Indigenous families in rural and remote British Columbia face significant barriers to accessing culturally safe disability supports. These challenges are deeply rooted in systemic racism, the ongoing impacts of colonization, and geographic isolation. To create meaningful change, we must begin by understanding how Indigenous Peoples view disability and by advancing the solutions they identify themselves. Only then can care systems truly reflect their strengths, values, and unique needs.

This project team brings together Indigenous community members, researchers, and not-for-profit partners—including the Family Support Institute, Kxeen Community Services Society, and the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society. We share a common goal: improving access to safe, effective, and culturally grounded supports for children with disabilities and their families.

This work is guided by a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, which honours both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing and being. By learning from the strengths of each perspective, we can develop more inclusive and responsive systems of care.

This work happens in community, with community. The project team will examine how system-level barriers, such as exclusion from policy and health service design decisions, continue to perpetuate inequities. In partnership with Indigenous communities, we will identify, implement, and evaluate solutions that reflect Indigenous values and address real-world needs.

The knowledge generated through this work will support communities in building on their existing strengths and advocating to governments and health authorities for solutions that truly fit their contexts.

Award

Community Impact Grant

  • Kids Brain Health Network: $59,268
  • Brain Canada: $140,732

Partners

  • Family Support Institute
  • Kxeen Community Services
  • University of British Columbia
  • MITACS
  • Michael Smith Health Research BC

Team

  • Principal Investigator and Researcher co-lead: Dr. Stephanie Glegg
  • Co-Principal Investigator and Family partner co-lead: Symbia Barnaby
  • Community and Family partner: Angela Clancy
  • Community and Family partner: Tracy Humphreys
  • Collaborator: Miranda Kessler
  • Collaborator: Neil Belanger
  • Collaborator: Judy White