Karen Hall

Bio

Having recently graduated with her BSc in Health Promotion from Dalhousie University, Karen will start her graduate studies at the University of Victoria in Studies in Policy and Practice in the fall. Karen has focused her academic studies on Aboriginal health research, specifically in the North and examining the concepts of cultural safety and traditional healing. For Karen, attending university has inspired her to reconnect with her culture and to use the tools she learned in an academic setting to benefit the Dene peoples in the North.

During her studies as a full-time undergraduate student and mother to a toddler, she gained research experience as a research assistant for an Aboriginal diabetes study and completed her internship with an Atlantic Aboriginal organization that provides resources and support to First Nations communities dealing with HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and substance abuse. In 2009, she was awarded a Northern Resident Award from the Association of Canadian Universities for Northern Studies, Canadian Northern Studies Trust, to conduct a research study titled “Cultural Safety: Respecting Aboriginal Perspectives in a Health Care Setting” to inform the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority.

Community
Karen was born and raised in Sombak’e/Yellowknife in Denendeh/Northwest Territories. Her interest in traditional healing stems from her mother, who practices as a traditional healer in the North.

Issue of Investigation

Karen plans to investigate how Denendeh/NWT mainstream health care services can include traditional healing practices, such as integrating traditional healers within medical clinics or the creation of a healing lodge in Denendeh. She will achieve this by broadening her understanding of policy development in the North, studying existing integrated health services in Canada, and by closely working with her mentors.