Cultural and contextual relevance of the Indigenous data in the Canadian longitudinal study on aging.

Abstract

Objectives: The CLSA is a national data platform for aging research that used epidemiology-based sampling methods and explicitly excluded people living on First Nations Reserves and other provincial First Nations settlements as possible CLSA participants. As such, the CLSA research approach did not use Indigenous community engagement. Nevertheless, the CLSA sample includes a sizeable subsample of participants who self-identified as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit. This project seeks to describe the self-identified Indigenous subsample of the CLSA from the baseline data collection and interpret that description with the aid of an Elder Advisory Circle.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive analysis of the self-identified Indigenous subsample of the CLSA from the baseline data collection. The analysis was presented to an Elder Advisory Circle for consultation.

Results: The lack of community-engaged approaches to Indigenous research and sampling approaches appears to have resulted in a sociodemographic profile of older Indigenous Peoples that does not match the lived experience of the Elder Advisory Circle and contrasts with other data available on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We feel the existing CLSA data does not reflect the sociodemographic profile of older Indigenous Peoples.

Conclusion: We use this community consultation process to provide recommendations for the appropriate use of the Indigenous-identified data in the CLSA, and we conclude by recommending great caution when using the data from the Indigenous subsample in the CLSA data.