Critique of a Community-Based Population Health Intervention in a First Nations Community: Public Health and Medical Anthropology Perspectives

Abstract

Launched as a community-based partnership endeavour, the Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project (SLHDP) aimed to prevent diabetes in a First Nations community (FNC) in Toronto. With active engagement of the key stakeholders, SLHDP conducted a series of studies that explored public health needs, priorities, and the contexts. These led to the adoption of a variety of culturally appropriate health interventions, addressing several health determinants such as health education, physical environments, nutrition, personal health practices, health services, and FNC culture. SLHDP built reciprocal capacity for both the community stakeholders and academic partners, thus evolved as a model of population health intervention. The school components are being scaled-up in other parts of FNCs in Canada. This paper presents a critique from public health and medical anthropology perspectives and draws evidence-based recommendations on how such programs can do better.