Culturally and structurally competent approaches to health research with Black communities in Atlantic Canada: a rapid review.

Introduction: Anti-Black racism is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions and has deleterious impacts on Black populations. Black populations have resided in the Atlantic region since the late 17th century. Despite longstanding histories, Atlantic Black populations face significant inequities, including the highest rates of child poverty among Black children across Canada. Community consultations in Atlantic Canada have highlighted a desire to bring attention to these health inequities. The purpose of this review was to identify existing literature pertaining to Black health research in Atlantic Canada and highlight culturally appropriate practices.

Methods: The search strategy was developed with a librarian and focussed on health research pertaining to Black populations in the Atlantic provinces of Canada, covering eight databases. All articles were imported into Covidence for screening, with independent reviewers assessing titles, abstracts and full texts.

Results: Forty-seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings demonstrated the pervasiveness and impact of racism, the importance of community engagement as a key cultural consideration and the adoption of participatory action research frameworks as culturally appropriate.

Conclusion: This review revealed opportunities for improving Black health research in Canada's Atlantic provinces. Future research warrants attention to this region and the use of culturally and structurally appropriate research approaches and methods. Recommendations include improved education on Black history and a training module within existing ethical guidelines for culturally and structurally competent research with Black communities.