Methodology for the Indigenous Health Research Monitoring Bulletin

The Indigenous health research monitoring bulletin focuses on public health issues relevant to prevention and promotion for professionals and workers providing health care to Indigenous peoples of all ages. The bulletin’s topics are selected according to our Indigenous partners’ interests and are reviewed from time to time. Examples of topics:

  • Specific public health issues (e.g., COVID-19)
  • Inequalities and social determinants of health
  • Lifestyles and health-promoting behaviours
  • Prevention of infectious and chronic diseases
  • Cultural safety
  • Food security and traditional diets
  • Promotion of wellbeing and mental health
  • Traditional knowledge
  • Culturally adapted approaches in research and intervention

A forward-looking, non-exhaustive process of monitoring scientific and grey literature is conducted using Inoreader. The RSS feed of organizations with recognized expertise in public health, as well as of Canadian and international Indigenous organizations, are scanned using a variety of keywords. Newsletters published by recognized public health organizations are also consulted.

The following databases are queried in the EBSCO Host and Ovid platforms: Global Health, AgeLine, CINAHL, Environment Complete, ERIC, Health Policy Reference Center, MEDLINE Complete, Political Science Complete, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, PsycINFO, Public Affairs Index and SocINDEX with full text.

The research monitoring strategy is enhanced by the project team as needed.

To be considered for the bulletin, articles must meet the following criteria:

  • Be relevant to one of the topics listed above
  • Target First Nations, Inuit, Cree and Métis peoples living in a community or urban setting (including specific populations: children and youth; women and girls; men; the non‑binary, two-spirit community; and the elderly)
  • Address similar contexts relevant to health interventions in Québec: Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand
  • Be available in French or English

Letters to the editor, editorials, commentaries and opinion pieces are excluded from the bulletin.

Every week, the project manager reads the titles of new publications in the Inoreader feed. Based on the title, she selects articles that address the topics listed above. Another team member then reads the titles and abstracts and identifies articles that are relevant for the next issue of the bulletin. This task is performed by all team members in rotation, resulting in a batch of potential articles.

Every three months, at least two project team members independently select articles from this batch that they deem appropriate for inclusion based on the abstract or text. An inter-rater process is then undertaken by the two team members to make the final selection.

The final selection of articles for inclusion in the bulletin is made based on relevance and current priorities. Specifically, priority is given to:

  • Systematic reviews and literature reviews
  • Empirical research into the topics listed above
  • Grey literature from important Indigenous health organizations (e.g., Health Canada, National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health, Public Health Agency of Canada, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organisation, etc.)
  • Articles on the effectiveness of public health practices for Indigenous health
  • Articles sharing new knowledge that can inform public health practices

Although the articles selected are not evaluated, they must explicitly present their methodology and study limitations.

The French version is entitled « Méthodologie de la veille scientifique en santé des Autochtones ».

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