Innu Palliative Care: Establishing Partnerships

The Sheshatshiu Innu have cultural traditions and practices related to death and dying. At times, the standard approaches to medical care at the end of life may conflict or fail to integrate these approaches. The gap between cultural and medical practices at end of life has been identified as a concern for community members in Sheshatshiu. Researchers at Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine and Labrador Institute will be partnering with the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation Band Council to investigate Innu cultural and spiritual practices related to death, dying, and end of life care. Together, the team will look for ways the cultural needs of the Innu and the health care system can interface to provide the most appropriate care to this population. In the current project, the research team conducted initial project meetings during a trip to Labrador in order to build relationships and help develop a plan for the next phase of the project to ensure this work is community-led, culturally-appropriate, and meets the needs and priorities of Sheshatshiu, while producing strong and transferable research.