Special Call for Papers

Volume 14, Issue 3 – Guest Edition of the First Nations Health Authority

Health Systems Innovation: Privileging Indigenous Knowledge, Ensuring Respectful Care, and Ending Racism towards First Nations in Service Delivery

The International Journal of Indigenous Health (IJIH) is pleased to announce a special call for papers from Guest Co-Editors at the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), based in British Columbia, Canada—Dr. Evan Adams, Chief Medical Officer and Sonia Isaac-Mann, Vice President, Programs and Services.

The FNHA welcomes submissions from Indigenous communities and organizations, community-based and academic researchers, and research trainees that utilize Indigenous cultural knowledge and values in health systems innovation. For example, to address intergenerational and complex trauma in Indigenous populations, health systems innovation requires development of cultural safety and humility education and action plans, trauma-informed care approaches, and anti-racism strategies that are Indigenous-specific. Submissions based in cultural principles and teachings in Indigenous health and wellness (and that are grounded in strengths-based approaches and drawn from evidence-based community-driven research), interventions (including programs), and promising practices are especially welcome. The FNHA is particularly interested in receiving submissions that reflect full authorship and collaboration with Indigenous communities and partners. Papers grounded in the ancestral traditions and voices of Indigenous Nations and communities are invited and welcome from within BC, across Canada, and internationally.

In this special guest edition, the FNHA prioritizes submissions identifying health systems innovations including cultural safety and humility education and action plans, trauma-informed care approaches, and anti-racism strategies that are Indigenous-specific. Some areas include:

• Indigenous ways of being, knowing, and healing; Indigenous cultural knowledge in mental health and wellness.

• Land-based health and healing service delivery models based in culture and connection.

• Cultural Indigenous practices for improving and maintaining health and wellness. Programs and approaches to data based in the First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness.

• Innovative primary care models for First Nations and Indigenous Peoples.

• Strategies to address systemic racism and meet community- and population-defined quality of care standards for Indigenous Peoples.

• Regional, Nation-based, and community-identified health issues and care priorities. Emergent critical health issues affecting Indigenous Peoples (e.g., HIV/Hep C, access to primary care, trauma, mental health and wellness, prevention and living well with chronic disease).

• Research conducted in accordance with Indigenous research ethics (e.g., OCAP® in the Canadian context) in priority areas.

The FNHA welcomes the following types of submissions for this special guest edition:

• Primary research: standard journal article arising from original research conducted in community, university, or practice settings (maximum 5,000 words excluding tables, figures, and references).

• Promising practices: standard journal article on promising practices arising from a community- based or health service delivery project or program. For example, an intervention, program, or activity with a measured and demonstrated positive impact on health outcomes (maximum 3,500 words excluding tables, figures, and references).

• Narrative, storytelling, and grounded-in-Indigenous Knowledge submissions: research, promising practices, stories and story-telling, and knowledge drawing from Indigenous cultural values, beliefs, and traditional knowledge systems that have relevance and significance in the contemporary health care context (maximum 3,500 words excluding tables, figures, and references).

• Research trainee: standard journal article arising from original research conducted as part of a Master's, PhD, clinical and/or research training program (3,500 words excluding tables, figures, and references)

Submissions that meet all guidelines and are ready for p​eer review are due by September 30, 2019 October 31, 2019. Submissions received after this date will not be reviewed. The guest edition is set for publication in spring 2020.

The FNHA is offering Indigenous community-based authors and practitioners preliminary manuscript screening and support. This reciprocal process between authors and senior FNHA editorial staff is intended to strengthen the manuscript (e.g., article structure, methodology, formatting, language) so that it fits within the author guidelines yet retains community voice and perspective. This process is optional and encourages submissions from beyond academia. Please contact the FNHA's Research and Knowledge Exchange team with submissions or questions: rkee@fnha.ca.

Manuscripts are subject to an initial editorial review undertaken by FNHA editorial staff and guided by IJIH to assess overall strength, contribution, and fit within the guidelines, the FNHA mandate, and special call for papers. Manuscripts will be scored according to relevant criteria (e.g., active involvement of Indigenous people and communities, primary research/intervention, writing and intellectual quality, engagement of Indigenous protocols/ethics, etc.). The FNHA Guest Co-Editors, in partnership with IJIH, reserve the right to make final publication decisions. Please refer to the journal's submission guidelines and policies prior to preparing and submitting an article for submission: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijih/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

FNHA Mandate

The FNHA is the first province-wide health authority of its kind in Canada. In 2013, the FNHA assumed the programs, services, and responsibilities formerly handled by Health Canada's First Nations Inuit Health Branch – Pacific Region. The FNHA works to reform the way health care is delivered to First Nations in BC through direct service and collaboration with provincial partners. The FNHA is governed by and serves First Nations individuals and communities in BC. For more information visit: www.fnha.ca/about.

IJIH Mandate

The IJIH was established to advance knowledge and understanding to improve Indigenous health. The Journal seeks to bring knowledge from diverse intellectual traditions together with a focus on culturally diverse Indigenous voices, methodologies, and epistemology.

This peer-reviewed, online, open-access Journal shares innovative health research across disciplines, Indigenous communities, and countries. Integral to the Journal's mandate is the foundational body of knowledge formed by the Journal of Aboriginal Health established by the National Aboriginal Health Organization (2004), transferred to the Aboriginal Health Research Networks Secretariat (2012), and recently transferred to the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.