Engaging Disability 2007 Summer Institute, June 4-15, 2007 was organized, hosted and sponsored by the University of Victoria Studies in Policy and Practice.   This unique summer institute was open to community members and registered University of Victoria graduate and senior undergraduate students.  The institute included workshops and research seminars facilitated by a wide variety of community groups, individuals and academics with the goal of educating, creating linkages and dialogue on issues of disability in diverse communities.

The CIHR-Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health, Network Environments for Aboriginal Research BC (NEARBC) and the Aboriginal Health Research Group (predecessor to the Centre for Aboriginal Health Research) collaborated to host a panel with provincial and regional Aboriginal disability advocates and health workers titled, “Health Research and Aboriginal Disability: An Opportunity for Prevention and Intervention Research.”

The panel presentations were focused on existing knowledge of prevalence of disability in the Aboriginal population; disability and chronic disease; local, regional and national resources to support disability research; personal experiences with Aboriginal disability and community-based advocacy; and the importance of knowledge translation in reducing risk of disability and improving the health and well being of Aboriginal peoples.