Bio
Roberta is Coast Salish from the Snuneymuxw/Cowichan Tribes, a mother and grandmother. Elder Roberta has committed to professional and volunteer work in the Health, Social Services, and Education fields for most of her career. She is dedicated to building a strong base of knowledge to make improvements to the health care system, specifically for Indigenous people. Elder Roberta has worked in partnership with researchers at the UBC School of Nursing on a number of studies. In that role, she has guided study activities around Indigenous approaches to health. Her role has been to ensure that the research is relevant and responsive to Indigenous contexts and to assist in implementation of interventions within clinical settings. She oversees ceremonial and traditional aspects of research projects, including integration of traditional healing approaches with ‘Western’ approaches. The studies she has been involved with relating to structural and interpersonal violence and trauma – including colonialism, racism, and poverty – and their effects on health care access and quality for Indigenous people.
