'Vitally Important': Carrie Bourassa talks community health

As a Metis health researcher, Dr. Carrie Bourassa makes a point of putting elders and community members first.



In this episode, she looks back at her earliest influences, at the role her extended family and elders played in steering her career, and at her hope for the future.



"They taught me that you serve a community. You serve Aboriginal communities," she said.



In this episode, the professor in Community Health & Epidemiology at the College of Medicine reflects on some of her earliest work tackling policies in health care which ignored the needs of Indigenous people as they tried to heal, pray and grieve. Bourassa went on to spend 15 years as a faculty member at the First Nations University of Canada, and today she's the Scientific Director for the Canadian Institutes of Indigenous Peoples' Health (CIHR-IIPH), garnering numerous accolades and awards. Bourassa was also appointed the Indigenous Engagement Lead for both Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, and for the Saskatchewan Health Authority's COVID-19 Rapid Response Team.



Reflecting on the pandemic, she shared the practical side of what her team at Morningstar Lodge did to support families during the Covid-19 pandemic, sending families in isolation books, recipes, activity kits, and videos all translated into Indigenous languages.



Through the "Chiefs' Challenge" and the "Aunties' Challenge", Bourassa's team used friendly competitions and social media channels to push newly-vaccinated community leaders to lead by example.



Bourassa said the focus on aunties and matriarchs is deliberate. “In our Metis culture they’re very respected. They’re sources of guidance and support and knowledge, who pick you up when you fall down,” she said. “They’ll also give you a kick in the butt when you need it." See more of her work with Morningstar Lodge here.