From capacity-building to capacity-bridging: Indigenous Research Liaisons as a strategic intervention to bridge Indigenous communities’ capacities in the British Columbia health research environment

The British Columbia Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (BC NEIHR) supports research capacity, engagement, and leadership of Indigenous communities, collectives, and organizations (ICCOs) in Indigenous-led health research. To support Indigenous self-determination in the health research landscape, the BC NEIHR centers Indigenous approaches in research policy and practice. The BC NEIHR uses the term capacity-bridging, opposed to capacity-building, to acknowledge and support existing ICCO research capacities, distinct cultural knowledges, and community-led perspectives. The BC NEIHR enacts its commitment to ICCO self-determined health research through capacity-bridging initiatives including the Indigenous Research Liaison (IRL) program. We share how the IRL program created meaningful change through ICCO relationship-building, knowledge sharing and resource development, health research partnerships, and institutional systems-level change. The IRL program represents a case study of how an organizational-level strategic intervention can help shape and inform the transformation of research environments to better support Indigenous self-determination in Indigenous-led health research.