Our approach is inclusive of Indigenous worldviews, and we seek the guidance of Wise community members, Elders, to be part of our work. We value first voice and living experience, and CAAN-led research projects are community-based, honouring the spirit of “Nothing about us without us.” Through our experience, we care for our research bundle, gathering lessons and medicines to guide our work. We began our bundle with Decolonizing research methodologies, and Two-Eyed Seeing, and have grown to include Indigenous research methodologies, Implementation Science and look forward to including more! We have also promoted several of our own methods such as Capacity Bridging and the concept of HIV Olders.
At CAAN, we engage in research in partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis people and communities across the land. We offer support, resources, and mentorship for community organizations, IPHAs, IPHCs, students and other developing researchers. Our vision is to contribute to the wellness of our peoples.
Check out the AHA Center with the Journal of Indigenous HIV Research, our resources pages, and the tabs for CAAN’s current and supported research projects too!
CAAN research teams are necessarily collaborative and reciprocal in nature. By bringing together people with diverse experiences and expertise, we address the issues that are most important to Indigenous Peoples living with HIV, hepatitis C and other STBBI in order to support them in living healthy and wholistic lives.
CAAN is a key contributor to research teams that are led by respected researchers who are researching issues that have clear connections and implications for Indigenous Peoples.
Since 2005, CAAN has designed our research projects to use Community-based research methods. Overtime, we have evolved to add other research methods to our research bundle: Decolonizing methodologies, Indigenous research methods. Two-Eyed Seeing and more! For this reason, hearing from our community with questions, comments and suggestions for research drives us forward. We welcome your voice and depend upon our membership and our partners and colleagues to guide our work to make a lasting and meaningful difference.
We have amazing partnerships including a co-leadership role with the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research, and representation with the CanHepC Network, CanCURE Enterprise, Centre for REACH and the REACH CBR Collaborative Centre.
Key areas of research focus to date have included: access to care, treatment and support; stigma and discrimination; mental health and women’s needs. CAAN has led more than a dozen research projects over the past decade and has been an active research team member on more than 20 other research projects. In addition to innovative research projects, CAAN is also maintaining significant investment in capacity building regarding community-based and Indigenous research frameworks through the AHA Centre.
The AHA Centre is a national, Indigenous-led collaborative research centre housed at the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN). Funded by The Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2012, The AHA Centre supports HIV and AIDS Community-Based research (CBR) conducted in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across Canada.
