Tara Pride is a member of Sipekne’katik First Nation.  Tara has a Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy and is a PhD candidate in Dalhousie’s School of Health.  Her research interests are focused on Indigenous health and Indigenous methodologies and epistemologies.

Tara first engaged with the CRISM network to support and work on a scoping review being guided by Dr. Dennis Wendt (McGill University & CRISM member) in collaboration with the Indigenous Working Group of the CRISM Quebec-Atlantic Node.  The goal of the work was to synthesize and report general trends in the trauma-informed Substance Use (SU) literature pertaining to Indigenous Peoples and communicate practical implications and recommendations emerging from intervention studies for trauma-informed SU treatment. While Tara was familiar with literature reviews and publishing research, this project provided a unique learning opportunity to strengthen her understanding and skills in scoping review methods that involve the synthesis of concepts, empirical evidence, and identifying  knowledge gaps of a particular topic. Additionally, Tara learned about project and team management as she took on the role of 1st author, leading the research publication of this work. These are skills that have become valuable in Tara’s PhD work.

Reflecting on this research trainee experience within a national and multidisciplinary network such as CRISM, Tara highlights the importance of being able to learn more and to contribute to, work focused on Indigenous Health; to learn about treatment approaches that are important to Indigenous Peoples; and to connect and work with other Indigenous students and leading researchers in the SU field. The insights she gained from this work align with Tara’s future career goals within Occupational Therapy and Tara’s interest in Indigenous Health research.

Reflecting on this research trainee experience within a national and multidisciplinary network such as CRISM, Tara highlights the importance of being able to learn more and to contribute to, work focused on Indigenous Health; to learn about treatment approaches that are important to Indigenous Peoples; and to connect and work with other Indigenous students and leading researchers in the SU field. The insights she gained from this work align with Tara’s future career goals within Occupational Therapy and Tara’s interest in Indigenous Health research.

 The published outcome of this project emphasizes the value of the interdisciplinary collaboration and networking that CRISM members and partners bring to  substance use research initiatives. See  “Trauma-informed approaches to substance use interventions with Indigenous Peoples: A scoping review” .