Rebuilding from Resilience: Research Framework for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Community-led Interventions to Prevent Domestic Violence in Aboriginal Communities.

This research framework, which competed successfully in the 2008 CIHR open operating grants competition, focuses on protocols to measure the impact of community-led interventions to reduce domestic violence in Aboriginal communities. The project develops and tests tools and procedures for a randomized controlled trial of prevention of family violence. Women's shelters mainly deal with victims of domestic violence, and the framework also addresses other types of domestic violence (male and female children, elderly, and disabled). The partner shelters are in Aboriginal communities across Canada, on and off reserve, in most provinces and territories. The baseline study applies a questionnaire developed by the shelters. Testing the stepped wedge design in an Aboriginal context, shelters randomized themselves to two waves of intervention, half the shelters receiving the resources for the first wave. A repeat survey after two years will measure the difference between first wave and second wave, after which the resources will shift to the second wave. At least two Aboriginal researchers will complete their doctoral studies in the project. The steering committee of 12 shelter directors guides the project and ensures ethical standards related to their populations. Each participating community and the University of Ottawa reviewed and passed the proposal.

Building on the Resilience of Aboriginal People in Risk Reduction Initiatives Targeting Sexually Transmitted Infections and Blood-Borne Viruses: The Aboriginal Community Resilience to AIDS (ACRA).

There is evidence that Aboriginal people may be at increased risk of HIV infection; they also experience higher rates of other blood-borne viral (BBV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI). This project will provide insights into the role of resilience and its impact on the health and well-being of Aboriginal youth, especially as it relates to sexual and injecting behaviour. The primary recipients of this information will be agencies that provide risk education related to BBVs and STIs.The project involves several phases. First, the framework for the research will be established, with Aboriginal leadership and involvement at every level. Next, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies will be used to identify factors that protect Aboriginal youth against blood-borne viral and sexually transmitted infections and their transmission within local communities. Finally, results from this project will be used to develop interventions and appropriate frameworks for their evaluation in Aboriginal communities.An important component of this project will involve the building of capacity within participating communities, with the goal of identifying strategies related to resilience that can be incorporated into public health and clinical practice. The project will run for five years.