Partners for Engagement and Knowledge Exchange

In 2014, the National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) received funding from the Institute for Aboriginal Peoples Health (IAPH) of Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to participate in the Pathways to Health Equity for Aboriginal Peoples (Pathways) Initiative. The goal of Pathways is to develop a better understanding of what programs and policies (interventions) work to promote and achieve health equity for Indigenous people. 

In an effort to better engage First Nations, Inuit, Métis and Urban Indigenous communities and to strengthen the impact of the Pathways initiative, CIHR selected the NAFC to develop and sustain a Partnership Engagement and Knowledge Exchange (PEKE). The PEKEs will play a central role in creating linkages and supporting the development of meaningful relationships between Implementation Research Teams (IRTs), Research Chairs, policy and decision makers, partners, and communities. The overall goal of the PEKEs is to work with IRTs and the research Chairs to scale-up interventions across communities and translate research findings into policies and improved health.

The Pathways research will help create better preventive health services, healthier communities, and health equity for Indigenous peoples in Canada. The goal of the NAFC-Pathways-PEKE is to ensure that Friendship Centres are meaningfully and ethically engaged throughout the course of the Pathways initiative.