involve Indigenous peoples in the development and evaluation of eHealth or mobile health apps that responds to the needs of Indigenous patients, providers, and communities is still scarce; however, the need for community-based participatory research to develop culturally safe technologies is emerging as an essential focus in Indigenous eHealth research. To be effective, researchers must first gain an in-depth understanding of Indigenous determinants of health, including the harmful consequences of colonialism. Second, researchers need to learn how colonialism affects the research process. The challenge then for eHealth researchers is to braid Indigenous ethical values with the requirements of good research methodologies into a culturally safe research protocol. Objective A recent systematic review showed that Indigenous peoples are underrepresented in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), primarily due to a lack of attention to providing space for Indigenous perspectives within the study frameworks of RCTs. Given the lack of guidelines for conducting RCTs with Indigenous communities, we conducted an analysis of our large evaluation data set collected in the Diagnosing Hypertension-Engaging Action and Management in Getting Lower Blood Pressure in Indigenous Peoples and Low- and Middle- Income Countries (DREAM-GLOBAL) trial over a period of five years. Our goal is to identify wise practices for culturally safe, collaborative eHealth and RCT research with Indigenous communities. Methods We thematically analyzed survey responses and qualitative interview/focus group data that we collected over five years in six culturally diverse Indigenous communities in Canada during the evaluation of the clinical trial DREAM-GLOBAL. We established themes that reflect culturally safe approaches to research and then developed wise practices for culturally safe research in pragmatic eHealth research. Results Based on our analysis, successful eHealth research in collaboration with Indigenous communities requires a focus on cultural safety that includes: (1) building a respectful relationship; (2) maintaining a respectful relationship; (3) good communication and support for the local team during the RCT; (4) commitment to co-designing the innovation; (5) supporting task shifting with the local team; and (6) reflecting on our mistakes and lessons learned or areas for improvement that support learning and cultural safety. Conclusions Based on evaluation data collected in the DREAM-GLOBAL RCT, we found that there are important cultural safety considerations in Indigenous eHealth research. Building on the perspectives of Indigenous staff and patients, we gleaned wise practices for RCTs in Indigenous communities. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02111226; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02111226

Transboundary Hydro-Governance: From Conflict to Shared Management: Book Review. Written by Jacques Ganoulis and Jean Fried. Springer: Cham, Switzerland, 2018, 222 pages. ISBN 978-3-319-78624-7; eBook ISBN 978-3-319-78625-4

This book came as a support of the UNESCO International Hydrological Programme (IHP) activities on the International Shared Aquifer Resources Management (ISARM) project launched in the year 2000, with the goal of developing wise practices and guidance tools for the shared management of groundwater resources and to contribute to the multifaceted efforts required for global water cooperation [...]