KAMLOOPS — A Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Master of Nursing student is marking National Nursing Week with the start of her year-long funded project to determine gaps in Indigenous mental-health services. 

With funding from the Mental Health Research Canada and the non-profit organization Mitacs, Nikki Hunter-Porter is using Indigenous methodologies such as talking circles to gather information about gaps in services from Indigenous identified participants and mental-health workers.

National Nursing Week runs May 10 to 16, and Indigenous Nurses Day is on May 10. This year’s theme is Answering The Call, which references nurses being on the frontlines during COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses like Hunter-Porter are seeing that the pandemic has worsened mental health for all, and in particular for Indigenous people.

Hunter-Porter is a member of the St’uxwtéws (Bonaparte) First Nation west of Kamloops who has worked in eight First Nations communities. She has seen firsthand the gaps that Indigenous people experience in mental-health services.

“From my perspective, I feel there isn’t a lot of knowledge in regard to Indigenous people and their history,” she said. While Western medicine takes the approach of separating the mind and the body, traditional Indigenous ways approach medicine incorporate the two.

Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin, a CIHR Indigenous Research Chair in Nursing and associate professor in the TRU School of Nursing, said she’s never had a graduate student in the first few courses of the program pull together ideas in the way that Hunter-Porter has done.

“Nikki’s research has a mental-health focus. We know there is a mental-health crisis, so we really wanted to highlight the role of Indigenous nursing-led research and its potential impact on the crisis,” she said.

Mitacs is a national, independent, not-for-profit organization. Director of Business Development and Indigenous Community Engagement Candice Loring said Hunter-Porter’s submission stood out — so much so, that she was asked to submit for a second round of funds.

“Her project was one of the top projects that came out of our national call,” said Loring. “Just after this call ended, we also launched a national Indigenous call and made the decision to award both (to this project) and double the funding — the most generous offering in the history of Mitacs — extending the project to two internships and a full year of research.”

Judy Sturm, manager for Aboriginal Mental Wellness with Interior Health, said Hunter-Porter’s research could create changes in the system.

“We will support Nikki however we can and look forward to using her findings to improve patient care,” Sturm said.

IH’s research department is also supporting the project.

“Nikki’s work with TRU and Mental Health Research Canada is exactly the kind of collaboration our region needs to address the complex health-care challenges faced by local communities,” said Deanne Taylor, IH corporate director for research.

Akela Peoples, chief executive officer for Mental Health Research Canada, said the agency is proud to be part of building capacity mental-health research by supporting partnership projects such as Hunter-Porter’s with IH and Mitacs.

“We are particularly pleased to be supporting the work of a young Indigenous researcher. There has never been a more important time to support the evolution of our mental-health system in Canada.”

Contacts:

Lisa Bourque Bearskin, CIHR Research Chair in Nursing and TRU associate professor
lbourquebearskin@tru.ca

Candice Loring, Mitacs
cloring@mitacs.ca

Beth Blew, Interior Health 
beth.blew@interiorhealth.ca | 250-469-7070

Michele Young, TRU Strategic Communications
micyoung@tru.ca

National Nursing Week

Three groups of TRU nursing students have made videos to mark National Nursing Week.

Hear from TRU nurses and graduates about the nursing leadership they’ve witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic: https://youtu.be/fZ6O1wTLm60

Learn how the Nursing Now campaign aims to improve global health by empowering and raising the profile of nurses: https://youtu.be/iR4bKON9pXs

Nurses describe how their practice has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic: https://youtu.be/ctFTy5syzSQ