HEALTH PROMOTION INTERNATIONAL Vol. 19. No. 3 © Oxford University Press 2004. All rights reserved.
Legitimizing diabetes as a community health issue: a case analysis of an Aboriginal community in Canada
1GRIS, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project, Kahnawake Territory, Kanien'keh, Mohawk Nation, Québec, Canada, 3Centre de l'hospitalier de l' Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada and 4Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Address for correspondence: Sherri Bisset, Groupe de Recherche Interdisciplinarie en Santé, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7, E-mail: sherri.l.bisset{at}umontreal.ca
SUMMARY
The Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KSDPP) is an ongoing participatory research and intervention project aimed at the primary prevention of type 2 diabetes. Formally initiated in 1994 with strong community support, KSDPP provides a fertile opportunity to learn about how a community came to identify the need for preventive action on a health problem such as diabetes. The purpose of our study was to describe the various conditions in the community of Kahnawake, which gave rise to its mobilization for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Qualitative data consisted of 12 individual interviews and one focus group with key community members and health professionals living and/or working in the community of Kahnawake, along with historically relevant documents. The data collection and analysis procedures of the grounded theory method were applied. Results describe a preceding phase to formal KSDPP implementation, triggered by returning research results on the community prevalence of type 2 diabetes. This phase of ‘legitimizing diabetes as a community health issue’ is characterized by a shift in the perceived preventability of diabetes among community members; from a problem that was to be lived with to a problem that was to be prevented. The shift in perceptions was facilitated by the context in the community, described by structural developments, cognitive and relational elements. In addition to reaffirming the critical importance of utilizing lay knowledge during the planning of a health promotion intervention, our study has uncovered some of the key conditions through which individuals in the community came to participate in the identification and planning of a diabetes prevention project.
Key words: Aboriginal health; community mobilization; program implementation
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  M. Cargo, T. Delormier, L. Levesque, K. Horn-Miller, A. McComber, and A. C. Macaulay Can the democratic ideal of participatory research be achieved? An inside look at an academic-indigenous community partnership Health Educ. Res., October 1, 2008; 23(5): 904 - 914. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. C. Macaulay Promoting Participatory Research by Family Physicians Ann. Fam. Med, November 1, 2007; 5(6): 557 - 560. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|