Engagement

UPROOT is committed to respectful and reciprocal engagement with community partners.

Indigenous Community Engagement Protocols

Foster Ethical Engagement and Meaningful Relationships

Timeline: We aim to engage with communities early and maintain consistent contact in our work and projects.

Cultural safety: We avoid making assumptions and embrace community diversity, cultural beliefs, traditional knowledge, identity, and dignity.

Allyship: Becoming an ally is not a self-declared title and we will seek feedback from community partners to ensure that our work is within the boundaries of allyship.

Employ Indigenous Governance Structures

The formation of the Indigenous leadership committee (ILC), which has authority over all aspects of the project, ensures Indigenous voices are at the forefront of decision-making.

Build Capacity and Sustainability for Community and Faculty

Capacity: We prioritize the desires of each community regarding their involvement in project planning and delivery.

Student opportunities: We employ and offer land-based experiences for Indigenous (Pharmacy) students to foster growth in our future leaders in healthcare and education.

Actioning change: Our research aims to deliver both short- and long-term benefits to our partners rather than simply collecting data.

Ensure Reciprocity to Support Reconciliation

Mutual benefit: We use a shared decision-making process focused on Indigenous input, conversation, and trust to engage with communities.

Relational accountability: Our team is not only responsible for nurturing and maintaining relationships, but are also responsible for everything and everyone that is connected to the project. We aim to prioritize the desires of the community in all stages of the project and regularly collect feedback on our relationship and project progress.

Compensation: We financially compensate members of the Indigenous Leadership Committee (ILC) for sharing their time and perspectives and also provide small gifts such as tobacco or sage as a token of appreciation for project engagement to community members.

Engage in Culturally Safe Knowledge Exchange and Translation

Safe spaces: Before engaging with Indigenous partners, we devote intention to provide an environment that is socially, emotionally, physically, and spiritually safe.

Unlearning: We acknowledge that there is much unlearning that needs to be done in order to rebuild relationships with Indigenous peoples facing generations of past and present traumas and aim to collaborate with a sense of humility and ongoing self-reflection.

Data sovereignty: We aim to empower our community partners to be stewards of their data as they are the rightful owners. Information collected during the engagement process will be subject to First Nations Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession (OCAP) principles.

Community Visits

UPROOT Team members and students make yearly visits to partner communities across British Colombia, including Bella Coola, Mount Currie, Iskut, and others.

Visits serve as opportunities for data collection, project development and delivery, student enrichment, and time to strengthen relationships and bonds with community members.

Bella Coola

February 2024.

Mount Currie

September 2024.

“I feel fortunate to witness first-hand the importance of my future profession on Indigenous peoples and learn how our practice can/should better itself to make it more universal (i.e. include traditional and Western medications in practice, education, and prevention methods).”
– Excerpt from Student Reflection of Bella Coola Visit 2025

JULY Partner Gathering 2025

Over the last several years, our lab has annually hosted a day-long showcasing event to share our collective work, projects, and future perspectives with an invited list of our community partners, members of partnering organizations, students, faculty, and artists.

Day Schedule

Below is a sample schedule of one of our previous full-day gathering events:

9:00 – 9:15 am	Welcome and Breakfast
9:15 – 9:30 am	Introductions
9:30 – 10:00 am	Project Updates
10:00 – 10:15 am	Break
10:15 – 11:15 am	Large Group Discussion: Traditional Medicine
11:15 – 11:30 am	Graphic Recording Presentation
11:30 – 12:00 pm	Welcome and Lunch
12:00 – 1:00 pm	Student Showcase and Tree Activity
1:00 – 1:45 pm	Breakout Discussions (see sample engagement questions below)
1:45 – 1:55 pm	Break
1:55 – 2:40 pm	Breakout Discussions
2:40 – 2:55 pm	Large Group Sharing Session
2:55 – 3:00 pm	Closing

DIscussion

Throughout the event, conversations are meant to happen organically and informally, as well as in group settings with questions to stimulate engagement. The engagement topics and questions discussed during the breakout sessions in our 2025 event are listed below:

Click Here to Expand Breakout Discussion Questions

Breakout topic 1: Indigenous-Owned Pharmacy in Rural/Remote Communities

What should an Indigenous-owned pharmacy in a rural/remote community look like?
What are the next steps in research and engagement that is needed to support Indigenous-owned pharmacies in rural/remote communities?

Breakout topic 2: Traditional Medicines & Knowledge

What are the next steps needed to preserve and revitalize traditional medicines and knowledge in your community?
There is much to learn from different groups and Knowledge Keepers who are doing good work in this space. What would a joint collective on Traditional Medicines and knowledge look like? What is needed and what would you want as part of it?

Breakout topic 3: The Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network (CADeN) Safe Medication Resources

How can we change or what information would you like us to focus on for patient education tools that would be helpful in your work or community?
What would a tool to educate healthcare professionals about the concept and components of Indigenous health need to include and look like?

Student Poster Showcase

Students showcase our collective work and student research projects through poster presentations.

JULY Partner Gathering 2024

DIscussion

Each year, we try to modify or update our questions to create an enriching experience for guests. Below are the engagement topics and questions discussed during our 2024 event:

Click Here to Expand Breakout Discussion Questions

Breakout topic 1: Pharmacy Implementation and Outreach

What recruitment strategies and “incentives” would encourage you to use an Indigenous-owned pharmacy? What factors would influence your decision?
Which communities or organizations you think this pharmacy should collaborate with?
What other additional resources or collaborations would you like to see?

Breakout topic 2: Nation-Owned Pharmacies in Rural and Remote Communities

What would be the benefits of a nation-owned pharmacy in a rural or remote community?
What would be the challenges of a nation-owned pharmacy in a rural or remote community?

Breakout topic 3: Land Based Learning for Students

How can we collaborate with communities to offer land-based-learning at UBC? What should be our starting point for these collaborations?
What kinds of activities or learning opportunities do you think should be available at these locations?

Breakout topic 4: Safe Medication Use

What is the biggest concern you have about medications in your community?
What programs or services are in or should be in place to address medication use?