Health Promotion International, Vol. 18, No. 3, 177-187,
September 2003
© Oxford University Press 2003
Community governance of the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project, Kahnawake Territory, Mohawk Nation, Canada
1KSDPP, Kahnawake Territory, Kanien’keh (Mohawk Nation), Québec, Canada, 2GRIS-Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 3Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada and 4Community Advisory Board, KSDPP, Kahnawake Territory, Kanien’keh (Mohawk Nation), Québec, Canada
Address for correspondence: Dr Margaret Cargo, PO Box 1000, Kahnawake Education Center (2nd floor), Kahnawake Territory, Mohawk Nation, Via Quebec, Canada J0L 1B0, E-mail: mcargo{at}total.net
Health promotion emphasizes the importance of community ownership in the governance of community-based programmes, yet little research has been conducted in this area. This study examined perceptions of community ownership among project partners taking responsibility for decision-making related to the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KSDPP). Project partners were surveyed cross-sectionally at 18 months (T1) and 60 months (T2) into the project. The perceived influence of each project partner was assessed at T1 and T2 for three domains: (i) KSDPP activities; (ii) KSDPP operations; and (iii) Community Advisory Board (CAB) activities. Project staff were perceived to have the greatest influence on KSDPP activities, KSDPP operations and CAB activities at both T1 and T2. High mean scores of perceived influence for CAB members and community researchers, however, suggests that project decision-making was a shared responsibility among multiple community partners. Although academic researcher influence was consistently low, they were satisfied with their level of influence. This was unlike community affiliates, who were less satisfied with their lower level of influence. In keeping with Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) culture, the findings suggest a participatory democracy or shared decision-making as the primary mode of governance of KSDPP.
Key words: community control; community empowerment; community health promotion; indigenous governance
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