Knowledge to action: First nations engagement with research for community benefit.

Knowledge translation is the sharing of knowledge in an effort to make research more meaningful to society. Currently, many gaps exist in effective knowledge to action especially for research carried out with Aboriginal peoples. My master's research explores knowledge transaction and knowledge to action in regards to recent research initiatives in, and for, the Takla Lake First Nation (TLFN). Using content analysis based on focus group interviews with 17 community participants, I was interested to see if community members' expectations of the research process had been met, and to hear from community members themselves about strategies and approaches they wanted taken to translate knowledge obtained from research into actions. This thesis research finds that a better understanding of the context and ways of knowing of a group is necessary to undertake effective research and knowledge translation activities. Also, there is a need for more defined and established evaluation criteria and techniques for Aboriginal knowledge translation. Finally, I argue that the TLFN want future actions in the community to derive from strength-based approaches based in the traditional TLFN culture as a method to improve community unity, health and wellbeing. --Leaf ii.