The Following RFP is for Canadian consideration.

It was sent to Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
(SSHRC) for circulation. SSHRC doesn't normally circulate RFPs for
others and they have no means to do so.

They asked that I <[log in to unmask]> post it. Here is part of the
RFP. The full RFP is available from:

Carrie Hayward
Project Manager
(416) 326-6907
(416) 326-7934 (fax)

Submission deadline is July 20th, 1998.
A web based version (marked up by me) is available until July 20th at:
http://www.web.net/~lanfran/aboriginalRFP.htm


** CLIP OF FIRST PART OF THE ABORIGINAL HEALING AND WELLNESS RFP **

The Joint Steering Committee of the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness
Strategy in Ontario is seeking proposals from interested consultants/
researchers/research teams to conduct a longitudinal study of this
unique initiative.

The Strategy is aimed at reducing family violence in the Aboriginal
community and improving Aboriginal health status through implementation
of a wide variety of programs which have been planned, designed and
delivered by the Aboriginal communities themselves.

Please post and/or distribute the attached call for proposals to
qualified researchers who may have an interest in this field.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

THE LONGITUDINAL IMPACT OF SELECTED ABORIGINAL HEALING AND WELL STRATEGY
PROGRAMS


BACKGROUND:

After consultations with over 7,500 Aboriginal people in 1992/93
regarding family violence and health issues, the Ontario government
endorsed the Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy (AHWS).
Aboriginal communities explained that family violence, in all its forms,
was an intergenerational issue that impacts on every community member.
Various reports since the late 1980's have reported that 50 - 80% of
Aboriginal women report experiencing violence of some form during their
life.  Similarly, published statistics indicate that Aboriginal health
status continues to be lower that of non-Aboriginal residents of Ontario
using a number of indicators.

The Strategy aims to take a community-driven, culture-based approach to
healing in the community with the ultimate goal being [log in to unmask]
Accordingly, AHWS programs are based on wholistic models of well-being
that address physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of client
and community life.  Within the Aboriginal Health Access Centres, the
Maternal and Child Centre, the healing lodges and other AHWS programs,
Boards of Directors, staff and volunteers are striving to offer clients
culturally and traditionally based services using a variety of
practitioners as well as responding to the preferences of other clients
to use Awestern@ models of therapy.  Ideally, both forms of help are
available to clients from program staff who interact with one another to
meet client needs in the most comprehensive manner possible. As such,
the programs described above offer treatment by traditional healers and
physicians, licensed and traditional midwives, elders and psychologists,
etc.

The Strategy's long-term objectives are:

a) To reduce the incidence of family violence in Aboriginal communities;
and
b) To improve the health status of Aboriginal communities.

As a condition of approval of the Strategy, Ontario required that a
comprehensive evaluation be developed prior to December, 1995.  This
evaluation is scheduled to be completed by October 1998, and will focus
on the way the Strategy is being implemented and managed, and provide
some Milestones and early indications of outcomes.  The evaluation
sampled eleven communities funded by the Strategy covering one-third of
the programs funded including specialized projects, such as health
centres, shelters, and healing lodges that have been in operation for at
least six months.  Given that program implementation began in April
1995, it is not expected that the AHWS evaluation will provide
conclusive findings about impacts, outcomes, or a comparison against
baseline data.


Therefore, in 1996, the Joint Steering Committee (JSC), which manages
implementation of the Strategy, began to discuss a longitudinal study
which could track some of  the impacts of the Strategy over time to give
a comprehensive picture of the changes which had resulted because of, or
in connection to, this initiative.

In keeping with the collaborative model established in the development
and implementation of the Strategy via the Joint Steering Committee
(JSC), the JSC, the evaluation sub-committee and the participating
programs are seeking to continue a cooperative and collaborative
approach while undertaking this study.  This method of working is best
characterized as Participatory Research in which the projects
themselves, as well as the Joint Steering Committee's representatives,
will play an active and substantive role in designing and implementing
the project as well as analysing findings.

The JSC theorized that 1994 could be used as a Abaseline@ year
(pre-Strategy), that 1998/99 could be considered a mid-point of Strategy
implementation, and that a subsequent reviews in 2001 and 2004 would
enable the Aboriginal organizations and the provincial government to
assess the longer term impact of key AHWS programs on clients and
communities.

As a result of this decision, the JSC asked the AHWS Evaluation
Sub-committee to issue a call for proposals for a consultant to design
and implement a longitudinal evaluation of the Strategy's impacts on
health and family violence.

OBJECTIVES

1.      To design a longitudinal study of specific AHWS programs regarding:

a)      The utilization of insured health services by status Indians living
on-reserve between 1994 and 2004 and potentially Aboriginal people
living off-reserve who consent to the release of data;
b)      The impact of culture-based and western services of five health
access centres (Fort Frances, Algoma, Manitoulin, Sudbury, Ottawa) on
the health status of their program clients, including pre and post-natal
health between 1996 and 2004;
c)      The impact of the services of the Child and Maternal Centre at Six
Nations on the pre- and post-natal health of their clients and children
between 1996 and 2004;
d)      The impact of the Enaahtig Healing Lodge program (Victoria Harbour)
on individuals and local member communities served between 1996 and
2004; and
e)      The impact of the Ganohkwa'Sra (Six Nations shelter) program on
individual women and their children between 1996 and 2004..

2.      To implement a study which will provide both quantitative and
qualitative information by:

a)      incorporating existing insured health services utilization data
collected by the Ministry of Health;
b)      linking with other Aboriginal health information data
collection/study processes whenever possible; and
c)      collecting and analysing data provided directly by participating
Health Access Centres, the Child and Maternal Centre,  Enaahtig Healing
Lodge and Ganohkw'Sra.

------- end of clip -

 The full RFP is available from:

Carrie Hayward
Project Manager
(416) 326-6907
(416) 326-7934 (fax)

Submission deadline is July 20th, 1998.
A web based version (marked up by me) is available until July 20th at:
http://www.web.net/~lanfran/aboriginalRFP.htm