Nurse Educators Collaborate in a Pan-Territorial Approach to Develop a Community Development Learning Opportunity

Abstract

Pan-territorial approaches are increasingly utilized to identify challenges and propose solutions in Canada’s North. This report describes a collaboration of nurse educators and stakeholders from all three territories to develop a self-directed learning module. Northern health and social service providers have the opportunity to support communities in building capacity to identify and address issues that affect their health and well-being. Recent evidence suggests that the majority of those providers have had little or no opportunity to acquire competencies in community development; this finding was the incentive for the community development project. While project goals were successfully achieved, the development team continues to reflect on influences of neo-colonialism and contextual factors, and the importance of embedding decolonizing practices in future initiatives.