This knowledge synthesis responds to the following question: What are the most promising approaches to evaluate impacts of comprehensive community initiatives (CCIs) in promoting Aboriginal child and family well-being and how might Indigenous ways of knowing and approaches to research assist in such evaluation?
This question is the result of a recognition that Aboriginal child and family well-being are dependent on a host of highly interconnected social and structural factors that can only be addressed through comprehensive community change initiatives, (CCIs); approaches that bring together and coordinate the efforts of multiple community sectors to achieve the social and structural change that is beyond the capacity of any one of them working in isolation. It is also in recognition that evaluation approaches to such initiatives are being developed across a range of fields and there has been no systematic review or synthesis of the literature to date, and more importantly, there has been no examination of the contribution of Indigenous research paradigms to evaluation of CCIs. If the aspirations of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples to foster sustainable, vibrant communities is to be met, then surely strategies to evaluate such efforts must incorporate culturally relevant approaches that resonate within those communities?
