Linking Arms Together, a public symposium, will take place June 28, from 9am to 5:30pm, in Osgoode Hall-Moot Court, Kaneff Building, Keele campus.

Speakers will bring ideas to bear on the process of reconciliation using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The symposium will also provide opportunities to reach out to other communities, educate the public and also create networks of solidarity, says key organizer Professor Peter Dawson of the Department of Sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. The symposium is also organized and sponsored by the Centre for Human Rights at 91亚色 and the聽 Department of Equity Studies.

The symposium, whose title recalls the Mohawk teaching based on the sacred wampum that emphasizes the importance of co-operation and solidarity among aboriginal communities, marks the 250th anniversary of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which continues to be of legal importance to First Nations in Canada.

Some of the speakers will include the following:

Professor Emeritus Marlene Brant Castellano of Trent University, a longstanding member of the Native Studies department and an Officer of the Order of Canada, served as chair of the department from 1989 until 1991, during which time she became co-director of Research for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. She is a member of the Mohawk Nation, Bay of Quinte Band, who has also pursued careers as a social worker in child and family services. She also serves on the Institute Advisory board of the CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health and the College of Reviewers for Canada Research Chairs.

Professor John Milloy of Trent University is one of the country鈥檚 leading experts on residential schools. He was appointed director of Research, Historical Records and Report Preparation with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In 2008, Milloy received approval from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to carry out an extensive research project that aimed to reveal what actually happened to the children who did not survive Canada鈥檚 residential school system. Previously, he served an adviser to the working group of church, Aboriginal and federal government representatives that laid out for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission a plan for filling in gaps in information about how many children died, what they died of and where they are buried. He is author of the book, A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986. In 2005, the Literary Review of Canada selected it as one of the 100 most important books in Canadian history.

A commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Marie Wilson has more than 30 years of professional experience as an award-winning journalist, trainer and senior executive manager. She has also been a university lecturer, a high school teacher in Africa, a senior executive manager in both federal and territorial crown corporations, and an independent contractor and consultant in journalism, program evaluation, and project management. She has lived, studied and worked in cross-cultural environments for almost 40 years, including Europe, Africa and various parts of Canada. As a journalist, she worked in print, radio and television as a regional and national reporter, and later as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's senior manager for northern Quebec and the three northern Territories. Wilson is the recipient of a CBC North Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Northerner of the Year Award.

Grand Chief Edward John, a Hereditary Chief of Tl'azt'en Nation on the banks of the Nak'al Bun (Stuart Lake) in Northern British Columbia, has dedicated his life to the pursuit of social and economic justice for Canada鈥檚 indigenous people. He has worked as a leader in Indigenous politics, business and community development and been a lawyer for over 30 years. He is currently serving his 10th consecutive term on the First Nations Summit Task Group and was recently reappointed for a second three-year term as a North American Representative to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (January 2014 to December 2016).

Romeo Saganash, NDP MP Abitibi 鈥� Baie-James 鈥� Nunavik 鈥� Eeyou, was raised in the small northern community of Waswanipi, Quebec, is a residential school survivor and a graduate of the University of Quebec at聽Montreal law school. He is fluent in Cree, both of Canada鈥檚 official languages. He was one of the negotiators of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As Deputy Grand Chief of the Grand Council of the Cree, he also participated in the negotiation of the Charlottetown Accord, and in 1985, founded the Cree Nation Youth Council.

Ellen Gabriel was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanien鈥檏eh谩:ka Nation to be their spokesperson during the 1990 Oka Crisis; to protect the Pines from the expansion of a nine-hole golf course in Oka. For the past 22 years she has been a human rights advocate for the collective and individual rights of Indigenous peoples and has worked diligently to sensitize the public, academics, policing authorities and politicians聽 on the history, culture and identity of Indigenous peoples. She has been active at the international level participating at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues, negotiations on the Nagoya Protocol of the Convention on Biodiversity and most recently, at the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Jennifer Preston is the program coordinator for Aboriginal Affairs for Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers). Her work in recent years has focused on Indigenous peoples' human rights at the international level, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She was actively involved in the intensive lobbying efforts to ensure the successful adoption of the Declaration at the United Nations in both Geneva and New 91亚色. She is a co-editor and contributor of Realizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Triumph, Hope and Action (Purich Publishers, 2010).

Paul Joffe is a member of the Quebec and Ontario bars. He represents the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and collaborates with numerous Indigenous and human rights organizations in different regions of the world. He specializes in human rights and other issues relating to Indigenous peoples at the international and domestic level. His active involvement in international standard-setting processes includes those relating to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; the draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the Organization of American States; and the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989. He is a co-editor and contributor of Realizing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Triumph, Hope and Action.

Craig Benjamin works for Amnesty International in Canada as staff campaigner for the human rights of Indigenous Peoples. Amnesty International鈥檚 work in Canada includes the Stolen Sisters campaign though which Amnesty has worked with Indigenous women鈥檚 organizations to focus attention on the high rates of violence faced by Indigenous women; campaigns for recognition and protection of Indigenous peoples鈥� rights to land and water; promoting equitable access to essential services such as safe drinking water and family services; and promotion of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Benjamin represented Amnesty International at the UN Working Group on the Declaration in the final years of its work.

