Determining effective knowledge translation of health research findings to community members of Aklavik, NWT

    The goal of this project was to provide knowledge generated from the Aklavik H pylori Project in a manner that helps individuals use the results of the project to better understand factors that influence their health, with hopes that this will enable them to safeguard their own health, and maximize the community benefit from participating in the research project.

     A qualitative research approach was used. Group discussions along with individual informants were arranged. Transcripts from both individual interviews and discussion groups were analyzed together. Thematic analysis was completed to identify conceptual ideas relating to the strategy for effective knowledge transfer (KT). 

     Many participants mentioned the perceived higher than normal rate of stomach cancer in the community as a motivating factor for wanting this research. From this, their expectations from the research were centered on learning about behaviors they could adopt to protect themselves from ill-health in the future. Most participants were satisfied with the current methods of receiving information about study findings, but thought they could be more consistent. Specifically, they thought there should be more frequent radio updates, even when there was not new information to be reported. When updates were not given frequently, participants expressed that the community felt that researchers had forgotten about the people left in the community. Radio was mentioned as the best way to get information back to the community.

     Youth and elders were also mentioned often as important groups within the community to whom special attention should be paid while targeting KT strategies, and fostering linkages between the youth and the elders to incorporate traditional lifestyles learning with research findings was determined to be ideal. This would best be accomplished via programs involving the local school as well as community corporations which each include elders’ boards and committees.