Over the past three months, YSPOR has made significant progress in advancing the Building the Future: A Vision for Indigenous Youth Leadership in Yukon’s Healthcare and Wellness Workforce Project, formerly known as the Health Human Resources Crisis Project. The project aims to understand the barriers and supports that influence Yukon Indigenous youth in considering or pursuing careers in healthcare. Through interviews and focus groups, it will explore the experiences, challenges, and motivations of Yukon Indigenous youth, as well as the structural and systemic factors that shape their career pathways.
Last fall, a Queen’s University undergraduate student, Caitlyn Dignard, completed a literature review that explored the Health Human Resources Crisis in the Yukon, which has been the evidence base for the project’s development. We are in the process of submitting that review for publication.
An advisory group was formed with members of the community who bring lived experience and Indigenous youth perspectives, as well as insight from the Yukon Hospital Corporation, the Health Human Resources Strategy Committee (Chaired by Yukon Government Health and Social Services department and the Yukon Hospital Corporation), and YSPOR.
To date, three Advisory Group meetings have been held. The first, in early March, focused on identifying potential research questions. The second centered on refining the inclusion and exclusion criteria and discussing the broader strategies the research will align with and support. The third meeting focused on methodology, where the Advisory Group provided feedback on a draft interview guide and participant recruitment strategies for upcoming youth conversations.
One-on-one interviews with youth have been completed in Dawson City this summer by Jamie Thomas as part of a partnership with Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation. We are excited to have now established a research partnership with Liard First Nation, with the goal of initiating interviews and focus groups this fall. We are also finalizing partnerships with Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun. Additionally, 3 Junior Researchers have expressed interest in supporting the project while building their research skills.
We are currently finalizing ethics approvals to begin research in Watson Lake, Mayo and Whitehorse this fall, based on the partnerships above. We have also initiated conversations with Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Ross River Dena Council, and Champagne and Aishihik First Nations to explore opportunities for future partnership.
Author: Julia Gyapay