CIET-PRAM
Participatory Research at McGill (PRAM) and the Community Information and Epidemiological Technologies (CIET) combine their strengths, methodologies, and expertise to transform health and healthcare through community engagement and evidence-based research.
The PRAM network includes Dr Neil Andersson, Professor of Family Medicine, director of the amalgamated CIET-PRAM, and co-director of the McGill Institute of Human Development and Well-being, Dr Anne Cockcroft, a physician and professor in the McGill Department of Family Medicine, and a host of additional research associates, collaborators, and students.
CIET: building community voices into planning
Community-Driven Research
CIET is a collective of non-profit foundations, charities, non-governmental organizations, and institutes committed to integrating community voices into planning processes. With offices around the world, our research priorities evolve in response to the needs of our partner communities. Through active engagement in gathering and analyzing information, CIET supports the participation of community members in decisions that shape their lives.
PRAM: strengthening partnerships through participatory science
Transformative Engagement & Training
Our mission is to foster transformative engagement between researchers, decision-makers, healthcare providers, patients, and communities. Our methods prioritize key healthcare issues through respectful partnerships, intercultural dialogue, and equity-oriented research, with a strong focus on supporting resource- poor settings and socially marginalized populations.
Ongoing Work
CIET-PRAM has an active portfolio of 14 competitively funded projects. Three Canadian projects focus on cultural safety with Nunavimiut, including interventions for Inuit women transferred to Montreal hospitals for childbirth and cultural safety training in Nunavik health facilities.
In Bauchi, northern Nigeria, two projects continue longstanding partnerships. One supports innovative knowledge translation for COVID-19 recovery, while another engages youth and stakeholders to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
In Botswana, CIET-PRAM is involved in three projects. An ethnographic study documents life stories of those who experienced unpaid and forced labor as children, preparing for a larger study on domestic human trafficking. Another project pilots a new approach to prevent gendered violence and youth suicide. The APROACH project, focusing on cognitive health, prepares for an international randomized controlled trial.
With Colombian partners, CIET-PRAM supports Indigenous leaders in a national dialogue on traditional medicine integration into the national healthcare system. They also support a mentorship program led by traditional healers in the Colombian Amazon to train apprentices and reinforce initiation rites. Building on experiences in Mexico, they gather evidence on traditional self-care practices among pregnant women in Bogotá and explore how public hospitals can respect patient cultural practices.
In 2023, CIET-PRAM members published 14 peer-reviewed papers and presented at 18 conferences, both national and international.
Questions?
Contact us at pram [at] mcgill.ca. For more information about CIET-PRAM, visit our websites and check out our monthly newsletter!