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Bachelor of health studies program students Alexandra Veres (left)听补苍诲 Seungree Nam both conducted research for (TAP) at Southlake Regional Health Centre under the mentorship of 91亚色 Professor Liane Ginsburg of the Faculty of Health鈥檚 School of Health Policy & Management. Veres explored the theme of hope in several of the patient education programs offered by TAP, while Nam鈥檚 project looked at whether or not the Hospital Anxiety聽& Depression Scale (HADS) was a valid outcome measurement tool in TAP鈥檚 outpatient fibromyalgia education program.

Both students were awarded research grants as part of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research鈥檚 (CIHR) mobility, musculoskeletal health and arthritis undergraduate summer studentship. The funding was designed to provide undergraduate and health professional students with opportunities to undertake research projects with established health researchers in an environment that provides strong mentorship.

Seungree Nam

The third student, Julia Salzmann, also of the bachelor of health studies program, conducted an extensive data collection and analysis on the effects of聽the use and integration of Internet communication/e-health technologies (ICTs) as a growing resource for addressing First Nations鈥� mental health. She received a research grant from the (NAMHR), which is funded by the through the CIHR. Salzmann requested to work under the direction of Professor Naomi Adelson, associate dean, research in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, who is a collaborator on NAMHR and whose own research has focused on e-health technologies and the Internet as a health resource.

Julia Salzmann

What Nam found after helping to administer the HADS questionnaire to patients on the first and last day of the Fibromyalgia Education Program, entering all the data, conducting a statistical analysis, as well as a literature review, was that it was a relevant and appropriate tool to measure the program鈥檚 effectiveness in helping manage patient anxiety and depression.

HADS was developed to identify the possibility of anxiety and depression in patients involved in hospital clinics outside of the mental health department. Patients were also given a fibromyalgia impact questionnaire and a fibromyalgia history form.

鈥淲e did find a significant and meaningful outcome from the three surveys,鈥� Nam says.

Left: The graph Seungree Nam prepared for his research

According to the data, patients had a 10 to 13 per cent lower score for depression following the program. Their level of survey reported anxiety, however, remained the same, but when the patients were verbally asked during the program鈥檚 last session about their anxiety, they said they felt it had improved. Nam believes the discrepancy had to do with two or three questions on the post-survey which the patients found confusing.

Nam鈥檚 poster abstracts for the research were accepted at two different conferences: the Canadian Association of Ambulatory Care conference (held in September) and the in the United States in November. He is currently in the process of writing up his research.

As part of Veres鈥� research, she worked with four groups in TAP 鈥� inflammatory arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and fibromyalgia. 鈥淲e were building on a 2009 pilot study done by TAP that explored the theme of hope in the inflammatory arthritis patient education program,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat study found that the patients not only wanted the program, they wanted it to be delivered with an element of hope. They wanted to come out of it with hope.鈥�

What TAP wanted to know, says Veres, was whether this theme of hope carried through all four of the programs in TAP and what the patient learning needs were. After collecting and qualitatively analyzing the data, what the research found was that 鈥渢he theme of hope permeated through all four programs,鈥� she says. Up until now, hope was not a popular theme in patient education programs. Veres says she thinks the findings will make 鈥渁 big difference in how these patient education programs will be run in the future.鈥�

The information could lead to better patient adherence to treatment plans and improved quality of life, as well as reduced disability.

Veres abstract was accepted at the Canadian Association of Ambulatory Care conference recently and she hopes her forthcoming article will be published in a scholarly journal.

As there is little or no other research looking into the theme of hope in education programs from a patient鈥檚 perspective, Veres believes the research could be quite significant for the patient education community.

Salzmann wishes to pursue further research in Aboriginal health policy. So having the chance to look at e-health in a First Nations context was exciting to her.

This research looked at the importance of incorporating the First Nations鈥� holistic, traditional and cultural approach to healing, wellness and mental health services using ICTs. 鈥淕enerally speaking, Aboriginal peoples have a much more holistic approach to health,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hey incorporate the individual, the community and the environment, and look at all realms of health, including the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual parts of a person.鈥�

This research explored the use and integration of ICTs in addressing Aboriginal mental health as a growing resource. 鈥淩esearch has shown that tele-health is a great tool, but we must consider who will finance this initiative, will it be sustainable and will it contribute to the overall health of the community? It鈥檚 a very politicized issue,鈥� says Salzmann.

In researching the issues involved, Salzmann completed an extensive national literature review on ICTs. 鈥淭ele-health is a huge hot button topic now,鈥� she says. 鈥淭o be equitable in health in the long term, Aboriginal health has to be on the agenda.鈥� What it comes down to is that the Aboriginal people鈥檚 own ways of seeing health, as well as their culture, has to be included in any ICT initiatives.

Salzmann鈥檚 will be presenting her work at the at Queen鈥檚 University later this month. She also hopes to have her forthcoming article on the research published in a scholarly journal and she is hoping to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in public policy or public administration in the future.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin to research stories on the research website.

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