Engaging ethnocultural communities in health-promoting programs: the role of trust

There is a pressing need to find effective ways to promote health and well-being of ethnoculturally-diverse older adults. To do so, it is important to foster trust between researchers and ethnocultural communities; yet our understanding of how to do so is limited. Therefore, we propose to convene scholars from implementation science, ethno-gerontology and healthy aging; community partners that serve diverse groups of older adults; and older adults themselves to explore the idea of trust and how to foster trust between researchers and ethnocultural communities in Canada. Using a “Café Scientifique” approach that encourages ‘deep’ discussion these groups will get together to: i. explore the role of trust in health-promoting programs for older adults from ethnocultural communities and identify effective approaches that foster trust; ii. co-create a ‘Trusted Partnership Roadmap’ with guidelines for research and practice, that identifies culturally appropriate trust-building strategies, and iii. plan for a CIHR Project Grant in cultural adaptation of Choose to Move-an effective health-promoting program for older adults.