Indigenous Research

UBC Department of Physical Therapy researchers are committed to improving the health of our communities and access to care in British Columbia.

We acknowledge deep health disparities in Indigenous communities and the widespread experiences of racism in the healthcare system and in society at large. We will continue to forge individual and collective collaborations at the local, national and international levels while increasing our awareness and focus on social determinants of health and wellbeing.

Our partnerships in research, teaching, and health care enable us to develop transformational approaches to the generation of knowledge that empowers students, clinicians and patients to achieve their goals.


Collaboration with the Carrier Sekani Family Services

In 2016, Dr. Pat Camp started working in collaboration with the Carrier Sekani Family Services, a group of 11 First Nations communities scattered across North Central BC to expand lung health awareness across the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council. She works with Indigenous leadership to ensure research findings are translated into treatments and increase the real-life impact of research and improve the lives of people living with COPD in remote communities. A video, Improving Life Through Research: Bayis Ilh Tus (A Strong Breath) Project was produced to inform the community about their partnership and the project.

In just four years, her team has revealed a lot about the state of lung health across Carrier Sekani’s member First Nations (CFSN). This teamwork has improved the community’s health services’ knowledge about the existence of lung conditions and has led to the hiring of a chronic disease nurse who moves the team’s research results to improve COPD care.