Data from a three-year research project was presented at a gala at the North Battleford Western Development Museum in early June.
The community-based research project aimed to understand perceptions of healthy body weight and body image held among First Nations women.
Janice Kennedy, executive director of BTC Indian Health Services, said the idea for the study originated from both personal interest and health concerns she noted at the Battlefords Family Health Centre.
"We want to make changes in women's lives because the rates right now are not in our favour," she said.
"Whether it's suicide, addictions, diabetes or weight issues; it's three times, four times the national average; it's depressing to look at these numbers."
Kennedy contacted the Indigenous People's Health Research Centre, a provincial organization that promotes and facilitates research into Aboriginal health. The IPHRC then put Kennedy in contact with Jennifer Poudrier, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Saskatchewan.
Together, they developed and piloted the study, The Cultural and Visual Context of Healthy Body Weight and Body Image among Aboriginal Women in the Battlefords Tribal Council Region. The project received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, $299,923 over three years.
A relatively new and increasingly popular research methodology called Photovoice was employed. Developed to be a tool of social change, Photovoice involves allowing the subjects to take photographs of the issue being studied, in this case, healthy body weight and image. Participants are then interviewed based on their photos. The approach is designed to allow marginalized members of society to express ideas and guide research from their cultural standpoint, as opposed to having a researcher come into a community and conduct a study that might be based on the researcher's cultural values.
"In community-based research you want to make sure that you're working together to learn things, not just going in and saying what's important," said Poudrier.
"By taking the pictures they did, the women decide what's going to be talked about what's important to them."
Poudrier asserted that visual images can be just as important as written language, and the Photovoice projects allow people to look through the eyes of others. She explained that on a daily basis people are bombarded by images that consist mainly of skinny white women, and people rarely stop to analyze these images or the messages they convey.
Lynn Tootoosis, who participated in the study, shared her experience at the gala, and said she learned a lot about herself during the process.
"A healthy body image is not Pocahontas," she said, "a healthy body image means being comfortable in your own skin."
Many issues came up during the study that were not directly related to body image, according to Kennedy, but are nonetheless important, as they impact women's perceptions of themselves and their overall health. For example, some women spoke of their time in residential schools or their experience with drugs and alcohol. Kennedy explained that BTC Indian Health Services has a holistic approach to health, wherein four areas; physical, mental, social and physical, are seen to be equally important to a person's overall health.
"We had so many different themes that came from the interviews," said Kennedy, "and I think it was very therapeutic. The feedback I received was very positive."
Kennedy said the information gained through the study will help BTCIHS improve the services and programs they offer.
A slide show of the photos taken by the participants with accompanying quotes from the interview process has already been compiled and Poudrier hopes to publish her findings within a year, but that's not all.
"We're going to be making a DVD and the slide show available," said Poudrier, "and I'd also like to see a travelling photo exhibit."
For more information, go to http://homepage.usask.ca/~jsl007/photovoice or photovoice.ca.
