Heart Health Begins With Community: Community-Based Research Exploring Innovative Strategies to Support First Nations Heart Health

BACKGROUND: Indigenous people have displayed their strength through their holistic practices and spiritual connection to the land. Despite overcoming the impact of discriminatory and disempowering policies within Western institutions, Indigenous people continue to experience a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to the general population. To move toward improving Indigenous health outcomes, researchers need to work in partnership with communities to develop heart health strategies centred on their experienced barriers and sources of healing. We conducted a community-based explorative study in Moosonee, Ontario to explore the local community’s needs and priorities regarding heart health and wellness. METHODS: A convenience sample of community members and healthcare professionals were invited to participate in a sharing circle. Qualitative data were analyzed using conventional content analysis and the Indigenous method of two-eyed seeing. RESULTS: Eight community members and 5 healthcare professionals participated in the sharing circle. Four dominant themes were identified: (1) heart health is more than metrics; (2) honouring our traumas; (3) destigmatizing care through relationship building; and (4) innovative solutions start with community. With the history of mistreatment among Indigenous people, strength-based solutions involved rebuilding clinical relationships. To bring care closer to home, digital health tools were widely accepted, but the design of these tools needs to integrate both Western and Indigenous approaches to healing. CONCLUSIONS: Indigenous health upholds the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs of an individual as being of equal importance. To improve community heart health, strategies should start by strengthening broken bonds and bridging multiple worldviews of healing.